Medieval Leather

Did you know, we have a large collection of Medieval leather in Hull and East Riding Museum?

Most of our leather-work was found in Hull or Beverley, which explains why it has survived for hundreds of years even though it’s made from organic materials (animal skin).  Both places have waterlogged soil and this creates an environment which preserves leather.

'Birdman' knife sheath
(c) Hull Museums: Hull and East Riding Museum

There are a couple of ways to prepare leather – using the tannins from oak bark or using an alum mix.  The excavations in Sewer Lane, Hull (1974) discovered a series of tanning pits dating to the late 15^th century and early 16^th century.  One of the pits had traces of oak wood-chips.

When using this method, the flesh is cleaned from the animal skin and then the hides and skins are placed in pits with a lime solution.  This loosens the hair, which is removed with a double-handled knife (scraping down the skin!).  Then the pelts are put in a fermenting mixture of bran and urine/dog dung/pigeon droppings.  Following this, they are placed in pits with oak bark and water.  This process can take up to 2 years!

As you can imagine, leather working was quite a smelly job!  So tanners were often on the outskirts of towns.  You can still see traces of the industry in street names today, for example ‘Tanner Row’ and ‘Skinner Lane’.

Welted shoe fragment
(c) Hull Museums: Hull and East Riding Museum

The archaeological and historical evidence suggests that leather-working in Hull happened on a small scale.  In contrast, Beverley was an important tanning centre and probably supplied many of the hides which were exported from Hull.  As Yorkshire’s Maritime City - shipping has always been a significant part of Hull’s heritage.  In 1298, Edward I declared that Hull was the only Yorkshire port that could export hides.

The leather collection at Hull and East Riding Museum reflects this exchange of ideas and goods between Britain and continental Europe, from Dutch influenced ‘veldtshoes’ to the impressive decoration of the ‘Birdman’ knife sheath.  It’s definitely worth a visit when you’re next in Hull!

If you’re interested in Medieval leather and would like to discover more, come along to our ‘Medieval Leather’ gallery talk which will be running 12.30-1pm on Tuesday 4^th February.