Oak Bark Leather Tannery Visit
In September 2020 I arranged a visit to J&FJ Baker’s in Devon, England. It’s the last remaining oak bark tannery in the UK and has been with the Baker family since the 1800’s. Infact, going back much further than that, there has been a leather tannery on this site since the Roman times.
This place is unique in many ways. The tanning process involving oak bark is still done how it was throughout history. The skills have been passed on through generations and will be there for future generations.
I wanted to visit as I’ve started to use this leather for my Felton belts and I heard this place was fascinating to see. Being able to see things in person makes a huge difference to the understanding.
What is Oak Bark Leather?
Oak bark leather is leather which has been tanned using tannins extracted from the bark of oak trees. Oak bark leather is synonymous with England and the UK as this area of the world is rich in oak trees.
Oak bark tannage is a very slow process and the raw animal skin is moved through a series of pits by hand over the course of a year to 18 months. This slow process produces a very high quality strong leather as the animal skin gradually turns to leather, in comparison, chrome tanned leather which is widely produced around the world only takes 1.5 days.
Baker’s Tannery
The tannery itself is based in farmyard buildings and is very quaint. It was like stepping back in time.
Being based in this setting and with the amount of work that goes into this leather, means they only produce 80 hides a week. This is very low. Some tanneries such as the ones which make chrome tanned leather will produce thousands of hides a week. This truly is a special place.
They produce leather for high end bespoke shoe makers as the thick leather is perfect for making leather soles. Hermès have leather produced there, to their own specification and only for them to use.
James who took me round said their is a big demand for leather produced in this very traditional manner which is great so this place can be preserved for a long time to come.
