ABSTRACT
Leather tanning was originally centred in the market towns of the Midlands, where there was a large local supply of hides, oak bark for tanning, and also soft water. Gradually, however, the industry came more and more to rely on imported raw, or partly tanned, skins and hides and this led to the growth of important tanning centres at ports such as London and Bristol. Fellmongering, or the removal of wool from the skins of sheep and lambs and preparing their skins for the tannery, is generally carried out as a separate trade, but it may also be done in the tannery itself. The processes of tanning vary considerably from works to works, even in the same section of the industry, and for this reason it is difficult to give a general description which will be true of all tanneries. The term leather goods covers a number of allied but distinct trades making a wide variety of goods.
