Historic Leather Market & Exchange
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From London to Bermondsey
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A Grade II listed Victorian building, the Leather Market was the hub of leather trade in Bermondsey during the 19th century. Tanning was banned by the City of London due to the abhorrent smells generated by the tannery industry involving dog faeces to soften the skins. Subsequently, the tanning industry moved south to Bermondsey outside the jurisdiction of the City of London.
The Leather and Skin Market opened in 1833 in Weston Street by a group of local tanners and leather dressers. After moving from Leadenhall Market to Bermondsey, the Leather Market initially traded just the skins (untreated pelts from sheep and calves) with hides from horses and oxen utilized in the production of heavy-duty leather still bought and cold at Leadenhall. However, these procedures also moved to Bermondsey as the months elapsed.
Home of the Skin Salesmen
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The skin market within the area was a rectangular-sized space, designed so that carts could transport and unload the skins into the marketplace. Within the space, up to 50 different skin salesmen were present, selling their goods to buyers who would use the skin to produce leather, wool or parchment.
Some time later in 1878 a new building was erected alongside the market, inscripted with with the words ‘The London Leather, Hide and Wool Exchange’. The new building included a pub where plenty of business was likely conducted. There is a pub that still exists there today, called the Leather Exchange. The building was made during the era of architectural sculpture, which explains its spectacular stone reliefs that demonstrate the processes of individuals turning raw skins into processed leather.
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