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Rhaeadr Tannery

Museum

Rhaeadr Tannery — Photo: Llywelyn2000, Wikimedia Commons · Report the wrong picture

Explorer Tom

Rhaeadr Tannery at St Fagans shows how a hide became hard-wearing leather through oak bark, water, heavy work and an astonishing amount of patience. I was ready to complain after ten minutes; a batch here could take eighteen months, so the tanners would have laughed me out of the yard. The late eighteenth-century tannery originally stood in Rhayader and was the last traditional one to operate in Wales. It made stout leather for boots and horse harness. Oak bark was ground for the tanning solution; the original waterwheel remains visible on the bark mill's gable. Hides were soaked in pits of increasingly strong solution, scrubbed on a stone table, then dried and rolled flat. Museum Wales moved the tannery to St Fagans in the 1960s and presents its working layout for visitors. Follow that sequence with your eyes instead of imagining leather appearing directly from a tidy shop shelf. Each stage needed material, space and skilled judgement, and the long soaking time made this a patient trade. I picture a boot waiting by the pit and asking whether it might grow old before its leather arrived; that is my nonsense. The pits, wheel and eighteen-month process are the real surprise. This is the relocated Rhayader tannery at St Fagans National Museum of History near Cardiff. Museum entry is free, though parking may cost and individual building access can change. Check the museum's current visitor page and respect barriers around pits or old equipment. The tools and buildings make an everyday material feel much less ordinary.

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More pictures of this place

Tannery - National History Museum of Wales, St Fagans. The basins in the yard and ground floor of the building were used for chemical treatment of the skins after meat and hair had been removed mechanically in a nearby shed (659453). — Tannery - National History Museum of Wales, St Fagans. The basins in the yard and ground floor of the building were used for chemical treatment of the skins after meat and hair had been removed mechanically in a nearby shed (659453). · Photo: Rudi Winter · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Original Geograph photograph

Rhayader Tannery from the south west, St Fagans Museum, Cardiff, Wales — Rhayader Tannery from the south west, St Fagans Museum, Cardiff, Wales · Photo: Sionk · CC BY-SA 4.0

What is recorded here

Map note: Look up Rhaeadr Tannery, a museum near Drope, Cardiff, Wales. See what else is around it before planning your day.

From OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors) w96337125

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Photo credits

Christine Johnstone, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
Betty Longbottom, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
Jaggery, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
Robin Drayton, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
Roger Cornfoot, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
Hywel Williams, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
Mick Lobb, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
David Hallam-Jones, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0
Alan Hughes, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 2.0

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