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The Craft of Leatherworking.. The horse and the craft of leatherworking have always gone together throughout history. Horses, were an essential part of Victorian economic and social life, and provided a huge market for leather manufacturers. The working horse was still the chief means of power on most farms, and in total there were something like 3.3 million horses in late Victorian Britain. 
In the last decades of the 19th century the leather trades entered upon a 'Golden Age' of unprecedented prosperity. Exports boomed and firms sent their products to most parts of the British Empire. Foreign wars provided a particularly lucrative source of trade. Working Conditions Despite its prosperity, the late Victorian leather industry remained in essence, a mass of tiny and often primitive backyard workshops, intermingled with a handful of factories each employing perhaps two or three hundred people. The report of the Sweated Trades Commission of 1889 detailed allegations of 'sweating' and showed that hours for these often highly- skilled workers were long, wages poor and conditions for women especially bad. Typical earnings for a male saddler at this date would be about 28 shillings (£1.40) for a 55 hour week. Women would earn a half or a third of this. Unlike the male employees, who were paid by the hour, most women were paid by the complete item. When orders were scarce they would be laid off without wages. The Commissioners were clearly shocked to hear how, even in the largest and most modern factories, wages were further reduced by deductions made for heating, lighting and space (or shop room) in which the employees worked. The Recent History Since the 1960s, the light leathergoods trade has met with stiff competition from overseas producers, many of them based in developing countries with much lower overheads. Surviving leathergoods firms have increasingly concentrated on the luxury end of of the market, producing goods for some of the world's most famous brand names. During this period there has also been a dramatic revival in saddlery and the bridle trade, as growing numbers of people have taken up riding for pleasure. During our events you will see the harness maker at work, as well as demonstrations of handbag making and other skills associated with this highly individual craft. |