Betty M. Haines was a celebrated scientist in the field of leather conservation. Between the years of 1940 and 1970, she created an archive of over 400 leather samples which have recently been digitised by the Leather Conservation Centre. Born…
Ancient shoes The earliest shoes in the archaeological record are a pair of sagebrush bark sandals dating from 7000-8000 BCE that were found at Fort Rock Cave in the United States. The presence of these well-preserved examples indicated that shoes…
The Leather Conservation Centre is very fortunate to have access to some very rare samples of leather and as such we thought we would take some time and dive into the story of a very special example… Die Frau Metta…
This wonderful 1908 Argyll (to learn more about its history, click here) recently received treatment at the Leather Conservation Centre to address structural issues impacting the leather which, in their pre-treatment condition put the leather at risk and made it…
Recently the team at the Leather Conservation Centre had the pleasure to work on one of Britain’s earlier cars but before we accelerate straight to the conservation treatment, we thought it worth sticking on the brakes and getting under the…
What's something that a donkey and sting ray have in common? Aside from their shared designation into the category of vertebrate animals, interestingly skins taken from both animals are referred to as shagreen. It is seemingly unusual that two very…
The LCC will be running a 5-day CPD training course for heritage professionals in collaboration with the Institute of Creative Leather Technologies (ICLT) at Northampton University. The course combines theory and practice to explore each aspect of leather production, explained…
Leather chemist and ex-Chief Executive of the LCC Roy Thomson sadly passed away on Monday 14th June 2021. During his career as a leather chemist and conservator Roy made a deep and far-reaching impact on our understanding of leather as…
Acts of conservation not only allow for the preservation of artefacts but can also give us the opportunity to investigate them closely, and allow them to reveal their stories. This was case during the treatment of a pair of Adidas…
The Leather Conservation Centre
Grosvenor Chambers
Grosvenor Centre
Union Street
NN1 2EW
01604 719766
