Leathermarket Street
Posted: Sat Mar 11, 2017 9:38 am
London Leather, Hide and Wool Exchange, Leathermarket Street.
One industry that came to dominate central Bermondsey, away from the riverfront, was the processing and trading of leather and hides. Many buildings from this era survive around Leathermarket Street including the huge Leather, Hide and Wool Exchange.
The London Leather Exchange, architects George Elkington; an engraving from the Builder, 1879. It ceased functioning as a centre for buying and selling about 1912; but an important reminder of Bermondsey's past. The adjacent leather market in Weston Street was established in 1833.
19th Century London Leather Exchange and Bermondsey Leather Market. This great leather or hide market lies in Weston Street, the neighbourhood in which it stands was devoted entirely to thinners and tanners, and the air reeked with foul smells. At twelve o'clock the men poured out from all the works. Their clothes are marked with many stains; their trousers were discoloured by tan; some had aprons and gaiters of raw hide; and about them all seems to hang a scent of blood. The market itself stands in the centre of a quiet block of buildings on the left hand side of Weston-Street. Most of it was roofed, but there was an open space lathe centre. Under the roofing were huge piles of fresh hides and sheep-skins. There was no noise or bustle, and only few people about. There were no retail purchasers, the sales being almost entirely made to the great tanners in the neighbourhood. The warehouses round were all full of tanned hides; the yards behind the walls were all tanneries, with their tens of thousands of hides soaking in the pits.
Parts of the building, including a clocktower and slaughterhouses were destroyed by bombing in WWII. The adjacent Leather Exchange building dates to 1879 and is now occupied by various offices and workshops including glassblowing and trendy pubs and restaurants.
One industry that came to dominate central Bermondsey, away from the riverfront, was the processing and trading of leather and hides. Many buildings from this era survive around Leathermarket Street including the huge Leather, Hide and Wool Exchange.
The London Leather Exchange, architects George Elkington; an engraving from the Builder, 1879. It ceased functioning as a centre for buying and selling about 1912; but an important reminder of Bermondsey's past. The adjacent leather market in Weston Street was established in 1833.
19th Century London Leather Exchange and Bermondsey Leather Market. This great leather or hide market lies in Weston Street, the neighbourhood in which it stands was devoted entirely to thinners and tanners, and the air reeked with foul smells. At twelve o'clock the men poured out from all the works. Their clothes are marked with many stains; their trousers were discoloured by tan; some had aprons and gaiters of raw hide; and about them all seems to hang a scent of blood. The market itself stands in the centre of a quiet block of buildings on the left hand side of Weston-Street. Most of it was roofed, but there was an open space lathe centre. Under the roofing were huge piles of fresh hides and sheep-skins. There was no noise or bustle, and only few people about. There were no retail purchasers, the sales being almost entirely made to the great tanners in the neighbourhood. The warehouses round were all full of tanned hides; the yards behind the walls were all tanneries, with their tens of thousands of hides soaking in the pits.
Parts of the building, including a clocktower and slaughterhouses were destroyed by bombing in WWII. The adjacent Leather Exchange building dates to 1879 and is now occupied by various offices and workshops including glassblowing and trendy pubs and restaurants.