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Description: | The tanning industry flourished for centuries in Wallington, with the earliest records going back to the reign of Charles 1 when William Rolfe of Wiltshire started a tannery close to the river and the Town Quay opposite Drift Road and Purvestor House. The business thrived was an important feature of the town's economy. Through marriage, the tannery passed into the hands of the Thresher family, then in the 19th century it was acquired by Edward Sharland, who came from Devon to live in Fareham.
The site of the tannery, close to the River Wallington and near the Town Quay at Fareham was a good one.
Hides ready for distribution could be easily shipped and by the 1840's there was nearby railway station in Fareham as well. Leather was used for everyday goods such as boots, shoes and gloves as well as use for coaches, wagons and horses. Oak bark and hides were collected from Fareham railway station and transported to Wallington. Here the crushed bark, mixed with Valencia nut, was put in tan or liquor pits, vats made of plank boxes sunk into the ground. The hides were prepared by removing the rump, tail and burr, the fleshers scraped the fat and tissue from the hides which had previously been steeped in lime pits.
After many rinsings, they were immersed in the tan pits. This process could take up to 18 months. Then they were dried and rolled.
The tannery had a good reputation for high quality leather but the business went into a slow decline and closed in 1913. The tanning sheds suffered from a serious fire and finally came down in a gale in the 1930's. The remainder of the works were demolished in the 1960's.
References:
1. Moore, Pamela. 1990. Bygone Fareham, p. 53-54.
2. Brown, Ron. 1983. Fareham of yesteryear, p. 18-19.
3. Burton, Lesley and Musselwhite, Brian. 1991. An illustrated history of Fareham, p. 47-49.
4. Privett, George. 1949. The Story of Fareham, p.103-105.
5. James, Alice. 1989. Fareham between the Wars, p. 92.
6. James, Alice. 1991. Our Beloved Fareham, p. 81-87.
Copy photograph of a photograph. | Format: | image/jpeg | License: | http://www.sopse.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.exe?a=query&p=gateway&f=generic_sitetext%2ehtm&_IXFIRST_=1&_IXMAXHITS_=1&cms_con_core_subtype%3acms_con_text_what=copyright&%3acms_sys_group=%22sopse%22 | Rights holder: | Hampshire Library and Information Service - Hampshire County Council | Subjects: | work building van Wallington Town Quay street tannery quay Drift Road Edward Sharland business Thresher Purvestor House transport flesher fireman King Charles 1 leather river William Rolfe | Temporal: | start=1925-01-01; end=1939-12-31; | Source: | Sense of place SE | Creator: | Copied by: Dine, Derek; Hampshire County Library; | Identifier: | http://www.sopse.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | image/jpeg | Go to resource |
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