| City of Caves : The Tannery - view
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The Tannery
This is the only known underground Tannery in Britain. It was in
use from 1500 – 1640.
Tanning is the process of making leather from
animal skins.
In medieval times it was used for making shoes,
belts, gloves harnesses, armour and bottles.
These caves were cut into the cliff face and opened out to daylight
at the rear of the cavern was a yard where other tanning processes
were undertaken.
Tanning was a very long process and the work was
hard, dirty and very unhealthy.
The awful smells from the tanning process clung
to the workers clothes and hair.
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