New life for museum collection
05/07/2011
A hard-working team of leather experts is attempting to raise £6.5 million to buy the former Pearce tannery in Northampton and use it to display Museum of Leathercraft’s collection. The museum was established in London in 1946, but since 1977 its collection of more than 5,000 items (books, bags, boots, briefcases, saddles, seats and decorative objects) has been in the care of Northampton Borough Council. The trustees of the museum have applied to take control of the collection and to find a new home for it, which is where the iconic, art-deco Pearce building comes in. The tannery has lain empty for ten years.
The Heritage Lottery Fund, which channels funds from the UK National Lottery into cultural projects, could contribute around £2 million towards the total, and the group behind the project to turn the former tannery into the Leather in Life Centre is now trying to raise the rest of the money from private trusts, leather industry institutions and individuals.
In the meantime, the city of Northampton has given three rooms at its Abington Park Museum over to the collection so that the trustees can display some of the items and enhance the appeal for donations.
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