The burgh of Perth was a significant centre for leatherworking. By the 1360s it already had a street known as ‘vico sellatorum’ or ‘Saddlers’ Street (Thomas and Bogdan 2012, 353). The modern road name Skinnergate also recalls the medieval leatherworking industry. Hides made from cattle skins were a major export from Perth from the beginning of the Scottish Exchequer Rolls in the 1320s through to the late 16th century. By the end of the Middle Ages both the shoemakers and the glovers were incorporated trades, and extensive records from these crafts survive from the 16th century onwards. Several skinners also appear in earlier property records from the burgh, and further work on these documents might prove beneficial.
The Perth High Street excavations confirmed extensive leatherworking in Perth, producing over 6,000 leather fragments (Thomas and Bogdan 2012, 145). A significant number of leather offcuts and scraps were recovered, which demonstrate that leatherworking was undertaken in the heart of the burgh. While shoemakers and glovers could work in the town centre, the more noxious activity of tanning seems to have taken place on the outskirts. There is written evidence for tanning on Curfew Row in the 1470s and post-medieval tanning pits have been excavated in this area (Cox et al 2007, 118).
Perth has provided exceptional evidence for leatherworking, yet leather goods were clearly made in other places in Perth and Kinross. There is written evidence for a shoemaker and tanner at Scone Abbey during the reign of David I (Thomas and Bogdan 2012, 353). The role of Scottish monastic estates in leather production is a question which deserves further research. Greater understanding of leatherworking in upland areas of Perth and Kinross should also be a research priority.
