Artisans of Dartmoor - Book - Page 47
to enormous steel vats, each containing stewing skins – some in
a chocolatey oak-bark soup, others in an experimental pickling
solution that smells like salt and vinegar crisps. The whole place
whiffs of wet dog, except for one corner, where a pile of freshly
harvested spruce shavings lends a pleasant hint of pine forest.
In the centre stands a large tanning pan, simmering on a gas
burner, sending plumes of steam billowing into narrow shafts of
late-afternoon light through the wood-slated windows.
Once the skins have steeped – a process that takes up to a
month – Jessie oils and stretches them into shape, then clips them
to a frame to dry. Fish skins, used to embellish her products, are
tanned with bark, then treated with oil to create textured scales.
It’s long been assumed that humans have been wearing leather
and skins since they realised that wandering around naked wasn’t
that warm – which, on Dartmoor, would have been a very long
time ago. But in 2011, firm evidence was discovered in a young
woman’s Bronze Age burial chamber, a mere 10 miles from Jessie’s
workshop (see page 10). It contained a sash decorated in leather
and a well-preserved bear’s pelt, which it’s believed was worn as
clothing and secured with a copper pin, so the find was hugely
significant for Jessie. “This landscape is alive with the past,” she
says. “Our ancestors left a very tangible, visible imprint on the
moor – in hut circles, stone rows, and burial chambers. Humans
have been tanning hides for millennia – 99.9% of our evolution
– so being part of that tradition gives me a profound sense of
continuity, belonging and peace. When I tan, it feels as if my
hands have known it forever.”
The Hide Tanner • Jessie Watson Brown
47