The Leather Conservation Centre

The Leather Conservation Centre An internationally renowned organisation offering a comprehensive leather conservation service.

The Leather Conservation Centre was established in 1978 and is an internationally renowned organisation offering a comprehensive service in the conservation and restoration of objects (including books and other archival materials) of historic, cultural and artistic importance made wholly or partly of leather or its related materials. Clients include museums, libraries, historic houses and many mor

e. The Leather Conservation Centre also supplies a small range of materials for leather conservation and leather conservation publications.If you have any questions or would like a quotation for conservation work, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

🔍 Open Studios (Free) 🔍Thursday 27 August | 14:00–15:00Curious about what happens inside a conservation studio?Join us f...
01/06/2026

🔍 Open Studios (Free) 🔍

Thursday 27 August | 14:00–15:00

Curious about what happens inside a conservation studio?
Join us for our monthly Open Studios, held on the last Thursday of every month. These free guided tours offer a behind-the-scenes look at the Leather Conservation Centre’s studio, handling collection, and some current projects.

Led by members of our specialist team, the tours explore the history behind traditional leathercraft techniques, and preventive conservation practice, situating historic craft knowledge within contemporary contexts.

These tours provide an opportunity to learn more about how leather and skin materials are conserved, understood, and interpreted, with time for questions and discussion throughout.

✨ Free to attend (booking required)
✨ Limited to 10 places per session
✨ Suitable for anyone interested in heritage, craft, or conservation

📍 Leather Conservation Centre, Canopy
📌 What3words: ///dish.drama.mugs
🎟️ Free to book now via our link in bio

🎨 Leathercraft Day for Young Makers 🎨A fun and creative day designed especially for young makers aged 7-16 (with accompa...
01/06/2026

🎨 Leathercraft Day for Young Makers 🎨

A fun and creative day designed especially for young makers aged 7-16 (with accompanying adults).

Join us at the Leather Conservation Centre for a creative day designed especially for young makers. This hands-on workshop introduces children and young people to leather as a material through playful, accessible making activities.

Guided by members of our specialist team, participants will explore basic leathercraft techniques, learn how leather is made and used, and create their own small leather items to take home. The day is structured to encourage curiosity, creativity, and confidence, with plenty of time to experiment, ask questions, and enjoy the process of making.

No previous experience is needed, and all materials and tools are provided. Activities are designed to be age-appropriate, with a strong emphasis on safe handling, creativity, and enjoyment rather than technical perfection.

This workshop is ideal for children who enjoy hands-on activities, craft, and learning how things are made, and for families looking to spend a relaxed, creative day together.

Tickets:
🎟 Family Ticket (1 Adult + 1 Child) £30
🎟 1 Additional Adult £15
🎟 1 Additional Child £15

Children must be accompanied by an adult. Please select the appropriate ticket combination when booking.

📅 Saturday 8th August
⏰ 10:00 – 15:00
📍 Leather Conservation Centre, Canopy
📌 What3Words: ///dish.drama.mugs

Please Note: Events may be subject to cancellation if the minimum number of signups is not reached.

🎨 Leathercraft Day for Young Makers 🎨A fun and creative day designed especially for young makers aged 7-16 (with accompa...
01/06/2026

🎨 Leathercraft Day for Young Makers 🎨

A fun and creative day designed especially for young makers aged 7-16 (with accompanying adults).

Join us at the Leather Conservation Centre for a creative day designed especially for young makers. This hands-on workshop introduces children and young people to leather as a material through playful, accessible making activities.

Guided by members of our specialist team, participants will explore basic leathercraft techniques, learn how leather is made and used, and create their own small leather items to take home. The day is structured to encourage curiosity, creativity, and confidence, with plenty of time to experiment, ask questions, and enjoy the process of making.

No previous experience is needed, and all materials and tools are provided. Activities are designed to be age-appropriate, with a strong emphasis on safe handling, creativity, and enjoyment rather than technical perfection.

This workshop is ideal for children who enjoy hands-on activities, craft, and learning how things are made, and for families looking to spend a relaxed, creative day together.

Tickets:
🎟 Family Ticket (1 Adult + 1 Child) £30
🎟 1 Additional Adult £15
🎟 1 Additional Child £15
Children must be accompanied by an adult. Please select the appropriate ticket combination when booking.

📅 Saturday 8th August
⏰ 10:00 – 15:00
📍 Leather Conservation Centre, Canopy
📌 What3Words: ///dish.drama.mugs

Please Note: Events may be subject to cancellation if the minimum number of signups is not reached.

📚 Bookbinding Club (Monthly Workshop) 📚We are excited to launch the next 6 sessions of our monthly Bookbinding Club in A...
28/05/2026

📚 Bookbinding Club (Monthly Workshop) 📚

We are excited to launch the next 6 sessions of our monthly Bookbinding Club in August! ✂️ 📖

A friendly, fully equipped space to explore the fundamentals of bookbinding, guided by the Leather Conservation Centre team, on the first Sunday of each month.

This workshop introduces foundational bookbinding skills, from paper decoration (marbling and paste paper) to learning about different book structures and binding techniques, including sewing on cords and tapes, cloth and leather bindings and decorative elements such gold tooling and sewing endbands.

Through these sessions, you will create a series of small hand-bound books to take home, while building confidence to continue developing your skills over future sessions. Those with previous experience of Bookbinding are also welcome to make use of our specialist equipment and materials, practice and refine their skills.

Two types of tickets are available for these sessions: bookable as 5 consecutive monthly sessions (£125 altogether, working out at £25 each) or individually (£25 per session).

✨ Open to all, no previous experience needed
✨ Ages 15+

📅 Sunday 2nd August (£25 per session)
⏰ 10:30 - 12:30
📍 Leather Conservation Centre, Canopy
📌 What3Words: ///dish.drama.mugs
🎟 Book now via our link in bio

🔍 Open Studios (Free) 🔍Thursday 30 July | 14:00–15:00Curious about what happens inside a conservation studio?Join us for...
22/05/2026

🔍 Open Studios (Free) 🔍

Thursday 30 July | 14:00–15:00

Curious about what happens inside a conservation studio?
Join us for our monthly Open Studios, held on the last Thursday of every month. These free guided tours offer a behind-the-scenes look at the Leather Conservation Centre’s studio, handling collection, and some current projects.

Led by members of our specialist team, the tours explore the history behind traditional leathercraft techniques, and preventive conservation practice, situating historic craft knowledge within contemporary contexts.

These tours provide an opportunity to learn more about how leather and skin materials are conserved, understood, and interpreted, with time for questions and discussion throughout.

✨ Free to attend (booking required)
✨ Limited to 10 places per session
✨ Suitable for anyone interested in heritage, craft, or conservation

📍 Leather Conservation Centre, Canopy
📌 What3words: ///dish.drama.mugs
🎟️ Free to book now via our link in bio

♻️ Leather, Longevity, and the Future ♻️In 1963, this chair was advertised as ‘a chair you live in rather than sit in.’ ...
21/05/2026

♻️ Leather, Longevity, and the Future ♻️

In 1963, this chair was advertised as ‘a chair you live in rather than sit in.’ The leather upholstery was designed to last, and with the right care, it can.

Leather is one of the oldest materials human beings have ever worked with, and when sourced and manufactured responsibly, it is also one of the most sustainable. A natural, biodegradable material with an extraordinary lifespan, leather that is well cared for does not need to be replaced. The sustainability of an object is not only in how it is made, but in how long it lasts, and how well it is looked after along the way.

At the LCC, our approach is rooted in extending the life of what already exists. Conserving and caring for leather objects is one of the most sustainable choices you can make. The chair that came to us this year will now last for decades more, with its history and legacy intact and its story to be continued for future generations. In a world that too often defaults to replacement, conservation is a quiet but powerful act of sustainability.

🗒 1-Day Leather Training Course: An Appreciation of Leather 🗒Gain a comprehensive appreciation of leather, its productio...
20/05/2026

🗒 1-Day Leather Training Course: An Appreciation of Leather 🗒

Gain a comprehensive appreciation of leather, its production, properties, and challenges in this one-day training course. Designed for anyone who has an interest in learning more about leather and its use in products – artisans, craftworkers, consumers, industry professionals etc.

This course combines a unique insight into the origins of leather and its importance through history up to modern day manufacture of leather and the technical challenges that are faced producing products for consumers. It will look at the importance of sustainability and legislation through to technical knowledge with practical insights into leather quality, care and consumer complaints.

During this hands-on day you will explore what exactly leather is, and how it has developed over millennia - including its key characteristics and how it compares to alternatives. You will examine raw material defects and how they occur and understand why we choose different animal hides and skins and learn how these influence leather selection and product use. The day also includes a video overview of how leather is made.

We will consider the sustainability of leather production, including its environmental and ethical implications. The course also covers the importance of quality assurance and will explore common leather faults and customer complaints and general leather care.

By the end of the course, you will have an understanding of how leather originated and how it is made today and an appreciation of why it is a sustainable and repairable material with unique characteristics – perfect for so many products!

📅 Wednesday 29th July (£220 per person)
⏰ 10:00 – 16:00
📍 Leather Conservation Centre, Canopy
📌 What3Words: ///dish.drama.mugs
🎟️ Book via our link in bio

Events may be subject to cancellation if the minimum number of signups is not reached.

🛠️ Step Three: Cleaning and Surface Stabilisation 🛠️Lastly, all five leather components were gently surface cleaned usin...
19/05/2026

🛠️ Step Three: Cleaning and Surface Stabilisation 🛠️

Lastly, all five leather components were gently surface cleaned using soft brushing and low-powered vacuum to remove loose particulate matter accumulated over decades of use. A circular area of fatty bloom on the seat cover was carefully softened using a heated spatula with a silicone paper barrier, reducing its visual impact without disturbing the surrounding leather.

Following cleaning, a light application of SC7400 surface finish with added black and brown pigment was applied across areas of loss and patching, providing protection and visual integration. There is a slight reduction in sheen in treated areas - a visible but delicate trace of the conservation process, and a considered choice that prioritises stability.

🗜 Interventive Techniques in Leather Conservation 🗜This professional course takes an intensive focus on interventive rep...
19/05/2026

🗜 Interventive Techniques in Leather Conservation 🗜

This professional course takes an intensive focus on interventive repair techniques and their application to leather and skin materials in heritage collections.

Exploring vital repair techniques such as humidification, lining and infilling, this practical course will look at selecting compatible materials and appropriate application techniques, creating mock repairs and sample packs which can be taken away for future reference.

Please Note:
This course is aimed at qualified conservation professionals - to book a place, please initially email a brief summary of professional background to [email protected]

📅 Tuesday 21st - Thursday 23 July (£660 per person)

⏰ 10:00 - 16:00 Daily

📍 Leather Conservation Centre, Canopy

📌 What3Words: ///dish.drama.mugs

Events may be subject to cancellation if the minimum number of signups is not reached.

🪡 Step Two: Stabilising the Arm Rests 🪡The arm rests presented the most visually striking damage on this piece - promine...
18/05/2026

🪡 Step Two: Stabilising the Arm Rests 🪡

The arm rests presented the most visually striking damage on this piece - prominent cracking across approximately half of both surfaces, with deposits of dirt becoming ingrained within the cracks and the underlying corium vulnerable to splitting.

Where the grain layer was lifting but intact, it was carefully repositioned and secured from beneath using BEVA 371 film with controlled heat activation, avoiding any disturbance to the finished surface. Toned Japanese tissue patches were then applied across areas of delamination and loss, protecting the friable areas and creating stability where the grain surface had been lost. The deep cracking across both arm rests was consolidated in the same way.

The result is not invisible, nor is it intended to be. Our aim with this object was to increase stability and longevity. The traces of this treatment are now part of the object's story, sitting alongside sixty years of use, repair, and care. Our aim was not to turn back the clock, but to ensure that the clock could keep ticking. In this case, the stability provided by this treatment is what allows this chair to go back to being what Charles and Ray Eames always intended it to be, ‘a chair you live in’.

Address

The Leather Conservation Centre, Canopy
Northampton
LE16WB

Telephone

01604719766

Website

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