‘Our last heritage asset’: fears for Walsall Leather Museum as council plans to sell | Walsall

Campaigners protesting the sale of Walsall Leather Museum said the institution was the town’s “last remaining heritage asset”.

The museum tells the story of the town’s leather industry and those who work in it. In September, the local council agreed plans to sell the museum building to a local university to provide support for students with special educational needs and disabilities (Submit).

Business owner and leather designer Lauren Broxton, 35, who was among those protesting the sale, said the council was “conflicting heritage with sending supplies” and said there were no detailed plans for where the museum would move.

Broxton said there were fears among campaigners that the move would put an end to leatherworking skills in the region. “These collections may have been shelved or put into storage for two to five years,” he said.

The designer, who lectures on leather craftsmanship at colleges and universities, said the West Midlands town had a global reputation as a leader in leather production. According to the museum, the origins of the town’s leather industry date back to the Middle Ages.

“You can’t walk around this town without seeing some sort of reference to leatherworking or leather. So you go to the bars, there are pictures of old saddlery catalogues, saddles on the walls,” he said. “It’s so ingrained in the cultural heritage.”

Richard Brown, managing director of Abbey England, a wholesale supplier of British leather, saddlery and saddlery tools, echoed Broxton’s concerns. He said the museum was “the only place where you can see what a saddler does, what a foundry will do, what bridle makers will do.”

In response to criticism, Walsall council said it would not close the museum and was committed to moving it to a central location in the city.

A spokesman said: “We are liaising with many stakeholders about how the museum can become more liveable in the long term. There is a need to increase visitor numbers and improve the services it offers so it provides value for money and better represents the history and heritage of our borough.”

But campaigners fear the council will not be able to find new premises for the museum.

“What they’re trying to accomplish doesn’t seem to make much sense, and they can’t explain themselves well enough,” Brown said. “At least Walsall has a job and it should.” [about] Finding a comprehensive way to help this trade remain relevant in the modern world.

“Walsall saddlers are desperate for work and waiting for the world to remember them; if the museum closes no one will want to remember them.”

Broxton started going to the museum, which is free to visit, at the age of five, which he said “definitely influenced” his decision to start his own business. Speaking about the workshops and school visits it offers, he said: “I think the museum is a great example of how we can engage with young people and a wider range of people at a very early age.”

The move was also criticized by local Labor MP Valerie Vaz, who said the museum was not currently eligible for the Dispatch service.

He said the council was “seeking to justify a complete disregard not only for cultural heritage and popularity across the UK and internationally, but also for Walsall’s impact on the leather industry and its potential to develop its world-leading reputation”.