J&FJ Baker Review: Britain's Last Oak Bark Tannery

Most leather today is tanned in hours using chromium salts. It's fast, cheap, and produces a uniform product. It's also a 20th-century invention.

For the previous 2,000 years, leather was tanned using oak bark. Hides were layered in pits with ground bark and left for up to 14 months — the tannin in the bark slowly transforming raw skin into durable, beautiful leather.

J&FJ Baker in Colyton, Devon, is the last tannery in Britain still using this ancient method.

The Heritage

Founded in 1896, J&FJ Baker has been in the same family for over 128 years. The tannery sits in the Axe Valley in East Devon, where the mild climate and abundant oak forests made it an ideal location for the bark tanning process.

At one time, every town in Britain had a tannery. The leather industry was as fundamental as milling or blacksmithing. Today, J&FJ Baker is the sole survivor of the oak bark tradition.

Their leather is used by the finest saddle makers, bookbinders, and leather goods manufacturers in the world. When heritage brands need authentic, traditionally-tanned leather, Baker's is the only British source.

The Craft

Oak bark tanning is extraordinarily slow and labour-intensive:

1. Sourcing — Oak bark is harvested from coppiced woodland in spring when the sap is rising. The bark is dried and ground
2. Liming — Raw hides are soaked in lime pits to remove hair and prepare the skin for tanning
3. Pit Tanning — Hides are layered in deep brick pits with ground oak bark. Water is added. Then you wait. For 12 to 14 months, the tannin slowly penetrates the hide
4. Drying — Tanned hides are hung in open-sided drying lofts, where Devon air does the work
5. Currying — The dried leather is worked with oils and tallows to achieve the desired flexibility and finish
6. Grading — Each hide is inspected and graded by hand

The result is leather of extraordinary quality. Oak bark tanned leather is firmer, more durable, and develops a richer patina than chrome-tanned alternatives. It also improves with age — a Baker's hide at 50 years old will look better than it did new.

Why It Matters

The slow-leather movement mirrors what's happening in food — a return to traditional methods that produce superior results at the cost of time and patience.

But J&FJ Baker isn't just about nostalgia. Their leather is a critical supply chain component for other endangered crafts. Saddlers, bookbinders, and bespoke shoemakers depend on traditionally-tanned leather. If Baker's closes, those crafts lose their raw material.

This is the supply chain fragility that Heritage Crafts warns about. Endangered crafts don't exist in isolation. They form ecosystems, and losing one supplier can cascade through an entire tradition.

The Verdict

J&FJ Baker is perhaps the most strategically important firm in this directory. They don't just practise an endangered craft — they supply the raw material that other endangered crafts depend on.

The leather they produce is objectively superior to modern alternatives. The 14-month tanning process creates a material that chrome tanning cannot replicate. And they are the last firm in Britain doing it.

Pros:

• Britain's last oak bark tannery — the only one
• 14-month tanning process produces exceptional leather
• Critical supplier to other heritage crafts (saddlery, bookbinding, shoemaking)
• Family-owned, 128 years, Devon

Cons:

• Not a consumer-facing brand (supplies other makers)
• Lead times measured in months, not weeks

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