Closure of Shoe Museum Announced

Clarks has today announced that from Friday 27 September 2019, it will be closing its Shoe Museum which is located at its Headquarters in Street, Somerset, following the period of consultation with the museum’s three employees.

The museum, which houses the collection of more than 1,500 objects from all over the world, dating back to the Roman period through to the modern day has been open in Street since 1951.

The building would require significant investment and maintenance to ensure the artefacts continue to be correctly cared for and protected from damage that can be caused by the atmosphere.

The museum’s collection will now be taken care of by us here at the Trust and will eventually be transferred to our environmentally controlled and purpose-built archive, where they will be catalogued and cared for by our team of professional curators and archivists.

Access will continue to be provided to the collections at the Grange site, and we will continue to promote the cultural heritage of shoemaking via our local outreach projects and social media channels.

A spokesperson for Clarks said: “We’re extremely proud of our heritage and are pleased to have found a viable way to ensure the collection remains both local and available to the public.”