Museum opens in Somerset to celebrate 200 years of Clarks shoes

A museum has opened in Somerset to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Clarks shoes.

Shoemakers Museum is situated next to the company's headquarters in Street and houses more than 25,000 shoes.

The archive contains historic items related to Clarks shoes and the Clark family, including documents, photographs and advertisements.

It is set across four galleries and explores the brand's Quaker beginnings in Somerset to becoming a global organisation.

There are sheepskin slippers, desert boots, Britpop stagewear and school shoes, along with promotional films and prototypes.

Shopfronts from Clarks in the 1950s and 1980s are part of the experience, along with the voices of former factory workers.

Rosie Martin, director of Shoemakers Museum, said: "This is a museum about people - their craft, their community and the shoes that became part of life's biggest milestones.

"Whether you remember your first pair of Clarks or you're discovering the story for the first time, this is a space for connection, creativity and collective memory."

The museum was built by a team of local contractors, designers and engineers, with the Bristol-based architectural firm Purcell.

Beneath the galleries, the museum houses an internationally significant collection of marine reptile fossils which were discovered in the layer of rock beneath the Clarks factories.

The fossils were first collected by Alfred Gillett, a Clarks family member and amateur palaeontologist.

Cato Pedder, chairwoman of the Alfred Gillett Trust, said: "The museum stands not just as a tribute to the Clark family legacy but as a platform for future generations to explore creativity, community and cultural identity - through the simple act of putting one foot in front of the other.

"More than a museum of shoes, this is a living, breathing tribute to the community, powered by the people who built it - from Quaker founders and factory workers to today's local contractors, historians and volunteers."

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