Leathermarket Gardens

Leathermarket Gardens sits on land that was once the epicenter of a notorious and foul-smelling industry. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the City of London banned tanning within its walls because the process used dog excrement and urine to soften animal hides. These businesses migrated across the river to this very spot in Bermondsey, where the open space and water access allowed the trade to flourish. You are standing on what was once the center of a specialized district that produced a third of all the leather in the country.