Title image: Shoe after excavation [Professor Benjamin Smith, UWA]
There’s a reason you don’t wear leather in the rain; it likes to absorb water and once it starts to dry, it will crack and warp.
What happens, then, when you find a pair of shoes that have been languishing in mud at the bottom of a well for over 100 years?
Partially excavated shoe [Professor Benjamin Smith, UWA]
Conserving archaeological leather is not an easy task as our Interpretation and Collections Manager Sarah Murphy recently found out.
To prevent further damage to the fragile leather, the water needs to be replaced with something more stable, like glycerol. Not surprisingly, Sarah discovered that trying to track down a supplier open over Easter that would sell less than 10,000 litres of glycerol was quite a challenge.
Furthermore, the process takes time. After sitting in their special solution in a fridge for 18 months, the shoes were slowly, but surely, stinking up the place with an odour reminiscent of an earthy ripe French cheese or perhaps more fittingly, a well-worn sock.
Dr Ian MacLeod having a whiff with Sarah Murphy [National Trust].
The National Trust is very lucky to have Dr. Ian MacLeod working with us to conserve the shoes. He has over 40 years’ experience in the conservation of marine archaeological objects and rock art and the shoes are currently undergoing the final stages of their conservation in his expert hands.
We are happy to report that the shoes are finally out of our fridge, although it’s fair to say it will never be quite the same again.
Well, well, well – what do we have here?
The shoes were discovered at Peninsula Farm at Wu-rut Woorat by students during a University of Western Australia archaeology field school held in 2022. According to Professor Benjamin Smith who led the field school research, old wells can be full of archaeological treasures as they “can become rubbish dumps for unwanted items.” The shoes were found underneath a number of old bottles dated between 1890 to 1920 so they may have been thrown away around this time or even earlier.
Image: Excavations in progress at Peninsula Farm [National Trust]