stafford shoes

The History of shoe making in Stafford

The site doesn't pretend to be the complete encyclopedia of shoe making in Stafford but is more about providing a flavour of the industry and of how significant it was to Stafford and it's people, right up to 1998 .

We have set out below some interesting facts and snippets which you may already know or may be new to you

Surprising as it may seem the tradition of shoemaking in Stafford dates back many years - a Shoemakers Guild was formed in 1476 .

It would be a further 300 years before William Horton appeared on the scene , settling in Chetwynd House and producing shoes from the warehouse at the rear in Mill Street

Recent reasearch has unearthed the names of over 148 different shoe and boot making companies that existed at one time or another in Stafford and over 50 associated companies .

At one time Stafford was exporting over 5 million shoes per year to South Africa alone and was supplying most of the boots to the British Army

Stafford was one of the first areas in the country to elect a working man to parliament. It is thought that his success was due to the support of one of the boot and shoemaking unions .

One of the boot and shoe making unions was born in Stafford and they came back to the town to celebrate their 25th anniversary .

The shoe making industry was instrumental in the birth and development of many other companies in the town. Dorman Diesels , Venables , Stafford Box , Evode and Universal Grinding Wheels to name a few , and of course many of these have outlived the shoe manufacturers !