Shoemakers Museum Opens 18th September 2025

Museum doors open Thursday 18 September

Shoemakers Museum opens with an invitation to all – locals and visitors alike – to visit and reconnect with the stories beneath their feet and the shoes that carried them through life. As Clarks celebrates 200 years, Shoemakers Museum is the only place in the world where its story is told in full.

This September, a major new cultural destination opens its doors in the heart of Somerset. Shoemakers Museum, a bold project from the Alfred Gillett Trust, invites visitors into 200 years of shoemaking, design and community stories – from high street staples to fashion revolutions. Officially opening on Thursday 18th September 2025 in Street – and timed to mark the bicentenary of Clarks – the museum blends immersive galleries, rich social history and original artefacts to chart the global impact of a small Somerset village that helped shape how Britain – and the world – walks. Tickets go on sale today at www.shoemakersmuseum.org.uk.

Featuring hundreds of never-before-seen objects – from sheepskin slippers to desert boots, school shoes to Britpop stagewear – the museum is set within Clarks Village in Street and unpacks the moments that made Clarks part of the national DNA.

More than a museum about shoes, this is a story about people – the makers, designers, wearers and communities who built a global business from a small Quaker village. The museum offers a deeply personal and tactile experience of British life, blending high street nostalgia with global style and local pride. Visitors will step into atmospheric gallery spaces, explore recreated 1950s and 1980s shops, see the foot gauges that measured generations of growing feet and hear the voices of former Clarks workers sharing their memories from the factory floor.

Set within a striking new building by Purcell Architecture, Shoemakers Museum combines a 16th century manor house, a 17th century barn and a modern glass extension to house four permanent galleries. Original artwork, prototypes, promotional films and rarely seen archive material bring the Clarks story to life – alongside an unexpected twist beneath visitors’ feet: an internationally significant display of marine reptile fossils found in the layer of rock that runs under the Clarks factories.

These remains – some unearthed during a boom in factory and housing construction, others collected by Alfred Gillett, a Clarks family member and the namesake of the Trust – connect Somerset soil to deep geological time, adding a surprising layer to this contemporary chapter in British social history.

Visitors can explore the evolution of Clarks from a homegrown Quaker business into a global fashion brand worn by everyone from Jamaican Rude Boys to Ivy League students, American hip hop artists to Britpop icons. It’s a celebration of shoemaking and street style, retail rituals and advertising design, working life and cultural identity – all rooted in one extraordinary Somerset village.

The museum also features a relaxed, contemporary café offering locally sourced lunches, light bites and cakes made with ingredients from within a 35-mile radius, as well as a retail space with exclusive Shoemakers merchandise, books, prints and gifts inspired by the archive. In addition to its daily opening, the museum will host special events, educational programming, group tours and a full seasonal calendar.

Shoemakers Museum is a project of the Alfred Gillett Trust, a registered charity dedicated to preserving and sharing the Clarks archive and legacy. The museum will be open daily from 10am to 5pm, 361 days a year, and is set to become a new national destination for cultural explorers, families, fashion lovers and anyone who remembers their first Clarks shoes.

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 Clarks or you’re discovering their story for the first time, we can’t wait to welcome you.”

Cato Pedder, Chair of the Alfred Gillett Trust, added: “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.”

Shoemakers Museum opens with an invitation to all – locals and visitors alike – to reconnect with the stories beneath their feet and the shoes that carried them through life. As Clarks celebrates 200 years, this is the only place in the world where its story is told in full.

Shoemakers Museum
Opens: Thursday 18 September 2025
Tickets: On sale now via www.shoemakersmuseum.org.uk
Location: The Grange, Clarks Village, Street, Somerset BA16 0BQ
Opening hours: Daily, 9am–5pm