Alfred Gillett Trust
The Alfred Gillett Trust is an independent charity which safeguards a collection of over 100,000 museum objects and archive materials telling the stories of the Clarks shoemaking family and business, from its Quaker origins in Street to its position as a global brand. In 2024 planning permission for a new museum was granted. The Trust is preparing to open the doors to Shoemakers Museum in September 2025.
Who was Alfred Gillett?
Alfred Gillett (1814-1904) was a cousin of the founders of C & J Clark. A quarryman by trade, Alfred Gillett retired to Overleigh House in Street and spent many years researching and excavating the Jurassic Ichthyosaur fossils for which Street in renowned. The museum includes a gallery dedicated to his fossil discoveries.
The Alfred Gillett Trust collections
Since the archive opened to researchers in 2012 the collections have informed academic and research partnerships, including loans to museums such as the London Transport Museum and the Fashion Museum. The collections preserve a unique history of British working life and the evolution of a brand that put Street on the global stage. In 2021 the Trust purchased the heritage collections of C & J Clark to ensure these important stories and heritage are protected and shared for generations to come. In 2025 the Alfred Gillett Trust took the next step creating Shoemakers Museum to share at least some of these unique collections with the public through permanent exhibitions, temporary displays, archive tours, and outreach.
Discover the history of shoemaking in Street
Take a journey through 200 years of social and industrial change through the footsteps of the people and the business behind the global shoemaking brand
200 years of historyWhat's coming up
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Permanent ExhibitionExhibition
Shoemakers Galleries – Permanent Exhibition
Daily from 18 September
10am - 5pm
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Support us
Can you help us get past the finishing line? We are fundraising for the final £150k necessary to open Shoemakers Museum. Your contribution great or small would be welcome to help us furnish the building, complete the landscaping and equip our education rooms.
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