Bristol architect designs new Clarks Shoes museum to mark firms 200th birthday

The Shoemakers Museum marks Clarks shoes 200th anniversary and is located next to the company’s headquarters in Street, and was designed by Bristol-based architectural firm Purcell.

It has four galleries and contains over 25,000 shoes, alongside historic items related to Clarks shoes and the Clark family, including documents, photographs and advertisements.

The museum is also has storefronts from Clarks the 1950s and 1980s as part of the experiences, as well as voices of former factory workers.

Beneath the galleries, the museum is home to an internationally significant collection of marine reptile fossils which were discovered on the layer of rock beneath the Clarks factories.

The fossils were first collected by Alfred Gillett, a Clarks family member and amateur palaeontologist.

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 pair of Clarks or you’re discovering the story for the first time, this is a space for connection, creativity and collective memory.”

Cato Pedder, chairwoman of the Alfred Gillett Trust, said: “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.

“More than a museum of shoes, this is a living, breathing tribute to the community, powered by the people who built it – from Quaker founders and factory workers to today’s local contractors, historians and volunteers.”