Strensall Tannery, York (Oct 2011)

Second report now and this one is the old tannery in Strensall near York.

This is pretty much everything i found about the site....


The Tannery was started around 1805. Why a tannery was established specifically in Strensall is not certain, but the fact that it was built next to the Foss Navigation (first opened in 1796) with its easy access to York and beyond may have been the deciding factor.

Strensall census returns for 1841 onwards and found that most of the tannery workers were born outside the village.

The tannery closed down on January 30th, 2004 and was supposed to be made into a business park with 350 new jobs.

Friday 24th October 2008
AN abandoned tannery in a York village has been torched by arsonists.

Vandals targeted the building in Sheriff Hutton Road, Strensall, in a late-night attack.

Seven fire crews attended the scene and spent several hours tackling the blaze.

Eyewitness William Fairclough said: “It took hold pretty fast before the fire brigade got there. It was well alight. - York Press


I think it has been victim to arson 5 times since it's closing.
There is only swamp and one remaining building left on the site still, after 7 years.

On with the pictures!


2521509_10a2b15a by Madw3ll, on Flickr


P1100294 by Madw3ll, on Flickr


P1100290 by Madw3ll, on Flickr

Power Room

P1100292 by Madw3ll, on Flickr


P1100288 by Madw3ll, on Flickr


P1100296 by Madw3ll, on Flickr


P1100297 by Madw3ll, on Flickr


P1100298 by Madw3ll, on Flickr


P1100299 by Madw3ll, on Flickr


P1100301 by Madw3ll, on Flickr


P1100306 by Madw3ll, on Flickr


P1100308 by Madw3ll, on Flickr


P1100310 by Madw3ll, on Flickr


P1100313 by Madw3ll, on Flickr


P1100314 by Madw3ll, on Flickr


P1100315 by Madw3ll, on Flickr


P1100317 by Madw3ll, on Flickr


P1100319 by Madw3ll, on Flickr


P1100321 by Madw3ll, on Flickr


P1100323 by Madw3ll, on Flickr


P1100325 by Madw3ll, on Flickr


P1100327 by Madw3ll, on Flickr

Hope you like!

Some amazing colours captured there (no so sure I like the look of that red substance seeping from the walls though!)

Cheers for posting

Lightbuoy said:

Some amazing colours captured there (no so sure I like the look of that red substance seeping from the walls though!)

Cheers for posting

Click to expand...

Yeh i'm pretty certain its blood, couldn't bring myself to taste it, haha.
There was a cat in hiding downstairs and we saw that one dead pigeon, but there was far too much for it to of come from that :/

What was the smell like? Tanneries have the most repugnant, stomach-churning, eyeball-melting smell on God's green earth. I've heard tell that the smell seeps into everything around it, and goes on stinking for years after, imparting a subtle undertone to the environment, like a shark in a paddling pool.

RichardH said:

What was the smell like? Tanneries have the most repugnant, stomach-churning, eyeball-melting smell on God's green earth. I've heard tell that the smell seeps into everything around it, and goes on stinking for years after, imparting a subtle undertone to the environment, like a shark in a paddling pool.

Click to expand...

There was nothing like that, infact there wasn't much of a smell at all, but it has been closed for 7 years and set alight about 5 times

RichardH said:

What was the smell like? Tanneries have the most repugnant, stomach-churning, eyeball-melting smell on God's green earth. I've heard tell that the smell seeps into everything around it, and goes on stinking for years after, imparting a subtle undertone to the environment, like a shark in a paddling pool.

Click to expand...

Ah, there's a live working tannery in Colyton, just a few miles from me (report on here somewhere), using traditional methods...and it only smells a bit near the settling tanks. Mind, I might have visited when there weren't any hides being processed! I've heard it can smell bad though...and I've got a strong sense of smell...so I might have been lucky that day.

Fab pics, FadeOut. I was a bit concerned about the red photo too. Cheers for posting, and welcome to the forum.