History of tannery studios

Building on Our Industrial Heritage

The industrial heritage of the Tannery Studios site dates back to the reign of King Charles II in the 16th Century, and the site has been in constant industrial use since then.

We are now adding the next chapter to the industrial heritage of the site, building on the new industrial assets of the area and creating new jobs and opportunities for a new generation of workers. The manufacturing provenance of the site is important to us, we cherish it and is reflected in the design of our new development. The story of our buildings, and the use of the site,  in many ways it mirrors the changes that have taken place in the wider British economy, from industrialisation to deindustrialisation to the reindustrialisation of the present day.

History

In the 17th Century, Surrey had many of the basic raw materials required by the defence industry; Iron, charcoal and timber from the oak forests for smelting, gunpowder and ship construction. The navy needed access to the Chilworth gun powder factory, as well the iron for ship construction. Transportation of explosives by cart over rough tracks to Chatham was problematic, as well as feeding the needs and demands of London’s expanding population, the answer market driven legislation for new infrastructure – by order of King Charles II, the river Wey navigation canal was constructed with work commencing in 1635.

Samuel Pepys the diarist and the Navy’s controller, modernised procurement procedures and set up the first mass production of pulley blocks in Portsmouth & Chatham which was essential equipment for the country’s expanding fleet, adding to the need for Surrey’s Oak. One of the bye products of timber production and gunpowder manufacture is bark. Its high tannin content is also one of the basic chemicals required for leather manufacture. The low cost local supply of Oak bark, lime and hides became the foundation of a tannery at Tanyard’s Bridge, Tannery Lane, Send.

The second world war provided the next impetus for change. During the war, the site’s current owner’s ancestors were manufacturing critical sealants for Vicker’s ammunition in London. However East London’s industrial production was vulnerable to enemy action and where possible was moved to less exposed areas. Production was moved out to the site in 1943. The Tannery then changed to processing natural raw materials such as gums and resins, dried foods, and botanical based materials for the war effort. The name was changed to describe its new trade; The Crack Pulverising Mills and subsequently Crack Processing – before ‘Crack’ had other connections.

The Crack Pulverising Mills

Cracks’ traditional trade in turn had to adapt to changing market conditions as its empire trade of blending and milling natural gums and resins and merchanting sea shells to the button industry were gradually replaced by plastics and synthetic chemicals. A new cycle of change took place when the company moved into the  manufacture of agro-chemicals.  This change in use was relatively short lived, as this type of agro-chemical business was for economic reasons moved to a new location in Teesside a little over five years ago, where the business has thrived and expanded.

This relocation of the agro-chemical business was the catalyst for the rebirth of the site in the digital age as a new creative community, taking advantage of the canvas of character buildings, waterside location and excellent connections by road, rail, air and fibre to the outside world.  But before we arrive at this final destinations we must, in the tradition of the site, take into account one final external factor.

The world financial crisis of 2008 has been the most recent extrinsic factor influencing the future of this historic site.  So severe was the crisis that it forced the liquidation of not one, but two of the site owner’s banks. Trying to avoid reference to Oscar Wilde, the collapse first of Northern Rock, then Lehman Brothers who purchased Northern Rock’s commercial loan book has adversely affected the site’s future. Like many businesses all across the UK, Europe and beyond, the lack of available bank credit has limited room for investment. As a consequence, the dream of creating a new creative community made up of digital entrepreneurs is taking rather longer than anticipated, but the need for the facilities demanded by these entrepreneurs continues to grow in the intervening years.

New Creative Community

They say necessity is the mother of invention, and in this case it proved to be true as the lack of working capital and protracted decision making processes involved with a liquidator required Tannery Studios to develop an alternative operating business model offering a viable ‘easy-in, easy-out’ option that could function without normal banking facilities.

Looking at priorities, the management team realised that ultra-fast and reliable internet access is one of the fundamental building blocks required to modernise the site and in 2010 took the initiative to lay their own fibre pipe to the site. A variety of small business units were offered to digital businesses and from a standing start some 150 people and 40 companies now work on site. This goes to prove that even in difficult times solutions can be found and sometimes a lack of investment capital can make you more resourceful!

This resourcefulness has led to the construction of a trial sound studio, which in turn led to the identification of local market gap for studios in the widest sense, ranging from sound to motion capture editing, post production to video. The decision was taken in 2011 to focus future conversion plans on supporting the unique creative supply chain that exists in Surrey and North Hampshire. The concept of developing a new creative community was born, and that is why the tannery at send is being developed as Tannery Studios!

In the tradition of the site, we are simply taking advantage of the resources, economic conditions and competitive advantage of the UK to seize new markets, but this time the trades are very 21st Century!