Bark Peeling

Text: Malcolm Dick

Image: Two women stripping bark from a small tree, Wyre Forest (early 20th century)
[Image from Bewdley Museum]

Women use small irons to strip bark from a small tree on the ground. The women first cut the bark with the iron and then worked it between the wood and the bark with a back-and- forth action (see photograph). The aim was to produce strips of bark between one and three feet in length which could be easily stacked and transported.

Summary

Bark Peeling was a long-established woodland craft which used the same techniques for centuries. It contained an essential product which was used to process animal hides before they could be turned into products for sale. Several 19th and early 20th century century photographs held in Bewdley Museum record the work of bark peelers and the tools that they used.