Poultice boot
Leather poultice boot with canvas lining
Name/Title
Poultice bootEntry/Object ID
2025.1.70Description
Leather poultice boot with canvas liningContext
The three waterways that meet in Wakefield encouraged commerce and industry from the start of the industrial revolution. The combination of river and canals - the Aire and Calder, the Calder and Hebble and the Barnsley Canal enabled goods to be transported north to the whole of the Vale of York, south to Lincolnshire and west to Yorkshire and Lancashire. From Weeland, approximately 5 miles from Wakefield it was possible to navigate to the North Sea. Horses were of great importance in supporting this transport of goods, including grain, stone, granite and slate. Despite the development of steam power for the barges, horses were still used on the Calder and Hebble till the 1960s. The inscription on this boot - A & C. N., most probably means that it belonged to Aire and Calder Navigation Co. The Woods family who made the boot probably specialised in make harnesses, bridles and other equipment for the horses that were pulling the barges. The photo of the shop shows a large number of heavy collars hanging above the window. It may not just have been a wise marketing decision as the family married into a barge masters family.Category
Horse Welfare and Farriers
Animal Husbandry