Carbisdale Deerskins and Lambskins
ESTABLISHED 1967

X marks the spot
View from Struie hill
with Culrain village insert

About Us

 welcome
Welcome!
We are a small craft tannery adapted from a farm steading (outbuildings) and situated on the Kyle of Sutherland in one of the last great wilderness areas of Europe.
Gathering holly for Christmas
Winter in Culrain
 The Scottish Highlands are an area of small towns and harbours, mountains, lochs, salmon rivers, wild deer and upland sheep farms.

We are fortunate to have on our doorstep the two most important factors in good tanning - a supply of the best lambskins and deerskins in the world and an inexhaustible flow of peaty water.  It is for these reasons and because of our unique blend of ancient and modern processing techniques that we are able to produce wool-on lambskins, hair-on deerskins, parchment and drum-skins, which cannot be surpassed in quality anywhere.

The Tannery Calendar

The Far North of Scotland is dominated by the climate. The winters are dark, cold and long. In the depth of winter daylight barely lasts 6 hours, whereas in the summer you can read a newspaper outside at midnight. In common with all small businesses in this part of the world our year revolves around the seasonal changes. Carbisdale woods in January!
sanding the back of a sheepskin Because of the expense of heating a farm steading, over the years we have found it uneconomical to process skins between November and March. The chemicals do not react adequately without the catalyst of heat and drying times can be unbelievable! Normally we can take in skins, which we will tan in the spring, and take orders during these months.

In March we set about tanning the stock which has been laid down in the beamhouse. The process for each batch of skins takes 10 days to 2 weeks. There is then a drying time of up to 4 weeks in our "hay" loft.  We have found that natural drying produces a superior leather.
The summer tourist season is short but hectic. There are Highland Games, Agricultural Shows and Craft Fairs.  We often have tourists and retailers visiting our tannery storeroom which we try to keep well stocked at this time of the year.
Sutherland Agricultural Show at Dornoch
Stacking red deer stagskins The late summer sees us re-stocking and buying full-size Highland lambskins to salt and stack ready for processing. Deerskins can be purchased only in the autumn and early winter, this being the official culling season. Most of our customers send in skins to be tanned during the late autumn and early winter. If well-salted (see essential salting treatment of sent-in skins) they can be safely left in a cool and dry place.
Then winter again!   A time for rest, recovery, repair and maintenance.

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