The site has been a tannery since Roman times. The long tanning method has changed little in centuries. The raw hides are soaked in lime where the hair is loosened as the pores open. While still wet the remaining hair is scraped off before the hides are placed in the first of the handler tanning pits. The hides are moved by hand every week for three months into progressively stronger tanning liquors. These liquors are made by soaking oak bark in Devon water to extract the tannins, the same chemicals that give red wine its distinctive flavour.