About our rugs
The moral issues of buying our hides
Why have hide rugs?
Sheep skin rugs
How can I buy and where?
About
our rugs
What could be more luxurious, whilst still being so down to earth, than
a beautifully marked Galloway hide rug? These hardly native cattle have
evolved to withstand the wettest of windblown climates, and hence their
coat is famously soft and long. Belted Galloways you probably recognise,
but the 'Riggit' variant you might not. They are an exceptionally rare
strain of Galloway, recently recovered from near extinction. Their skin
pattern varies from Black with a white stripe running down the spine,
to white all over, with blue black spots across both flanks. They are
often the most strikingly marked hides. See more on our Riggits page
- being developed.
Occasionally available are lustrous all over Black hides, Red belted
(that's red either end, with a white band across the middle), dun belted
- sandy brown with a white belt, all over solid Dun, and Orange/Red,
from the local South Devon breed.
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The moral issues
of buying our hides
Don't confuse these with imported cattle hides, often from smooth coated
animals, reared on cleared South American rainforest land, or in North
American feedlots.
Our rugs are from thick-coated hill cattle, grazing in extended family
groups, on unimproved moorland pasture.
Unlike wild animal hides, these come from domesticated farm animals.
There are no issues about poaching, endangered species or dubious chains
of custody. The Coaker family have raised cattle on the same Dartmoor
farm for over 160 years, with many of the cattle being descended from
the original herd. The soft flowing coat of the Galloways allow them
to survive out on the wind swept moors, and then, in turn, lends itself
to their further use as gorgeous cured hides.
It is no coincidence that many of the most sought after furs and skins
are derived from wild animals that live in extremes of climate. Nowadays,
of course, such sources often carry a certain amount of political baggage.
Another reason to use domesticated hill livestock.
You are welcome to visit the farm (having first given us a ring to check
we're here!), and see how the animals are raised.
Each hide is patterned slightly differently, and variations of colour
and markings are often available (See picture gallery). After selection
for slaughter, surplus steers are delivered a local abattoir, travelling
for only twenty minutes to half an hour. There, they are despatched for
processing into our highly acclaimed Galloway beef
. The hides are then transported to a top quality tannery, and tanned
to a very high standard.
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Why have hide rugs?
The hides can be used as centrepiece rugs, striking wall hangings, or
tactile, sensual throws. Kids love to snuggle into them, and are often
asleep on them before you know it! It is widely suggested that contact
with natural animal hides is usually non-allergic.
Having hide rugs around us is just about the most original interior décor
the human race has, vying in our ancestral behaviour with making fire
and keeping domesticated dogs. Try one, you'll realise it reaches something
in your soul you didn't know was there!
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Sheep skin rugs
We also stock sheep and lambskins, from our hill flocks of Scotch and
Cheviot sheep. Occasionally we carry lustrous sheepskins from the rare
White-faced Dartmoor's, and skins from young John Coaker's black Scotch
sheep, and Black Welsh Mountain.
Like the cattle hides, these are a tactile and natural skin to have around
the home.
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How and where?
We generally have a stock of hides here at the farm, and often display
at Viking
Saddlery in Buckfastleigh, Powdermills
Pottery, Postbridge and Pixieland,
Dartmeet.
We can arrange freight, if you wish to select from the stock via the website
and photo gallery, and have a hide
rug delivered.