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In 1749 the Humpherson family founded a horn works in Worcestershire County. Over 250 years later, this company, now known as Abbeyhorn and based in Holme, still produces premium shoe horns using the horn of the zebu.
In 1912 the Humphersons moved their company to Gloucester. Abbeyhorn remained family-owned for a whopping 171 years before being sold to the Grove family in 1920. Incidentally, the Groves possessed a renowned horn button manufactory, and had roots in the button industry dating back to the 16th century. The Groves did not hold on to Abbeyhorn for long; they handed over the reins to the horn works to Percy Leresche in 1923. It was Leresche who changed the name of the company to “The Abbey Horn Works”, inspired by a signpost for the abbey on Llanthony Street.
In 1932 Leresche moved the company to Kendal in Cumbria, where Abbeyhorn teamed up with the storied horn comb manufacturer Jim Troughton. Leresche remained at the helm of Abbeyhorn until 1955, when he sold the company to John Barnes. Renamed “Abbey Horn of Kendal Ltd.," the horn works expanded exports of horn products, a strategy that met with great success.
In 1991 Paul Cleasby, a former Abbeyhorn apprentice, bought the company and moved it to an 18th-century mill facility in Holme, a village in Lancashire. He simultaneously renamed the company “Abbeyhorn of Lakeland”. In 1998 Cleasby acquired the Scottish horn works “Horncraft”. The company’s current name, Abbeyhorn, was created in tandem with this merger.
Abbeyhorn therefore represents over 250 years of traditional craftsmanship. The company’s shoe horns are still made by hand today. The raw material used to make these shoe horns is taken from the powerful horns of the Nigerian zebu. After being cut out from zebu horn, each shoe horn is formed over an open flame, hand-ground, and polished with the utmost care. Each Abbeyhorn shoe horn is a one-of-a-kind piece. The shoe horns provide just the right amount of give to help you put on your shoes, while preventing shoe leather at the heel from becoming damaged—an unpleasant side effect of using metal shoe horns. Moreover, Abbeyhorn shoe horns are also far more pleasant to the touch than their cold metal counterparts.
England’s finest bespoke shoemakers have been relying upon Abbeyhorn shoe horns for over 100 years.
