In an age before shoes and boots were waterproof, how did people navigate dirty streets and muddy country lanes without ruining their footwear?

Worn by men and women alike from the middle ages to around 1850, pattens and overshoes protected the expensive delicate shoes of the rich, and the everyday shoes of agricultural workers, domestic servants and coachmen. Made of sturdy leather, wood and iron, they came in a remarkable variety of styles, and could be surprisingly decorative. Most households the country over would have owned at least one pair of pattens, and the unmistakable clatter of pattens on paved streets rang out in every British city and town.

Join Dr Faye Prior for a journey through the history of overshoes in Britain – a history that’s surprisingly naughty in places! Experience the enormity of a massive pair of Victorian coachman’s overboots, examine a set of pattens that belonged to a Yorkshire schoolmistress, and you could even hold in your hand a very rare (and tiny!) pair of children’s pattens from the eighteenth century.

£5 per person. Museum admission applies. Click here to book through Eventbrite.