The Crow Green tannery was situated at the south-west end of the town and was already in existence in 1816. It had a water-powered bark mill and 47 tan pits at that date. It was owned by the Selwood family for much of the 19th and 20th centuries, who probably purchased it from James Whitby around 1830, and it was often referred to as Selwood's tannery. It suffered from fires in 1831, 1867 and 1958. In 1881 it employed 48 people and over 100 in 1958 (8% of the local workforce at the time). One of the major products of the factory in the nineteenth century was high-quality sole leather, but during the Second World War, only poor-quality hides, such as buffalo, were allocated to the firm. The business was badly damaged by the invention of rubber stick-on shoe soles which reduced the demand for sole leather from shoe repairers. It finally finished operation in 1967 when the leather side of the business was sold to a Yorkshire firm.
