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These shoes were worn by the poet John Clare in the 1840s.

These black leather lace shoes were worn by one of Britain’s greatest poets, John Clare, who was born in the Northamptonshire village of Helpston on 13 July 1793.

Throughout his life Clare suffered from mental illness which led him to being committed to a private asylum in Epping Forest. In 1841 he was admitted to the County Lunatic Asylum in Northampton – now St Andrew’s Hospital. Clare was allowed the freedom to take walks and he continued to write, taking nature as his inspiration and conveying the beauty of the landscape.