Kendal asks for return of shoe archive

Campaigners in Cumbria are demanding the return of an extensive shoe archive, including the remains of Roman sandals, which was taken 300 miles south in 1996 after K Shoes in Kendal was taken over by Clarks in Street, Somerset.

The shoe retailer has said the important collection was moved to better storage facilities, and needed to be kept for proper cataloguing.

But campaigners in Kendal want the shoes back, claiming the northern town has been "robbed of its heritage".

Led by the local paper, the Westmorland Gazette, the Hand Back Our Heritage campaign has enlisted the support of Robert and Jonathan Somervell, the great-grandson and great-grand nephew of Robert Miller Somervell, who founded K Shoes in 1842.

Last night Jonathan Somervell said the family had not been told the collection was to be moved, and had written 15 letters over four years asking for its return - none of which had been answered.

"We do think of this historic archive as our Elgin marbles," he said. "We know they've the legal right to remove them but the moral argument is very different."

Clarks, which took over K Shoes in 1981, has so far resisted demands to return the collection, but has agreed to meet the campaigners next month. Richard Clark, the company's former director, said: "Returning some of the memorabilia to Kendal is on the agenda."