Sheepskin Parchment

White or light cream in colour and usable on both sides, Sheepskin Parchment is generally lighter and thinner than vellum. William Cowley is the only commercial manufacturer of genuine Sheepskin Parchment in the UK.

We only use the very best sheepskins available. We always personally select our sheepskins from our suppliers employing rigorous selection criteria. Typically we accept only the best 10% of available sheepskins as suitable for making our top quality Parchment.

Sheepskin Parchment is primarily used as material for writing, printing and document repair. Its natural structural qualities provide an especially soft and smooth surface that works well with ink, natural pigments, paint and gold leaf.

We only use the very best sheepskins available. Typically we accept only the best 10% of available sheepskins as suitable for making our top quality Parchment.

You can buy Sheepskin Parchment as whole skins or in standard cut sizes. We are pleased to cut custom sizes on request. Most Sheepskins average 5-6 square feet (half a square metre) in size. As with leather the natural skin is irregular in shape, so the useable area depends on the size and the number of pieces you wish to cut out of it.

We also supply some specialised products including:

Buffed Repair Parchment 

This has been developed specifically for conservation work, maintaining and repairing old manuscripts or books. It is very thin and delicate enabling it to be used to repair small holes without altering the overall appearance of the document.

Stained Parchment 

This is gently dyed using organic products to a light tan colour. This can be used to produce replicas of ancient works as the delicate colouring can effectively replicate the ageing process. Note that every skin takes the colour in a unique manor resulting in natural colour variation.