Clay Pipes

Social History (Museum of St Albans)

Clay pipes, possibly Tudor. Tobacco smoking was introduced from the New World in late Tudor times. It was initially very expensive and only the rich could afford it. People visiting inns and taverns often smoked a pipe along with their drink. Many clay pipes found in St Albans are marked with a symbol showing that they were manufactured to order by an inn, for example the Crown & Anchor, or the Rose and Crown. In 1970 the St Albans & Hertfordshire Architectural & Archaeological Society made a rare find on Holywell Hill. They excavated the site of an 18th century tobacco pipe kiln and found thousands of fragments of clay pipe bowl and stem, together with chunks of the kiln itself. Some of the pipes were marked with the maker's initials on the spur below the bowl. The commonest mark was "WR", possibly William Reynolds, who was working in St Albans in the early 18th century.

Digital Camera

1) Photo Studio

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