Ulster American Folk Park

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Clay Pipes

Clay pipes for smoking tobacco are among the most common objects to be found in archaeological digs and ploughed fields. This section will tell you about their method of manufacture and reveal some of the past beliefs and conflicting attitudes to smoking. (Get closer by clicking the images).

Clay pipes have been manufactured for over four hundred years. A clay-pipe works is recorded as being in Belfast’s Winetavern Street (then called Pipe Lane), in 1812.

The white clay used to make these pipes came from Devonshire. It was kneaded and rolled roughly into the size and shape of a pipe. An iron needle was then inserted into the stem and the bowl end roughly bent into position.

The clay was then pressed into an iron mould and the whole lot passed through a press. The bowl of the pipe was hollowed out using a 'stopper'. The rough upper part of the bowl was cut off clean while still in the mould. The pipe was then removed from the mould and any roughness trimmed off by girls using a knife.

In good weather, the pipes were laid out in the sun for partial drying, after which they were carefully packed in 'saggers', the stems pointing towards the centre and inclined downwards. The 'saggers' were placed in a kiln and heated for hours.

Pipes from the Belfast works were sent to all parts of Ulster. They were easily broken, so demand for them enormous. An average smoker may have used four pipes a week.

Women pipe-smokers were common in Ireland and the fumigatory effects of tobacco were believed to be valuable. It was thought that sick animals could be cured by having tobacco smoke blown up their nostrils.

The conflict between smokers and non-smokers developed early. The anti-smoking lobby had influential leaders, including two Popes, Urban VII and Innocent XII, who were prepared to excommunicate smokers. In the 1600s, some countries forbade smoking under pain of death. In Russia a smoker's nose might be cut off. However, these extreme methods of discouragement had little effect.

The introduction of the briar pipe in the late nineteenth century sounded the death knell for pipes made from clay. The industry declined further as cigarettes became more popular.

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