New Research on Clay Tobacco Pipes in Northern Britain and Ireland

This volume presents an overview of the clay tobacco pipe evidence from excavations located across a swathe of northern Britain and Ireland from Londonderry in the west to Hartlepool in the east, involving almost 20,000 unpublished examples. Line drawings or photographs of almost 1,000 pipes are included. The sites include both urban and rural assemblages, castles, manor houses, churches, ports and villages providing an opportunity to assess the social and geographic backgrounds of the smokers and the ways in which pipes became available to them. A few groups came from long-term research projects, but most are from rescue excavations. Highlights of the volume include a new comprehensive account of the history of pipe making in Edinburgh, the largest excavated assemblage from anywhere in Ireland, and a discussion of the dynamics of pipe production and trade in this large and rather neglected region.