Exactly who arrived back smoking a pipe is not known but pirates, privateers and early sailors were the first to bring it to the attention of people here in England and the smoking of a clay pipe was taken up very quickly. Tobacco would have been smoked, sniffed and chewed by mariners and as we so often read about the oceans of the world at this time were used by traders, fishermen and of course pirates. It is not until the mid to late 16th Century that we begin to find written references to the smoking of clay pipes in England.

The ancient people of Ecuador were using pipes as long ago as 500-300 BC and the region of Central America first colonised by visiting Europeans would have been very diverse in what it had to offer. The site of Historic Jamestown has recovered early examples during archaeological excavations and Sir Walter Raleigh's Colony at Roanoke Island is one of the places where the clay pipe was seen and recorded by John White.Īlthough the use of tobacco leaves was known by Europeans since the time of Columbus in 1492 only small amounts were brought back as an exotic herb for medicinal experimentation at first. English mariners setting up the first colonies there were introduced to smoking which was cermonial but it was not long before smoking was taken up as a habit by mariners who travelled from port to port around the globe. The earliest clay pipes known in England and Europe are generally thought to date from c.1580-1600 and are thought to have been copied from styles smoked by the Native Indian tribes of the North/East American Continent. My CD ROM holds hundreds more images of clays from all over the world. Please note these images are copyright and you should write to me if you wish to use them in your publications.

A short history of Clay Pipes is presented here along with photographs for your enjoyment and for help in identification.

How to make a smoking pipe stand