Bewdley English Made Clay Pipe - Kestrel - Green (1)

The Kestrel clay pipe was innovated by John Griffiths, he found that the only problem with smoking clay pipes was that they often over heated. He overcame this issue by making an inner bowl so that there was a cooling air pocket between the tobacco and the rest of the pipe. The the use of this inner and outer  bowl makes the pipe perfect for smoking without getting too hot.  These pipes are very rare and sadly no longer in production. The clay pipes are finished in a coloured glaze and from a distance almost look like a briar pipe.

Ww have recently received over 150 Bewdley Clay pipes, these were made by John Griffiths in the heart of England. John Griffith's unfortunately passed away in recent years but we were contacted by his son who kindly sold us the remainder of his work. John was a master craftsman and was passionate about pipe smoking and his pottery hobby. He started making clay pipes as a hobby and to sell in his sweet shop in Bewdley. The success of his clay pipes turned his hobby in to a full time career and he ended up making thousands of clay pipes in his time. His work was truly wonderful and he developed clay pipes in hundreds of different shapes and sizes. The production of clay pipes is a dying art these are some of the last UK made clay pipes available in the world. 

These pipes are few years old so please inspect the photos carefully

Like meerschaum, clay pipes give one of the cleanest and driest smokes around, thanks to the highly porous nature of unsealed (fired) clay. 

Clay pipes were first introduced into the UK during the 1500’s, when tobacco was first brought back from the new world. What started off as practical design soon changed over the coming centuries, from classic cutty’s to elegantly designed models. The shape and bowl size fluctuated over this time, due to availability and cost of tobacco.