Why Do They Call It A Churchwarden Pipe?

 

Like the Bent Billiard above, most of the shapes of pipes may either have a curved mouthpiece, or have both the stem and the mouthpiece bent. Bulldog pipes come in both curved and bent varieties as well (not to be confused with Rhodesian shapes). Many builders & smokers are divided in their opinion of some pipes names, usually concerning Bulldog and Rhodesian shapes. This bent pipe, which is either a half to a full length, is usually fitted with a precious horn or metal insert, as well as an overhanging lip at the rim of the bowl. 

Its especially long stem is removable to make it easier to clean, and the inside of the bowl is pre-carbonized to protect the wood. The smaller bowl makes it quick to smoke, and the compact design gives this smart little pipe some pocket-friendly protection when you are working. Cherrywood is another pipe with thick walls, which is often more the case, and this, combined with the comfort of sitting it alone in your back, makes this an excellent pipe for smoking while enjoying a strong drink, reading the paper, or some other task requiring one-handed usage. While many people think that the additional length of the stem provides for cooler, dryer smoke, more likely, it just helps to keep the smoke from your eyes when enjoying your pipe. 

It is said that one of the reasons for these longer stems is to give Churchwardens clearer views, since the smoke from the pipe is farther away and does not interfere with their vision. Others claim the added length of the stems allowed church watchmen at night to smoke with the pipe outside of church windows, and a few claim that the name was taken from the opportunity to lay the pipe down on a pew at the church right in front of the smoker. Churchwardens pipes are allegedly named for Churchwardens, who once placed long pipes outside of church windows to allow them to smoke inside church. These Churchwardens couldnt expect to go all night without smoking, so Churchwardens had pipes made with specially long stems to ensure smoke and the pipes wouldnt get into their sight while keeping a watchful eye. 

Longer pipes allowed for cooler smoke, but they were also easier to break, so were often thrown out immediately after use. Churchwarden pipes, in essence, had longer stems that allowed for extra cooling of smoke, producing cooler smoke because of the distance that smoke had to travel from bowl to mouthpiece. Churchwarden pipes, while not quite as handy as the average pipe with the hose, do indeed have very cool smoke because of their length: tobacco takes another route before reaching your mouth. Technically, the pipes are not within consecrated grounds, and Churchwardens are free to smoke however they wish. Its long stem is the primary appeal of a Churchwardens pipe. 

Many clay pieces of a clay churchwarden pipe have been found by archaeologists, giving birth to a myth that a long clay churchwarden pipes stem will, for sanitation purposes, be broken by the next patron at a tavern or saloon that wants to smoke. Unlike the robust briar, the delicate clay churchwarden pipes--each one is approximately 15 inches long, has a long, narrow stem, and delicate bowl--are much too delicate to be transported. With the pipes stem openings and bowl shapes dissected at the Fare-thee-well, one detail remains unquantified, the interior diameter of the bowl, apparently made larger when tobacco became cheaper. 

With the pipe stem holes and bowl shapes analyzed to a fare-thee-well, one detail remained unquantified, namely the interior diameters of the bowls, which evidently were made larger as tobacco became cheaper. The most common men would smoke short pipes, which were usually made shorter by cutting the ends off of the pipes stems, due in great part to a common shared pipe at the inns and ale houses. The shorter pipes were intended to please patrons, who separated from previous smokers by cutting the ends off. Bill Burney, the originator of the classic Pipe Parts ASP chart, defines a Churchwarden as having 9-18-inch long stems with smaller bowls compared to the standard shapes. Churchwardens are a curious, nearly unheard-of pipe in Kapp & Petersons catalogue, particularly for a shape that stretches back over more than half the companys history. 

Kapp & Petersons forebear was the Reading Pipe, seen here in its lone catalogue appearance, in 1906. The Churchwarden is an interesting, if unremarkable, heirloom of a reed. Lilley suggests the Churchwardens ancest