PIPE (SMOKING)

An incomplete ceramic tobacco pipe of Post-Medieval date. This fragment of clay pipe consists of a short length of stem, less than 50% of the bowl and an incomplete heel or spur. The stem survives to a length of 14.16mm. The stem has an oval cross section, height 10.69mm and width 7.23mm. The hole through the stem is circular with a diameter of 2.09mm. The angle between the top of the stem and the back edge of the bowl is c.115 degrees. It is likely that a tiny length of bowl rim survives, which indicates that the bowl had a height of 31.46mm when measured from the underside of the stem at a right angle or 31.84mm when measured along the slope of the bowl to the underside of the stem. The bowl wall has a thickness of 2.37mm at the back just to the side of the mould line. The fragment weighs 3.90g. At the base of the bowl, where the stem ends, is a projecting heel or spur that might be transitional and possibly crudely made. On one side the tip is chipped at an angle giving this part of the pipe a pointed appearance. The projection has a length of 4.81mm, is 5.10mm wide and 3.40mm thick. The mould line is clearly visible at the back of the bowl, top and bottom of the stem and around the projecting spur/heel. The mould line, chip and possible crude moulding of the spur/heel prevent definate identification as to what type of projection was intended, however it is likely that this is a transitional pipe with the projection being slightly more than a heel but not being a fully developed spur.