Ashton Pipes: The Birth of an English Brand

Ashton is a brand founded in England in 1983 that made a name for itself among top-tier briar pipemakers within just a few years. Its origin lies in the meeting of two people: William John Taylor, a maker trained at the Alfred Dunhill factory, and R. D. Field, the importer who took on the brand's distribution in the United States. Field's first-hand account of the founding years, titled "The Ashton Pipe Story," is the primary source for details from this early period.

From the Dunhill Bench to His Own Brand

According to accounts, Taylor joined Alfred Dunhill as a lathe operator in 1959, at fifteen. The apprenticeship at the factory was a long one: newcomers spent years on support tasks before reaching the bench, and most experienced pipemakers kept their own methods to themselves. Taylor built up this knowledge over time and decided to found his own brand in the early 1980s. The name Ashton was settled in talks with Field early in 1983; known records put the number of pipes that left the workshop that year at thirty-one. Taylor left his job in 1984 to move fully into his own workshop, and as a mark of confidence in the brand, added Ashton to his surname, taking the name William John Ashton-Taylor.

Production Method

Two processes define Ashton's technical identity. The first is oil curing. According to the maker's own description, turned bowls are first heated for eight hours, then soaked for eight hours in a mixture of three different oils, then mounted on heated brass pins and left for fourteen days. Over this time, the oil seeping back out of the wood carries with it the sap and residue remaining in the briar.

The second is deep sandblasting. The brand's dark PebbleGrain finish, with its large, deep texture, is often compared to early Dunhill Shell pipes; this look is considered a major reason the brand became recognizable so quickly. Taylor later developed an intermediate process he called PebbleShell: once curing is finished, the bowl is steamed to raise the soft grain, the raised grain is carved away, and only then is the piece sandblasted. This yields a more gnarled surface. Reports say this method was granted an English patent, with the patent number stamped on the pipes. Other finishes include the naturally sandblasted Old Church and the smooth-finished Sovereign, Oak, Claret, and Brindle.

There is a distinctive approach on the mouthpiece side, too. Vulcanite rod is boiled for an extended period before being shaped into a mouthpiece, to strip out as much sulfur as possible; this is said to delay oxidation. In the early 1990s, a material called Ashtonite, sitting between vulcanite and acrylic, came into use.

Sizes, Stamps, and Succession

The brand became known in the American market for its large-bowled pipes. Size stamps run from small to large as X, XX, XXX, LX, and ELX; above these sits the very limited Magnum series. The ELX appeared in 1984 and the Magnum in 1985. Dating relies on the number following the "Made in England" mark: it starts at 3 for 1983 and increases by one each year, a practice that continued into the mid-2000s. The first year's pipes were stamped simply with the letters and "Made in London England," without a finish name.

The workshop never employed more than two full-time people at any point; part-time hands were occasionally brought on for support tasks. In this respect the brand sits at the boundary between artisan production and factory organization. William Ashton-Taylor passed away on 16 September 2009. Production continues under Jimmy Craig, who worked alongside him in his later years; pipes made by Craig usually carry a "JC" mark alongside the standard stamps.