The Somerset Clay Pipe making industry and the Notorious Oakhill Pirate.

Discover how a local clay tobacco pipe maker from Oakhill turned pirate when Radstock Museum’s Bygone Days Talks return for their autumn programme.

Did you know that clay tobacco pipes were made in Chilcompton, Oakhill, Stratton-on-the-Fosse and Leigh-on-Mendip?

Remnants of clay tobacco pipes can be found almost anywhere, even in your garden. The industry started in Norton St Philip in around 1620, and the early apprentices subsequently started their own workshops in the Mendip parishes where they grew up.

One of these pipe maker apprentices however took a different path; born in Shepton Mallet, at just 9 years, of age, William Watts became an apprentice to a pipe maker in Oakhill, but his life quickly descended into a life of crime.

His trial was an international sensation, and he was the last pirate to be hanged at Execution Dock in London in 1830.

To find out the full story, come and hear the illustrated talk at the Somer Centre in Midsomer Norton on Tuesday, 4th October, 7:30pm.

The speaker, Marek Lewcun, has also curated an exhibition on the subject currently on display at Radstock Museum.

Marek’s mother Daphne was descended from clay pipe maker Thomas Whittock. www.radstockmuseum.co.uk.