ABSTRACT
The length of the stem seems to bear a very definite relationship to the period of manufacture, and has always been recognized as more reliable dating criteria than any other stem characteristic. Once sufficient studies have been made, stem decoration will possibly be of value in dating stem fragments. Presumably the stem hole was of constant diameter throughout, and this was determined to be the case, with one major exception, upon examining a number of relatively long fragments. Generally speaking, the stem increased from a relatively short length of possibly 6 to 8 inches during the early seventeenth century, up to the long “church warden” pipes of the early eighteenth century. The exception occurs at the mouth end of the stem, where the hole had been enlarged in the process of removing the wire which had been inserted in the clay when the pipe was moulded.
