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.