The Fourth and Fifth Pie: 1887 - Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee
Queen Victoria had been on the throne for 50 years in 1887. She was the longest reigning monarch and was much revered by her people. She reigned over Britain's "golden age", a time of great change and prosperity, so her Golden Jubilee was another opportunity for the village to celebrate. Due to the disaster 41 years previously, a Committee was formed to oversee the proceedings and raise funds for the event. Also, this time a dish was to be made and the pie baked inside it to prevent it collapsing again.
The Dish, The Oven and the Stewing Boiler
The production of the pie dish was contracted to a company more used to making gasometers in Huddersfield. The dish was circular - 8ft in diameter and 2ft deep, made from angle iron and sheet steel.
The oven was built behind the White Hart pub, it stood 14ft square on the outside and was made from 3,000 red bricks and 5,000 firebricks.
An 80-gallon stewing boiler was made by the blacksmith in Upper Denby and placed beside the oven. This allowed the meat to be stewed prior to going into the pie dish.
The Pie
The contents of this pie consisted of 1581lbs beef, 163lbs veal, 180lbs lamb, 180lb mutton, 250lbs lean pork, 67 rabbits and hares and 153 various game birds and poultry. Also, for the first time, potatoes were added – 42 stones worth!
A professional bakers in Halifax was called to advise on the cooking, and they in turn hired a London chef to carry this out.
Health and Safety standards were not as they are today! The meat was displayed in the local butchers before being placed into the stewing boiler. The cooking was completed in phases and this meant that some of the pie contents lay in the pie dish going cold as the other batches were stewed. Uncooked game birds were added around the sides of the dish as the intention was for them to cook whilst the pie was in the oven. All in all, this method of cooking did not bode well for the big day!
Altogether, by the time the pie entered the oven, with crust and dish, the pie weighed nearly 1 ½ tons.
Pie Day
Many thousands of people came to have a piece of the pie. The pie was paraded through the village, and came to rest at Norman Park. Again, as happened in 1846, the size of the crowd had not been accounted for and eager to sample the pie, the crowd surged forward. The ceremony was abandoned in the crush and the pie cut open. It was at this point that the obnoxious smell of rotting meat filled the surrounding air – it was completely inedible!! And a small riot ensued!
The following day, the pie was taken on a final journey to Toby Wood, where the contents were emptied into a pit of quicklime! Funeral cards were made for the pie.
‘Tho’ lost to sight, yet still to memory dear,
We smell it yet as tho’ it still was here;
Tho’ short its life and quick was its decay,
We thought it best to bury it without the least delay’
The Alternative Pie!
The following weekend the ladies of the village decided to produce their own Denby Dale pie. Keeping it simple this time, but still on the monster theme, the pie contained 1 heifer, 2 calves, 2 sheep and 96 stones of potatoes. From this time onwards, game birds were not used in the contents of any Denby Dale Pie!
This pie became known as the Resurrection Pie. The event was not publicised, but it was a resounding success as the villagers sat down to eat it at Inkerman Mills.
Surprisingly enough, it was also a financial success, as the sale of Commemorative plates of Queen Victoria resulted in a profit over £119, which was distributed around the local charities.
