The Third Pie: 1846 - The Repeal of the Corn Laws

What Were the Corn Laws?

Life in the mid 19th century was not easy, especially with the passing of the Corn Law Act in 1815, which protected the interests of landowners who looked as if they were about to lose out when highly inflated prices for corn in Britain ceased with the ending of the Napoleonic Wars, and cheaper foreign corn could be imported again.   The people who had to pay higher bread prices hated this legislation and a large angry group protested at the Houses of Parliament when it was passed.

To the ordinary person, the Corn Law Act meant that bread was no longer a staple part of the diet, as it was just too expensive, and it was a long and hard fought campaign by the Anti-Corn Laws League that eventually helped get these laws overturned. The Repeal of the Corn Laws ended what history has called the "hungry forties", so it was most appropriate to celebrate with a monster pie!!


The Pie

The Pie was circular, 7’10’’ in diameter and 22’’ deep. The pie was lined with pastry and then filled with an assortment of meat, including 100lbs beef, 1 calf, 5 sheep, 21 rabbits and hares and 89 game birds and poultry!

It took 10 ½ hours to bake and then once taken from the oven, was paraded from Cuckstool to Norman Park to the sound of the village bands.

Pie Day

The big day itself, though, was not as successful as it had been hoped.  The stage on which the pie was placed to be cut gave way under the weight and as the 15,000 strong crowd surged forward to ensure that they all had a piece of the pie, they unfortunately destroyed it underfoot!

There are a number of theories as to why the day was spoiled:

    - There was a Tory plot to ruin the celebrations, which were mainly supported by Liberals
    - The speech being given was so tedious that a couple of men, out of sheer boredom, kicked down the platform supports.
    - The nearby village of Clayton West sabotaged the day as they had already made a monster plum pie that year to celebrate the same event and were not happy at being upstaged!