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Smuggled Tea
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In the early days when tea had just been introduced to the British Isles, it was a commodity high in demand but low in supply. Things back then were very different to the way they are now, traders had to set sail from as far afield as India and Sri Lanka laiden with tea that would takes many weeks to arrive. As demand could not be met, prices went up and a black market emerged to fill the gap.

Seeing that there was a market for tea, smugglers stepped up their activity. They sailed their ships, stashed with tea, from ports in Holland and Scandinavia. The ships stayed just far enough offshore to avoid detection. Smaller vessels used by the smugglers then sailed out to meet them and loaded up with tea. Now they just had to get the tea onto dry land, without anybody noticing!

As the smugglers were most often local fishermen, they knew the area like the back of their hand. They sailed their small, maneuverable vessels into rocky coves and unloaded the tea in secrecy. It was then taken through hidden underground passages and concealed paths to predesignated hideouts.

The demand was so high that even illicit tea fetched a high price on the market. The greedy smugglers mixed their tea with used tea leaves, willow and other substances, and still got good money! With the introduction of the Commutation Act in 1784 the tea smugglers game came to an abrupt end.

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