They could read stones

To avoid detection from any patrolling Customs Officers, Smugglers often operate by night. While keeping under the cover of darkness was good to stay hidden, it could also be hard to find their way home. Before electric streetlamps and cars, the Dorset coast would have been as dark as the sky above. While some smugglers lit fires or used lanterns to signal safe landing spots, smugglers along Chesil beach (such as the Northover family) had a clever way of navigating at night.

Over thousands of years, the sea had naturally organised the pebbles on Chesil Beach so that the largest could be found on the easternmost end, gradually getting smaller towards Portland. When arriving at the beach, smugglers would measure the size and shape of the stones on the beach. Depending on the size of the stone, smugglers would know how far along the long stretch of shingle they were. This form of locating meant that no light needed to be used, making it even harder for the Customs Officers to spot them.

Smugglers had their very own “Batman”

Not the cape crusader from Gotham, a ‘Batman’ was a term used by smugglers to describe the ‘hired muscle’ of an operation. Despite the name, ‘Batmen’ used a variety of weapons such as clubs, flails, and handguns. Their main role was to protect the Tubmen (smugglers who would carry contraband ashore) from any interfering Customs Officers.

A common practice for ‘Batmen’ was to form two long rows with a corridor between them for the Tubmen to pass through. Often greatly outnumbered, any Customs Officer that came across this would be powerless but to signal for help, watch and wait. There are even stories of Batmen rewarding Customs Officers with barrels of spirits if they came across a landing and didn’t try to interfere.

Some inland Smugglers were called ‘Moonrakers’

‘Moonrakers’ was a name given to some inland smugglers. To make it harder for smuggled goods to be found, it was common for smugglers to sink barrels into lakes and keep them submerged. They could then come back when the ‘coast was clear’ and retrieve their contraband.

‘Moonrakers’ get their name from an old tale, where a group of smugglers were retrieving some barrels from a lake. A band of Customs Officers rode past and asked the smugglers where they were doing by the lake so late at night. The smugglers pointed to the reflection of the moon, claiming to be raking in a round cheese from the water. Clearly thinking these smugglers were simple yokels, the Customs men laughed and left the smugglers too it.

Just how profitable was smuggling?

Smuggling was an incredibly profitable business. Nearly everyone got involved in some capacity, from the poorest labourers to the most landed gentry. Smuggling was, for many, a much more profitable way of living, particularly in Dorset. Where a labourer might make 9 shillings a week doing back breaking work in the baking sun, members of smuggling crews could make 15 shillings a run, even the lowest ranking members of a crew.

Due to the nature of smuggling, it is rare to find records or written evidence of how much money smugglers could make. We do, however, have some records from goods seized by Customs Officers, such as the Hawkhurst Gang, whose most infamous escapade took place at the Poole Customs House in 1747. The gang had an estimated £500 of tea seized from them. In today’s money, that’s £91,000 of tea!

Time for tea!

Import duty was so high in the 18th century that smuggler’s goods were in high demand. Illegally bought goods completely eclipsed the legal markets for tea, brandy, tobacco, and other imported goods. With more access to these commodities than ever before, tea became not only a luxury but a staple of British homes. An estimate from Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger suggested that of the 13 million lb of tea consumed in Britain in the 18th century, only 5.5 million had been purchased legally.

English writer. Dr Samuel Johnson explains how tea became an important part of his daily life, describing himself as:

‘A hardened and shameless tea-drinker, who has for twenty years diluted his meals with only the infusion of this fascinating plant; whose kettle has scarcely time to cool; who with tea amuses the evening, with tea solace the midnight, and with tea welcomes the morning.’

To uncover more about the fascinating stories of smugglers and smuggling all throughout Dorset, visit Shire Hall Museum and our exhibition; Smugglers: Beneath the Surface.