The Tallow Chandler

There are many archaic trades and long forgotten occupations. One such trade is the Tallow Chandler.

In the Baines Directory & Gazetteer of 1822, listing the Merchants and traders of the time in our area, amongst the brick-makers and the druggists, the glove-makers and the gilders, there lived a tallow chandler by the name of Clarkson who worked from 14 The Shambles, just a few doors down from our shop.

A Tallow Chandler is specifically a person who makes and sells candles. Historically candles were mostly made from tallow, a form of animal fat that provided an inexpensive way for people to light their homes at night.

The Tallow Chandlers worked in small workshops fronted with little shops which were often used by candle makers to craft, display and sell their wares. Masters and their apprentices worked upwards of sixteen hours a day in these cramped workshops, transforming tallow supplied by butchers (of which there were many on The Shambles) into dipped and moulded candles.

Even by Medieval standards, the production of tallow was a disgusting and smelly job, and tallow producers were often moved about the City, due to complaints made about the stench of the rendering down process.

Craftsmen of the Tallow Chandlers Company produced candles that not only lit the homes of the town or city but also their streets. In the early Middle Ages, York’s streets could be dangerous places at night, with the risk of accidents and robbery being particularly high. To combat this, street lighting was introduced. To light the streets, home owners were ordered to burn candles outside, and because they were cheaper than their wax equivalents, tallow candles were almost always used.

The Tallow Chandlers Company was formed in about 1300 to regulate oils, ointments, lubricants and fat-based preservatives and was granted full livery status in 1462 by King Edward IV.

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Release date: 12/6/20