Denby Dale - Denby Dale Pies

Denby Dale Pies

Denby Dale is known for baking giant pies, a tradition first started in 1788 to celebrate the recovery of King George III from his mental illness. So far, 10 pies have been made as part of 9 pie festivals (due to the spoiling and subsequent burial of one of the pies in 1887). This pie had been baked, in August 1887, to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria; following its burial, a replacement pie (the 'resurrection' pie) was baked in September 1887. The sixth pie was baked on 1 August 1896, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the repeal of the corn laws. The seventh (the Infirmary Pie) raised money to endow a cot at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. The eighth pie, in 1964, was to celebrate 4 royal births but was marred by the tragic deaths of 4 committee members, as a result of a car accident while returning from filming in London for a pilot television show (later to become the Eamonn Andrews Show - the first British TV chat show). This eighth pie raised money for a village hall. The most recent (12 tonnes) was made in 2000 to celebrate the new millennium.