Since the early 1800s, Aldermaston has held a candle auction every three years. The open auction starts with a horseshoe nail driven through a tallow candle an inch below the wick and lit in the parish hall. The lot is the lease of Church Acre, a plot of granted to the church in 1815 after the Inclosures Act. The proceedings are overseen by the vicar and churchwardens, who drink rum punch throughout the auction. Traditionally, the churchwardens smoked clay pipes during the event.