Medieval Floor Tiles 13- 14th century

I’m reasonably certain about these finds, both found one day last week, jutting out among the stones and rocks of the Thames 'beach'. They are sections of thick medieval floor tiles -  amazingly  they could be 700 years old. 

Sections of Medieval Floor Tile Found Mudlarking on the Thames 

In the 13^th century churches, monasteries, abbeys and later royal palaces and houses of the wealthy began to use large square, decorated tiles, to cover floors and walkways. ‘Westminster’ tiles were mass produced in London from the 1260s.  Penn tiles were also used, named after the Buckinghamshire village where they were made in large quantities.

The tiles are handmade using clay high in iron, hence the red colour. The clay was shaped in a wooden mould, one of over 160 designs was then stamped into the clay. The impressions were filled with fine white clay. They were left to dry. Most were glazed before they were fired.

Popular designs were geometric patterns, heraldry, animals, flowers, birds, monsters and stars. There were both individual tile designs and those which covered groups of four tiles.

Medieval Floor tile 13-14 Century from Museum of London 

At the beginning of the  14^th century production in London had largely ceased as the initial demand for floor tiles  had been satisfied.

Many medieval tiles were taken up during 19^th century restoration – perhaps some ending up in the Thames, or were they part of the 1666 fire of London debris dumped into the Thames?

Victorian tile manufacturers were drawn to medieval tile designs and replicated them. Our house is Victorian and has the original tiled hall way, pictured below, which we now know owes its origins to medieval artisans. 

Victorian tiles, based on medieval designs with evidence of teenagers descent en masse

Dog Paw Print on Medieval Clay Roof Tile Found Mudlarking on the Thames

I hadn't been mudlarking for well over a month, so was pleased to go down on Monday.  As I reached the stairs down to the foreshore, the familiar smell of old Thames mud drifted up to greet me, offering up its secrets for just a few hours.

My favourite find from that day is, what I presume to be, a medieval roof tile with small indentations. I was so taken with this find I popped it in my pocket as I went to work the following day. Throughout the day a few of my colleagues contemplated the find, with an intake of breath we considered whether the small imprints were from a  child’s fingers, each of us putting our fingers into the dips to see whether they were smaller than ours. It took healthily sceptical Wendy to work out, pretty quickly, that they were the marks of a dog’s footprint.  I subsequently noticed one claw mark on the edge diagonally above the far left pad imprint.

Medieval roof tile with dog paw print found Mudlarking on Thames foreshore  

Apparently it isn't uncommon to find dog or even rodent prints on roman and medieval tiles, a result of being left flat before they were fired.

Medieval roof tiles, made between 13-16^th Centuries, are very common on the Thames foreshore. The ones I’ve noticed are aptly named ‘plain tiles’. They would be attached to the laths of the roof by a nail or peg inserted through a hole. The tiles usually only have one hole which is either diamond shaped, a square or circle.

Medieval roof tile found on Thames foreshore