BUILDING FABRIC & EXTERIORS
Looking beneath the surface
David Sherry from Dreadnought Tiles explains the importance of looking beyond the marketing when choosing traditional clay plain tiles
T
he use of traditional building materials is widely recognised as a vital part of preserving the unique character of our old buildings and the integrity of our conservation areas. However, in today’s marketing-driven
society, things aren’t always quite what they seem, making it difficult for self- builders and home renovators – or even building conservation officers! – to discern what is in fact an authentic English plain tile, and what is an imitation. Loaded words such as ‘traditional’, ‘heritage’ and ‘conservation,’ widely used to describe clay plain tiles, may refer to genuinely handmade or handcrafted products with an idiosyncratic look, or alternatively more uniform looking, volume produced machine-made, or even large format versions. Similarly, the term ‘natural colours’ is often used, regardless of whether the colouring has been generated solely by skilful temperature control in the kiln, or through the use of artificial pigments. These days, even the names of roof tiles can be potentially misleading. Just because a brand of roof tiles sounds old fashioned and quintessentially English, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they have actually been manufactured on these shores. They may, in fact, have been imported from Poland or Turkey, or even as far away as Vietnam. In order to identify what is genuinely authentic, it is important that self-builders and home renovators look behind all the marketing and understand something of the history of clay roof tile making in the UK and how it has changed today.
THE GEOGRAPHY OF NATURAL CLAYS The starting point for identifying authentic clay roof tiles is always the origin and quality of the raw clay. The UK has a range of different clay deposits across the country, each with their own distinct characteristics and properties. These have lent themselves to the manufacture of the different types of
march/april 2019
roof tiles found in different areas and have helped form the basis of our varied regional architecture.
For example, Alluvial clay from the Humber and Bridgwater, which has a low shrinkage during drying and firing, is particularly suitable for producing large clay units such as interlocking pantiles. Weald clay from the south east of the country is associated with red, brown and orange clay tiles – often handmade and sand-faced – which is a characteristic in the south of England. Etruria Marl, found in central UK and the Midlands, has a high shrinkage rate in the manufacturing process, which lends itself to the production of very dense, strong smooth faced or sand faced plain tiles. With its high iron content, this material can be fired to produce a wide spectrum of colour from reds and browns through to Staffordshire Blue. Plain clay roof tiles manufactured from native English clays are not only a sustainable option, but their natural characteristics are the most suited to our
Just because a brand of roof tiles sounds quintessentially English, it doesn’t mean they have been manufactured on these shores
regional architecture.
TRADITIONAL PRODUCTION OF NATURAL COLOURS Originally, plain tiles were made individually by hand, resulting in their characteristic variation of shape, camber
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