Tiles

Tiles in Trust churches

When people visit churches they tend to look at the decorative vaulting, colourful windows, elaborate tombs and wood and stone carvings, but often ignore what is under their feet. A well cut limestone flag floor is beautiful in its sheer simplicity, but church floors can also be highly decorative when covered with encaustic tiles. Encaustic tiles The word ‘encaustic’ describes tiles decorated with a clay inlay (the term comes from a Greek word meaning ‘burnt in’). It refers usually to red clay tiles inlaid with a yellow design. Their history begins in the Middle Ages, when such decorative floor tiles were first used in the churches of monastic orders and later also in parish churches. Itinerant French tile-makers probably brought the technique of making inlaid tiles using wooden moulds to England at the beginning of the 13th century.

The style was revived in the 19th century when it became very popular with the Victorian architects who restored old churches or who built new ones in what is now known as the Gothic Revival style. In the 19th century encaustic tiles were produced with the aid of plaster moulds and small screw presses. The mould would have a raised pattern on the bottom and malleable clay was pushed into the mould and firmly pressed down in a small screw press. When the tile came out of the mould the design would be indented in the surface. This indentation was then filled with light-coloured liquid clay (slip). After a short drying period the tile would be scraped level, revealing the inlaid clay pattern against the darker ground. After the first firing the surface could be left unglazed, or a transparent lead glaze could be put over the surface and the tile fired again. It was also possible to use more than one colour, and green, blue and white were used with the standard red and yellow to create polychrome effects.

Victorian tiles can usually be distinguished from medieval ones by their greater regularity and more clearly delineated designs, medieval tiles tend to have mottled and uneven glazed surfaces, their inlaid patterns are often less well defined and they can be very worn. Victorian tiles have a harder body because they were fired to a higher temperature than their earlier counterparts.

The first manufacturers to make encaustic floor tiles for churches were Minton in Stoke-on-Trent and Chamberlain in Worcester. Both had taken a share in a patent for ornamental floor tiles developed by Samuel Wright, and by 1840 they were producing tiles for use in churches. Wright’s patent gave Minton and Chamberlain a monopoly throughout the 1840s but when the patent expired in 1851, other manufacturers entered the field: Maw & Co, Godwin & Son, Craven Dunnill and Campbell Brick & Tile Co. all joined the fast-growing market for encaustic church tiles. Architects who especially favoured the use of encaustic tiles in their churches were A.W.N. Pugin, Sir Gilbert Scott, William Butterfield and George Edmund Street. Pugin in particular developed a very successful business relationship with Herbert Minton and he invariably used Minton encaustic tiles in all his churches, often designing them himself.

Designs and subject matter Encaustic tiles present a fascinating array of different designs and pictorial subjects. Patterns are often based on medieval originals and fleur-de-lis, stylised birds, fish, heraldic shields, quatre-foils and Christian monograms are therefore common. Tiles are frequently arranged in blocks of four and can be part of large complex floor designs. Perhaps the most intriguing tiles are those that depict symbolic subject matter, such as the four evangelists, doves symbolising the Holy Ghost, Christ in the guise of the Pascal Lamb and the signs of the Zodiac. Such tiles are often found near the main altar because it is the most holy part of the church. When encaustic tiles are in seen in the wider context of other church furnishings like stained glass windows, wood and stone carvings, correlations in design and Christian iconography are striking. The universal popularity of encaustic floor tiles in the 19th century means that they survive in many churches cared for by the Churches Conservation Trust.

Two particular churches with encaustic floors of note are St Mary Magdalene in Battlefield and St Mary in Shrewsbury, both in Shropshire. Both churches date from medieval times but were restored in the 19th century, when their tiled floors were installed. Battlefield church, restored in 1861 by Samuel Pountney Smith, is paved throughout with a kaleidoscopic display of colourful tiles by Minton & Co. and Maw & Co. and therefore allows us to compare the two manufacturers’ use of colour and design. Shrewsbury is very special as it has an unusually rich array of encaustic tiles made by three different firms: Minton & Co., Godwin & Son, and Maw & Co., all installed at different times. The red and buff Minton tiles with figurative and ornamental designs were installed in St Catherine’s chapel in the mid 1840s, while the nave was paved with more colourful Minton tiles in 1864. The splendid figurative Godwin tiles in the sanctuary, showing the four Evangelists and the Holy Lamb, were laid c1868 and lastly the Trinity chapel was completed with decorative Maw & Co. tiles in 1888. In 1998 the entire floor of the church was cleaned and restored, and H&R Johnson made about 120 replacement tiles. St Mary’s is therefore a must for anyone who wants to learn more about the various aspects of encaustic church tiles.

Cleaning and restoration Expert advice should always be sought before cleaning medieval tiles but mopping or wiping with warm water and a mild detergent can meet most day-to-day cleaning requirements of Victorian encaustic tiles. Strong cleaning agents and tools like bleach, steel wool and metal scrapers should never be used, as this will inevitably damage the tiles. If tiles are very dirty there are specially formulated industrial cleaning products on the market. The restoration of medieval or Victorian church floors and the making of replacement tiles should only be undertaken by qualified professionals. There is further information and advice on the Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Society website at www.tilesoc.org.uk

Hans van Lemmen

References
Kenneth Beaulah and Hans van Lemmen, Church Tiles of the
Nineteenth Century, Shire Publications, 2001
Lynn Pearson, Tile Gazetteer – A guide to British tile and architectural
ceramic locations, Richard Dennis, 2005
Peter Williams, ‘Floor Tiling in Saint Mary’s Church Shrewsbury’
in Journal of the Tiles and Architectural Ceramics Society, Vol. 8, 2000

Where can encaustic tiles be seen? Among the many other Trust churches to have Victorian tiles in good condition are:
St Margaret, Leigh Delamere (Wilts)
St Mary, South Tidworth (Wilts)
St Peter, Claydon (Suffolk)
St Andrew, Sapiston (Suffolk)
St Catherine, Kingsdown (Kent)
St Mary, Itchen Stoke (Hants)
St Peter and St Paul, Albury (Surrey)
St Benedict, Haltham (Lincs)
St Martin, Waithe (Lincs)
St Nicholas, Littleborough (Notts)
St Andrew, East Heslerton (North Yorks)
All Saints, Harewood, (W Yorks)
St Mary, Edlesborough (Berks)

You can see medieval tiles intact at All Saints, Icklingham (Suffolk) and St Mary, Pitstone
(Berks), and at another Berkshire church, St Thomas at East Shefford, there are fine, specially crafted modern tiles interspersed with four or five medieval survivals.