I20 MEDIEVAL PAVEMENT AND WALL TILES OF DKRBVSHIRE. 



They are briefly described in Mr. St. John Hope's reports in the 

 first and second volumes of this yi??/r«a/, but are not illustrated; 

 and recently I contributed a series of articles and plates upon them, 

 together with those of Morley Church, to the Reliquary. About 

 thirty years ago a kiln containing a large number of tiles was 

 discovered close by the ruins of the gatehouse of this abbey. 

 No record was published at the time ; but in a short notice in 

 the posthumous work of the Rev. Samuel Fox, The History and 

 Antiquities of the Church of S. Matthew, Morley, it is stated 

 that " the tiles had been burnt, but had not been subsequently 

 disturbed ; " and that " as soon as it became generally known 

 that the discovery had been made, they were quickly dispersed 

 among those who appreciated them " — not before, however (so an 

 eye-witness informs me), many had been broken up to mend the 

 roads with. It is unfortunate that no drawings of the patterns 

 were made, also that none of the actual tiles are known to be in 

 existence ; so we cannot say more than that the manufacture of 

 the abbey tiles at this kiln is highly probable. The result of 

 enquiries in the neighbourhood points to this kiln having been 

 a tunnel-like brick structure about twelve feet long, and 

 sufficiently wide and high to allow a man to crawl along it. 

 Closely associated with the Dale tiles, as probable products of the 

 same kiln, are those forming the pavement at the east end of the 

 north aisle of Morley Church. In the brief notice upon them in 

 the above history of this church, which includes three excellent 

 plates by Mr. Bailey of the more perfect specimens, we learn 

 that previous to the restoration of 1850 they were dispersed over 

 the floor. In Cox's Churches of Derbyshire (vol. iv., pp. 330 

 and 345) the armorial bearings are identified, and some interest- 

 ing particulars are given ; and the remark is made that these 

 tiles came from Dale, " only in the sense of having been 

 purchased from the canon's kiln, and were not brought here, as 

 has generally been said, after the dissolution of the abbey." 

 The statement is, I think, a little doubtful. There is a series of 

 small tiles at Morley which, if I mistake not, are quite un- 

 connected with Dale ; and it must not be forgotten that this 



