MEDl/EVAL PAVEMENT AND WALL TILES OF DERBYSHIRE. 121 



north aisle was enlarged out of the spoils, which included the 

 paving materials of the abbey cloister. Would not the extra 

 floor space have required additional tiles ? 



Next in importance to the Dale Abbey tiles are those of 

 Repton. Most of these were found in 1868, associated with one 

 of the most perfect mediaeval kilns hitherto unearthed in England. 

 Fortunately, this discovery received the attention of the late Mr. 

 Llewellynn Jewitt's careful pen and pencil {Reliquary, vol. vii.), 

 and from his account we will now take a few particulars. The 

 kiln was found in the " Paddock," a field within the site of the 

 priory precincts. It consisted of two oblong vaults, side by side, 

 each seven feet six inches long, two feet six inches wide, and 

 about one foot ten inches in height. The roofs, which were 

 evidently flat, were supported by a series of arched ribs, con- 

 structed of tiles specially shaped for the purpose. Thus, along 

 the sides of these vaults were recesses — the spaces between the 

 projecting ribs ; these recesses were suflficiently wide and deep 

 to admit of single piles of the tiles requiring to be burnt. Mr. 

 Jewitt gave their dimensions as 4^ inches square, obviously a 

 mistake, as the Repton tiles are rarely under 5 inches square ; 

 unless, indeed, the kiln was constructed for and contained smaller 

 tiles. The brickwork of the interior was much vitrified, and 

 from the presence of charcoal it may be concluded that that 

 substance was the fuel used. The tiles, of which there were 

 several hundreds within the kiln, were ready stacked for burning, 

 but were not burnt, consequently were soft and pliable. Un- 

 fortunately (for reasons that will be better seen later), Mr. Jewitt's 

 report did not distinguish between the patterns of these un- 

 finished tiles and those of the numerous broken and spoiled 

 specimens found chiefly in the soil above the kiln, which mav 

 have been considerably older. The more perfect of the latter 

 were affixed to the wall of the old school room, until recent 

 alterations necessitated their removal ; pending some suitable 

 resting place, they are stowed away in a cupboard in one of the 

 class rooms. Previous to the above discovery, decorated tiles 

 were found from time to time on the site of this priory, notably 



