132 MEDIEVAL PAVEMENT AND WALL TILES OF DERBYSHIRE. 



family there, it must not be forgotten that other families in these 

 counties, as the Seagraves, bore the same arms. 



Beyond the general character of the ornamentation — and I 

 leave my readers to draw their own conclusions therefrom — 

 there is little to serve as a clue to the age of our county tiles. 

 This is not so remarkable, when it is considered that very few of 

 these tiles have been found in situ — mere patches of pavement at 

 Dale, so far as I know. But it is remarkable that so wide a 

 series as the East Midland should furnish no clue. If the 

 sequence or relative ages of the several series could be ascer- 

 tained, it would help to lift the veil ; but here again is uncertainty. 

 During the excavations at Dale, the remains of two tile pave- 

 ments, the one above the other, were found on the site of the 

 Lady Chapel : if the excavators can identify the tiles of each, 

 they will render a valuable service, as the lower tiles were, of 

 course, the older. It has been said tliat incised tiles are older 

 than those in which the design is depicted in a different colour 

 from the ground. This is undoubtedly a mistake : they ful- 

 filled the end of plain tiles, but were richer, yet not so much so 

 as to detract from their value as a ground for the more ornate 

 kind Size, again, is of little value : the Leicester tiles that 

 bear Dale patterns are almost invariably much smaller than 

 those of the latter place, being 4J inches square. Still, a 

 comparison of size, colour, texture, bevel (where possible), etc., 

 might give rise to some good results. By this means, I found 

 that the Dale tiles fall into several well defined groups. Even 

 the large tiles there, that belong to the East Midland series, 

 can be divided into two groups, in spite of the fact that many 

 of the patterns are common to both. The tiles of the one 

 are larger (5f to 5!- inches), more bevelled, lighter in colour 

 both externally and internally, more sonorous when struck, and 

 better finished, than those of the other, which rarely exceed 5 

 or 5^ inches square. That the latter were made first, is, I 

 think, clear ; for instance, the pattern of No. i, plate B, is 

 common to both groups, but while it is perfect in the smaller 

 and darker tiles, it has a part of the upper right-hand corner of 



