492 ON THE PRICE OF BUILDING MATERIALS. 



Corner tiles are occasionally very dear, but on other occasions 

 are sold at very low prices. Festeux are seldom found, but 

 were generally very dear. Thus, for instance, when plain 

 tiles are is. qd. and zs. the thousand at Ospring in the 

 years 1282 and 1289, festeux are $s. and 4*., corner tiles 

 being only yd. the hundred. Again, tiles at Elham being 

 41. the thousand in 1385, festeux are 6s. Set. the hundred j 

 and a still greater discrepancy is seen at Wye in the years 

 7373 and 1394. 



Crests purchased to cover the ridges of slated roofs are much 

 dearer than those which were bought for tiled buildings. Thus 

 in Southampton, which in early times generally uses slates, 

 crests are 6s. id. in 1306. At Oxford crests are 8.r. 4^. in 1353, 

 and some styled cc large and new" cost us. 6d. In the year 1372 

 crests cost 105-. lod. at Oxford, 8*. ^d. at Woodstock. In the 

 year 1380, us. 6d. at Tingewick. In 1389, us. 6d. at South- 

 ampton. In the year 1392 they are us. at Oxford; in 1397, 

 9*. 5^., and in 1398, izs. 6d.. ) at the same place. 



Besides these we find large tiles, concave tiles, hoi-tiles, 

 holwork, enyslates, and evestones, all terms apparently intended 

 to denote such articles as served to protect the ridges and 

 depressions of the roof. 



In certain places, especially where wood was cheap and tiles 

 comparatively dear, shingles were used. Eighteen entries of 

 these articles are found in the table of tiles, &c., the years 

 1309-1321 containing the fullest information as to their 

 market value. Before the Plague they were worth about 75-. 

 the thousand, afterwards their price was doubled, and they 

 seem to go out of fashion, for subsequent to this event I find 

 only two entries, one in 1355 at 165-., another in 1394 at 

 \y.^d. They were employed, it appears, generally to roof 

 chancels, such as those which Merton College kept in repair 

 at Elham and Farley, New College at Hornchurch. In 

 some cases they must have been made from the timber 

 on the spot, and therefore do not appear in the accounts, 

 for there are entries of shingle-nails, (which were worth 



