438 ON THE PRICE OF BUILDING MATERIALS, ETC. 



1574, Flanders brick, Empdon brick, described as large, and 

 green Flanders tile, are purchased, though not, except the last, at 

 excessive prices. In 1534 Seville tile is bought for Bridewell 

 at the high price of 14^. the hundred. 



Roof and gutter tiles are not so dear as crests, and it appears 

 that all kinds of such tiles became relatively cheaper at the end 

 of the period. In the decade 1491-1500, crests are actually 

 dearer than they are in the last decade, being often bought 

 singly at three-halfpence or twopence each. It would seem 

 as though the art of manufacturing these tiles was rare or local 

 in the earlier days, and that it became diffused in later times. 

 I infer also that the prodigious amount of roofing material 

 which was available after the destruction of the monastic houses 

 must have had a notable effect upon the market, and must have 

 greatly reduced the natural price of these articles. 



Tiles are sometimes manufactured and sold on a large scale. 

 This is the case at Wye, a manor which belonged to Battle 

 Abbey, where in very early times, as I noted in my first volume, 

 p. 490, tiles were made and kilned. Similar sales are quoted 

 from Caistor in 1434, 1435, and 1445, where they are sold 

 by the last of 10,000. Generally they are bought by the hun- 

 dred or thousand, though later only they are purchased by the 

 load, which seems to have generally contained 500, or half the 

 thousand. 



Besides tiles employed for roofing, others for flooring are 

 mentioned in the accounts. Thus All Souls' purchases 3200 

 paving tiles in 1442 for the library and the vestry at the high 

 rate of 30^. the thousand, these being probably ornamented or 

 figured and glazed tiles. Probably the red tiles bought at 

 Oxford in 1490 at i id. the hundred were intended for paving 

 purposes. They are much dearer than ordinary tiles, but the 

 price does not indicate that there was any art or finish in them. 

 * Brick' tiles are bought for paving at Cambridge in 1498, at 

 2s. i\d. the hundred, a higher price than that at Oxford. 

 Again, in 1531 paving tiles are bought in London at is. 6d. 

 the hundred, and in 1532 at Westminster at 2s. ^d. The 



