BRICKS, TILES, SLATES, AND CRESTS. 531 



ridge tiles, though in one locality, Eton, ridge tiles are cheap. 

 The manufacture of bricks and tiles in the neighbourhood of 

 Windsor must have been very extensively practised. 



Bricks are frequently bought by the load as well as by the 

 thousand. But the load is plainly five hundred, and indeed is 

 often said to be. On the other hand, the load and the thousand 

 of tiles are identical, as is equally manifest. 



Beyond enlargements and occasional rebuildings (for which 

 the corporations generally retained a special reserve as a 

 building fund), these extensive structures were constantly in 

 need of repair, and as constantly their owners had certain persons 

 in their employ, to whom they doled out stores. Of course 

 there was a great deal of constant work, of which the details do 

 not survive, and ultimately the whole business of repairs was 

 intrusted to some master builder, the particulars of whose work 

 vanish. But fortunately I have still been able to collect 

 sufficient evidence for the purpose of illustrating the cost of 

 these materials, and therefrom the charge of buildings which 

 survive and are in use to the present day. The buildings of 

 King's College have been absorbed into the Cambridge 

 University Library, but those of S. John's College, Winchester, 

 and Eton, were constructed out of materials which still serve 

 their purpose. 



The Cambridge Colleges do not often specify the origin of 

 their brick. But it is plain that Stow brick is a much better 

 material than Ely brick, for it costs more money. So again 

 Eton, which buys at Slough, Warwill, Upton, and Hedgerley, 

 gives much more for the last-named article than it does for t lie- 

 others. Winchester too specifies Otterbourn and Swanmore 

 brick, both at higher prices than ordinarily, and the latter at 

 so much higher a rate, that this brickfield appears to have been 

 chiefly employed in the manufacture of paving brick. No 

 doubt the higher-priced bricks were employed for facing the 

 buildings, and for dressing the angles when stone was not used 

 for the latter purpose. 



The origin of tiles is not given. But in accordance with the 



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