28 Chris Godfrey and John Preston on the resurrection of a centuries-old roofing technique PEGTILEREVIVALIN CAMBRIDGESHIRE Tiled roof with old tiles salvaged and turned, and small proportion of new tiles used to 'make up'. Production of locally manufactured roof tiles, moulded and fired from regional clays by traditional methods, ceased (with rare exceptions) more than 100 years ago. This has been a particular blow to Cambridgeshire because the county's local peg and pan tiles have a variegated, predominantly buff colour mix unique to the local gault clay and which involves colour variations within tiles as well as from one tile to another. Peg tiles were formed flat and the vagaries of drying produced strongly defined but irregular edges. These subtle variations of colour, texture and profile give Cambridgeshire peg tile roofs a special quality absent from other peg tiles of uniform colour and camber. Details such as laced valleys, half tiles at verges and abutments, and subtle inflections at eaves and verges are characteristic of local peg tiling. The lack of new matching tiles made salvaged Cambridgeshire peg tiles much sought after for repairs (and hence very expensive) and there was always the worry about what buildings the very limited supplies of salvaged tiles were coming from. The start in the late 1980s of a reroofing programme for the capitular buildings around Ely Cathedral brought a new 'Cambridge mix' tile made by Keymer. This was a sand-faced variant of the company's hand-made tiles, with shades of buff in the sand facing. These tiles did not match the texture, profile or through colouring of the local peg tiles, and the very distinct single colour of each tile was very different from the subtle variations they were trying to match. The Cathedral authorities had insisted on the use of new, guaranteed tiles, rather than salvaging and making up in accordance with traditional practice. The results were not a successful match for the old roofs. Prompted by this the Ely Preservation Trust set out to prove that it would be possible to remanufacture gault clay peg tiles, and then to try to bring them into production. Test firings at a local pottery were successful, and a feasibility study was THE PROBLEM THE SOLUTION f nitial fond-raising document. carried out. This was supported by the local authorities, English Heritage, the SPAB, and Keymer who fired test tiles made from three possible local clay sources. The study concluded that a small tile works would be a viable concern if initial funding of £150,000 could be raised. Suitable premises have now been found at Burwell, adjacent to a former brick pit, and fund raising continues. English Heritage has agreed to a longterm loan ro cover a significant proportion of the start-up costs. The Cambridgeshire Tile and Brick Co has now been incorporated as a limited company. The share capital is owned by Cambridgeshire Historic Buildings Preservation Trust (with which the Ely Trust amalgamated in 1992) thus giving the company charitable status. Three directors have been appointed from the original steering group, and the project is on schedule for the first commercial tiles to be produced in April 1994. The traditional detailing and repair of peg tile roofs is seen as being of equal importance to their revived manufacture. The aim throughout has been to produce new tiles which are totally compatible with the old, and which can therefore be used in 'making up' in repairs of historic roofs. A guide to good practice is being prepared, in conjunction with the County Council Conservation Group. Forfurther information, contact Chris Godfrey at Cambridgeshire County Council. Tel: (0223) 317616 Chris Godfrey is with Cambridgeshire County Council. John Preston is with Cambridge City Council. As a subject, 'shingles' is much discussed as a disease but dismissed virtually out of hand as a roofing material. 1 The traditional oak shingle or wooden tile, although considered by many to be second rate, even lowlier than thatch, is a roofing material with a proven pedigree. As such it should still be considered when discussing traditional building methods. The early history of shingles and their use appears in much documentary evidence. John Harvey,2 writing in Mediaeval Craftsmen' found evidence for shingles on buildings of 'higher standing' from the 8th century. The writings of Vitruvius tell us about them in Roman times. 3 Their continuing popularity was later challenged, especially in the southeas t, where, following the early development of the day-tile industry, by the 14th century it was found to be as cheap to roof buildings with clay tiles as with shingles. A similar challenge was made by stone and slate tiles in the north and west. Salzman's Building in England4 contains many references to shingles in both the 13th and 14th centuries. The great royal builder/architect Henry III was roofing buildings at Woodstock with shingles in 1248, but by 1260 on the Great Kitchen roof at Marlborough he was replacing them with tiles, and reusing the shingles to upgrade the roof to the chamber in the High Tower which was previously thatched. There is a reference from 1238 to the purchase of nails for shingles at Marlborough. If these had been for the Kitchen roof (then just over 20 years old) the re-use of shingles would have been an economic proposition. Similarly, when the old St. Paul's Belfry was recovered at the end of the 14th century John Harvey notes that 4,000 old shingles and 10,500 new shingles (schyngel) were used. Unfortunately it is not possible to CONTEXT 40
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