Handmade Roof Tiles in Bedfordshire
Handmade Roof Tiles
The manufacture of handmade roof tiles
You may be surprised to learn that the clay used for making handmade roof tiles isn't processed as soon as it comes from the ground. Following the clay being excavated from the earth, it has to be weathered for around nine months to a year.
The clay is then ground into very fine particles with water added to make the clay workable. Even more surprisingly, a substance which is previously fired clay pieces that have been ground down is added to the fresh clay to help reduce the shrinking, cracking and warping that can happen during the firing process. This addition of pre-fired particles also adds to the texture of the handmade roof tile.
In the past, handmade roof tiles would have been hand thrown into the mould before being finished. Owing to time constraints in production, nowadays they are often mechanically pressed either by hand or by using a hydraulic press to ensure a more consistent density and to speed up production. The consistency that is desired extends to the shape of the handmade roof tile too. After all, without this consistency of shape, the builder would have a much harder job fitting handmade roof tiles to the building project. You want to achieve a handmade look to the roof tile, but they still need to marry up to prevent water and other weather ingress.
The handmade roof tiles are then handled and dried in several ways to create the different character variations of shape and colour. The shape is created either by hand or machine and the colour can be varied by adding different oxides or pigments.
Temperature variations within the firing kiln will also lead to variations in tile colour, with a higher temperature resulting in a darker handmade roof tile.
What to look for in handmade roof tiles
It is recommended that handmade roof tiles have been mixed from at least three different crates that are not part of the same manufacturing run, to allow for the desired variations within batches. Laying a roof using handmade roof tiles picked from sequential crates is likely to result in pronounced stripes or blocks of colour on the finished roof and this will detract from the natural look, or blend that you want to achieve.
Handmade roof tiles to withstand the English winter
The density of any handmade roof tile is vital as the denser the tile, the less water it is going to absorb, which means the tile, is less susceptible to frost damage. Frost damage can cause handmade roof tiles, or any other clay product to crack. It's important to check that your handmade roof tiles have been tested for frost resistance as a poor-quality handmade roof tile could lead to very expensive repairs or possibly a complete re-roof.
A handmade roof tile can cost up to 50% more than a machine-made, or stock clay roof tile, but they offer a far more pleasing shape, texture and colour variation. The real benefit of a handmade roof tile tends to centre on the aesthetic appeal and for period properties; this is what you will be looking for. A period property with an entire roof made from machine made, dimensionally perfect roof tiles just looks wrong. Handmade roof tiles simply enhance any period property, which is why they are so sought after.
So, if you have a building project and you feel that it would benefit from the aesthetic superiority of a handmade roof tile, why not drop us a line and discuss your options?
A little information about Bedfordshire
Wrest Park in Bedfordshire
Wrest Park is a picturesque country estate located in Silsoe, Bedfordshire. It comprises Wrest Park, a Grade I listed country house, and Wrest Park Gardens, also Grade I listed, formal gardens surrounding the mansion.
History of the Bedfordshire country estate
The celebrated poet Thomas Carew, who lived from 1595 to 1640, wrote his country house poem "To My Friend G.N. from Wrest" in 1639 that described the old Bedfordshire house which was demolished between 1834 and 1840.
The present house was built in 1834-39, to designs by its owner Thomas de Grey, 2nd Earl de Grey, an amateur architect and the first president of the Royal Institute of British Architects, who was inspired by buildings he had seen on trips to Paris. He based his Bedfordshire property on designs published in French architectural books such as Jacques-Francois Blondel's Architecture Francaise. The works were superintended as clerk of works on site by James Clephan, who had been clerk of the works at the Liddell seat, Ravensworth Castle in County Durham, and had recently served as professional amanuensis and builder for Lord Barrington.
Although Nikolaus Pevsner previously stated that Clephan was a French architect who designed the present house instead of De Grey the amateur architect, as Charles Read has shown in his biography of De Grey, Clephan in fact only produced drawings of the service infrastructure, such as plumbing and drainage. The decorative layout and features of the Bedfordshire house we see today were produced by De Grey himself.
The Bedfordshire property has some of the earliest Rococo Revival interiors in England. The reception rooms in the house are open to the public and are viewed as a major tourist attraction within Bedfordshire.
Like many stately homes and larger properties, the Bedfordshire house was operated as a military hospital during World War I, though a fire in September 1916 put an end this use of the house. The estate was sold after the War to Mr JG Murray, who was associated with cricket in Bedfordshire. During his 18-year tenure, much of the garden statuary was sold, while extensive felling stripped park and garden of many of their oldest trees.
A slice of Bedfordshire that is well worth a visit
The Bedfordshire Park is divided by a wide gravel central walk, continued as a long canal that leads to a Baroque pavilion banqueting house that was completed in 1711. The interior of the pavilion is decorated with an impressive Ionic columns in trompe-l'oeil. Boundary canals were altered to take the more natural shape by Capability Brown, who worked in this part of Bedfordshire between 1758 and 1760, and who also ringed the central formal area with a canal and woodland. During the later 18th and 19th centuries, an orangery and marble fountains were added. The Bathhouse was built, and its grounds laid out, between about 1769 and 1772.
In 1736 Horace Walpole visited Wrest on a progress through Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire. He noted monuments in the garden in memory of the Duke of Kent's children who all predeceased him, as well as a monument to Kent himself, who was at that time still alive.
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Products available from Heritage Clay Tiles Ltd in Bedfordshire
Clay Roof Tiles in Bedfordshire
Clayhall Roof Tiles in Bedfordshire
Conservation Roof Tiles in Bedfordshire
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Handmade Clay Tiles in Bedfordshire
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Further Information
If you would like to know more or are interested in a quote we would be happy to help. Phone us on 01634 471 344, email us at sales@heritagetiles.co.uk and we will be in touch as soon as possible.
