Traditional clay tiles in Surrey
Traditional clay tiles
Roofs, extensions and bay windows may be where you expect to see clay roof tiles fitted to any property, however, there are situations where the DIY enthusiast can use them on other projects around the house and garden.
Many properties are having solid fuel stoves fitted these days and the modern properties do not have a chimney and therefore require a separate pipe or flue to be fitted onto the property. What better way to integrate such an add on to any property than to finish the top of the housing with some high quality traditional clay tiles?
Garages can also benefit from a clay tile roof and many have converted their old flat roofed garage to a pitched one with traditional clay tiles to match the existing property. This alone can really set your property apart from the rest and even add a considerable amount of money to the overall value too.
Traditional clay tiles for the garden
Those who have brick built sheds or converted old style coal bunkers in their garden can also upgrade to include some traditional clay tiles to these structures. The extra uniformity will only enhance the property and make it a more desirable proposition when on the housing market.
Gardens that have ponds will probably require a secure and safe electrical supply and an array of pumps and various other accessories to keep the pond in good order. A well built solid housing topped with traditional clay tiles will look rather impressive and it is also a great place to store all the fish food, nets and other items that have to be stored under cover.
A little information about Surrey
The move from military might to social standing
By the 14th century, castles were of dwindling military importance, but remained a mark of social prestige, leading to the construction of castles at Starborough near Lingfield by Lord Cobham, and at Betchworth by John Fitzalan, whose father had recently inherited the Earldom of Surrey. Though Reigate and Bletchingley remained modest settlements, the role of their castles as local centres for the two leading aristocratic interests in Surrey had enabled them to gain borough status by the early 13th century. As a result, they gained representation in Parliament when it became established towards the end of that century, alongside the more substantial urban settlements of Guildford and Southwark. Surreys third large town, Kingston, despite its size, borough status and historical association with the monarchy, did not gain parliamentary representation until 1832.
Surrey had little political or economic significance in the Middle Ages. Its agricultural wealth was limited by the infertility of most of its soils, and it was not the main power base of any important aristocratic family, nor the seat of a bishopric. The London suburb of Southwark was a major urban settlement, and the proximity of the capital boosted the wealth and population of the surrounding area, but urban development elsewhere was sapped by the overshadowing predominance of London and by the lack of direct access to the sea. Population pressure in the 12th and 13th centuries initiated the gradual clearing of the Weald, the forest spanning the borders of Surrey, Sussex and Kent, which had been left undeveloped due to the difficulty of farming on its heavy clay soil.
The Surrey cloth industry
Surrey had a most significant source of prosperity in the later Middle Ages was the production of woollen cloth, which emerged during that period as Englands main export industry. The county was an early centre of English textile manufacturing, benefiting from the presence of deposits of fullers earth, the rare mineral composite important in the process of finishing cloth, around Reigate and Nutfield. The industry in Surrey was focused on Guildford, which gave its name to a variety of cloth, gilforte, which was exported widely across Europe and the Middle East and imitated by manufacturers elsewhere in Europe. However, as the English cloth industry expanded, Surrey was outstripped by other growing regions of production.
Though Surrey was not the scene of serious fighting in the various rebellions and civil wars of the period, armies from Kent heading for London via Southwark passed through what were then the extreme north eastern fringes of Surrey during the Peasants Revolt of 1381 and Cades Rebellion in 1450, and at various stages of the Wars of the Roses in 1460, 1469 and 1471. The upheaval of 1381 also involved widespread local unrest in Surrey, as was the case all across south eastern England, and some recruits from Surrey joined the Kentish rebel army.
Christianity in Surrey
In 1082 a Cluniac abbey was founded at Bermondsey by Alwine, a wealthy English citizen of London. Waverley Abbey near Farnham, founded in 1128, was the first Cistercian monastery in England. Over the next quarter of a century monks spread out from here to found new houses, creating a network of twelve monasteries descended from Waverley across southern and central England. The 12th and early 13th centuries also saw the establishment of Augustinian priories at Merton, Newark, Tandridge, Southwark and Reigate. A Dominican friary was established at Guildford by Henry IIIs widow Eleanor of Provence, in memory of her grandson who had died at Guildford in 1274. In the 15th century a Carthusian priory was founded by King Henry V at Sheen. These would all perish, along with the important Benedictine abbey of Chertsey, in the 16th century Dissolution of the Monasteries.
Products available from Heritage Clay Tiles Ltd in Essex
High Quality Roof Tiles in Essex
Traditional clay tiles in Essex
Traditional roof tiles in Essex
Products available from Heritage Clay Tiles Ltd in Hertfordshire
Clay Roof Tiles in Hertfordshire
Handmade Clay Tiles in Hertfordshire
Handmade Roof Tiles in Hertfordshire
High Quality Roof Tiles in Hertfordshire
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Products available from Heritage Clay Tiles Ltd in Kent
High Quality Roof Tiles in Kent
Traditional clay tiles in Kent
Traditional roof tiles in Kent
Products available from Heritage Clay Tiles Ltd in London
High Quality Roof Tiles in London
Traditional clay tiles in London
Traditional roof tiles in London
Victorian Roof Tiles in London
Products available from Heritage Clay Tiles Ltd in Surrey
High Quality Roof Tiles in Surrey
Traditional roof tiles in Surrey
Victorian Roof Tiles in Surrey
Further Information
If you would like to know more or are interested in a quote we would be happy to help. Phone us on 01708 853 953, email us at sales@heritagetiles.co.uk and we will be in touch as soon as possible.
