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A Newly Identified Late Roman Tile Group from Southern England

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2011

Ian M. Betts  and
Robert Foot
Ian M. Betts
Affiliation:
Museum of London Archaeology Service
Robert Foot
Affiliation:
Archaeology Section, Winchester Museum Service
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Extract

During 1981 a large quantity of Roman brick and tile was recovered from excavations at Pudding Lane/118-127 Lower Thames Street, London. Examination of this material revealed a small assemblage of roofing-tile characterised by the presence of red or brown moulding-sand, and unusual rounded tegula flanges. All were made using calcareous clays quite unlike that used for the majority of Roman tile in London. As tile from further sites in London was recorded, more roofing-tile made in the same, or similar, clay types was discovered. From the mid-1980s work outside London has revealed other sites in southern England with tiles made with the same distinctive clay types. They are located over an extremely wide geographical area ranging from Devon in the west to London in the east. Movement of tile from the as yet unidentified tilery was almost certainly by ship along the south coast. The dating of these distinctive tiles is still problematic, although there is now considerable evidence for their use in the late Roman period.

Type
Articles
Information
Britannia , Volume 25 , November 1994 , pp. 21 - 34
Copyright
Copyright © Ian M. Betts and Robert Foot 1994. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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References

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37 At St Magnus House Roman quay a small quantity of calcareous tile was recovered from river-silt deposits in Phase I dated to the early second century (I.M. Betts in Miller, Schofield and Rhodes, op. cit. (note 18), 247-8). It is now clear that these tiles must be either later contamination, or the silt deposits are later in date than originally thought.

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