 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Story - The tile-maker
|
 |
 I
make tiles for new Roman villas and city buildings such as offices and
temples in Noviomagus (Chichester). There are several types of tile, but
they are all made from clay. Most tiles are used on roofs, and there are
two sorts - a flat rectangular tile (tegula) and a curved tile (imbrex).
These tiles fit together to make a watertight roof. We make thousands
of these tiles. Fishbourne Roman Palace alone needed 43,000! Blacksmiths
make the nails that fix the tiles to the wooden roof support.We also make small square tiles which are stacked to make small columns (pilae) for underfloor heating systems (hypocausts), and hollow rectangular tiles which work like chimneys (box-flue tiles). It is very hard work making tiles. First we dig clay out of the ground, and leave it to break up. Then we mix it with water and sand so it is ready to use, taking out any big stones we find. We roll out the clay, cut it and usually shape it in wooden moulds. We punch holes for the nails in some of the tegulae. The tiles are left outside to dry. Sometimes animals or people walk on them by mistake and leave their footprints on them. The tiles are baked (fired) in a very hot oven (kiln), until they are hard. Tileworks are built near woods so that there is plenty of firewood for the kilns. I have a special comb for marking the box-flue tiles, so that wall plaster will stick to them when they are built into room walls. |
|
