THIRTEENTH-CENTURY TILE KILN AT NORTH BERWICK. 281 III. A THIRTEENTH-CENTURY TILE KILN AT NORTH BERWICK, EAST LOTHIAN, AND SCOTTISH MEDIEVAL ORNAMENTED FLOOR TILES. BY JAMES S. RICHARDSON, F.S.A.ScoT., CURATOR OP THE MUSEUM. The discover t yNorta h Berwic e remainth a thirteenthf o f ko s - century kiln for making floor tiles is of exceptional importance and interest. It is the first of its kind of mediaeval date to be recorded in Scotland, and it establishes the certainty of the local manufacture of the floor tiles recovered from the ruins of the Cistercian convent at North Berwick1 during the first half of the last century. These are collectione th n i Nationae w th f no so l Museum f Antiquitieso , e Royath , l Scottish Museum, and the British Museum. In 1908 workmen happened to come across the remains of the kiln, which they unfortunately partly destroyed. Further damage was pre- venteowner,e th whay d db 2an t remaine lefkils e th tn wa f undisturbedo d until last October when I obtained permission to make an examination. The safeguarding of small trees and shrubs growing on the site pre- vente e entirth d e remova e debrith f o sl fro e remain me kilth th n f o s chamber, this also prevented the examination of the outer face of the structure and of the ground outside the kiln where it is possible that further evidenc tilere th f yeo lies buried. The kil situates n i ruine e linth e nort e yardf 0 th eth do 3 d f ho o nortst h wall of the convent and on slightly lower ground. The chamber (fig. 1) is 10 feet wide, and when complete it may have been square on plan. remaine Th s consis wall d e easa souten th feef 6 ,tr o f t o hwallo t d an , e wes th fee3 f t o twalle floofee 3 inches 6 Th ti r . s belo e presenwth t ground level, and the walls stand to a uniform height of 18 inches. Thes e abouar e fee2 t e constructet ar thic d an k f rubblo d e packing, bound "with lime mortar, and faced on the inner side with tile-bricks. The arched fire-opening e sidth e n i wallso arche e d Tw ar s. an s the remains of another are in the east wall, and there is one in what remain e westh f t o swall . These opening e constructear s f brico d k and are now incomplete. Over the arches whinstone spalls and roofing- tiles were built in horizontal beds. On the south wall there is a roughly built scarcement compose f limestondo e rock d abovinche6 an ,, it e s 1 Inventory of Ancient Monuments (Scotland): County of East Lothian, . 104No . 2 Colonel Spei s kindl ha withi rg e assiste yh di e kiln presenteo d nt th an ,e dm Nationae dth l Museu Antiquitief mo s wit fragmenha kile specimen d arcn th n a an f f ho o t f "so wasters. " THIRTEENTH-CENTURY TILE KILN AT NORTH BERWICK. 283 from the floor, appears a line of crude beam holes arranged at 17-inch f thio sp walcentresto e l Th overhang. s slightly, indicating that i t carried a brick vault. The holes may have been used during the con- struction of the covering vault of the kiln. This seems a more probable explanation than associatin wite us hplatfor a e gth m floobrownisA r h streaked, vitreous deposit havin a gslightl y corrugate d glazean d d surface covers o withit , e floor6 inchen th e interna th f ,o s l facf o e the kiln. Fig. 2. Unglazed Waster of a Tile from the North Berwick Kiln. Bot e chambe e hearth e flooth e fire-openingth hth f th o d r f an o rs s are at the one level; they are hornised with whiiistone spalls set on edge, and were covered with a 1-inch layer of charred deposit containing some piece coal.of s 1 Above this leve remain the chambel the sof was r packed with debris consistin f limestongo whinstond ean e rubble, broken ornamented floor tiled spoilsan t specimens - (ivasters)un w fe a (fig, 2) . glazed floor tiles of large size and a freestone wrought with a string course and annulet of the First Pointed style. There were also clay, and soil intermingled with some small shards of pottery, and a few anima fisd hlan bones, oyste wheld ran k shells. From l indicational s i t si 1 The coal probably came from Newbottle. 284 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, FEBRUARY 11, 1929. obvious that at an early period the upper part of the kiln had been intentionally taken groune dowth o nt dtilere leve th completin n y so lb g their work at the convent, and the rubbish was deposited in what was chambee th lef f o t t thara t time. Judging from the range of tiles found, it is evident that the output was a comparatively large one, but this tilery does not appear to have supplied any other building, as no tiles similar to those at North Berwick have been found. SCOTTISH MEDIAEVAL ORNAMENTED FLOOR TILES. In Scotland the only known remains of tiled pavements still in situ t Melrosa e ar e Abbey. These precious fragmentarye b setting o t e ar s seen within the ruin of the thirteenth-century Chapter House and in the Outer Cloister Court. They were brought to light as recently as 1921 through the operations carried out by the Ancient Monuments Depart- ment of H.M. Office of Works. The tiles from ecclesiastical buildings nearl l e belonal yth o t g thirteenth century havd an , e been e Cisterciafounth t a d n monasteries of Melrose, Newbottle, North Berwick Glenluced an , . Ther a singl s ei e inlaid tile sai havo dt e been foun t Dornocda h Cathedral. From secular buildings vertilew yfe s have been recovered. f sixteenthTheso e ar e - century date, and most of them come from Dirleton, Tantallon and Crichton Castles, and Linlithgow Palace. Scottis n numberi w hfe tile,e - nonar sim e les th en s a thed yad portant note to the history of European ceramics. Amongst them is include a dcollectio f remarkablo n e tiles with raised patterns, manu- factured at the North Berwick Cistercian Tilery. The earliest Scottish tile pavements of the medieval period followed e Romath n tradition, bein ge mosai builth n o tc principle . (figThe3) . y presented a series of geometrical patterns formed by the assemblage of tiles of different shapes, each tile glazed with a single colour—either yellow, brownish green, or dark brown. The light tones were obtained by adding a skin of white or light-coloured clay to the tile and applyin glaze gth e ove mosaiw r fe this A c . tile e ornamentesar d with inlaid patterns and others are fitted with a small inserted tile. The Cistercians were renowned tile-niaker d specialisean s e mosaith n i dc e twelftth f o stylhd f centurpavementen eo e th yy B the. y discovered particulae th r metho f inlayindo gpattera tila en no wit differena h t coloure dequan claa f yo l shrinkage Englandn I . , France Flanderd ,an s e manufacturth f thio e s inlaid typ f tilo e e develope d continuean d d aftee thirteentth r h unti e sixteentth l h century: during this later SCOTTISH MEDLEVAL ORNAMENTED FLOOR TILES 285 perio inlaio dn d tiles were produce Scotlandn di doubo n this d tan ,swa due to the difficulty in obtaining the white slip clay required for these tiles. Impresse moulded dan d method f decoratioo s n were discardes da unsuitable and plain tile floors, which never were especially numerous, were superseded by stone pavement. Of the process followed in the making of an inlaid tile, it is only necessary to remark that the tile was stamped with a die bearing a desig reliefn i n d thae hollowan th ,t s thus produced were filled with white clay o producT . e samth e e desig n conversei n e surfacth , f o e the tile was thinly coated with white clay, the stamp was then applied Pig. 3. Diagram of Mosaic Tiles forming the Newbottle Fleur-de-lys and OC Patterns. ane imprinth d t filled wit e clath hy that composee e bodth th df o y tile. That this was the method employed can be seen by examining broken examples foun t a Newbottld d Melrosan e e Abbeys. Other methods of ornamenting tiles were by impressed patterns or by raised patterns e mosai a templatTh e .r shapeo th t o c t d cu an ed s tilewa sides finishe y toolingb d . Stamp f wooo s r leao d d affixe o woot d d were use produco dt e inlai impressed dan d tiles r thosfo ; e with raised r embosseo d patterns, moulds were e requiredth f o o mak T e . on e Newbottle inlaid tiles, a mosaic fleur-de-lys shaped tile was used to indent the pattern. In each case the tile was finished by dusting a film of powdered lead over the top surface and firing it in a kiln. The glaze so produced was transparent; it was yellow over white clay 286 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, FEBRUARY 11, 1929.