Medieval floor tiles in Exeter Cathedral

Many parts of the medieval Cathedral were originally paved with decorated floor-tiles. Most of the pavements formerly in the body of the church are now lost, but the first-floor rooms above the eastern transepts preserve important collections of tiles in fresh condition.

The view shows part of the pavement of the Archive Chamber, on the south side of the choir. The tiles date to c.1280, and were made by impressing a wooden stamp in the red clay body of the tile, then infilling the impression with white clay. Some of the stamps used here had previously been used in Wessex, e.g. at Salisbury, and either these tiles or the stamps for making them must have been carried from that area.

Acknowledgments: Exeter Archaeology