Lead-glazed earthenware floor tile, from Croyland Abbey. English (Bawsey), about 1375-1400

Lead-glazed earthenware floor tile, decorated in low relief with a shield of arms surmounted by the letter 'R', possibly the arms of Rokele.

From Croyland Abbey, Lincolnshire. Formerly Edkins Collection.
According to Eames (1955), p.171-2, this shield "looks like a representation of lozengy gutte or lozengy ermine", and appears in two forms, the other being "also charged with a chevron bearing three martlets, two sinister, one dexter. King's Lynn Museum attributes these arms to William Waynflete, bishop of Winchester who died in 1468. Although the date is so late that it is unlikely that these are the arms of William Waynflete, the College of Arms think that the tile may well be intended to represent lozengy ermine, which was borne with a canton by Patten of Warrington, and includes Bishop Waynflete who was a Patten. It is therefore possible that an earlier Patten bore the arms without the canton, and these are here represented, but this is conjecture."

The arms on this tile are 'lozengy ermine' but the original tinctures are unknown. A post conquest family by the name of 'Rokele' bore the arms: 'lozengy ermine gules'. This family probably originated in Rochelle and it seems that their primary estates in England were located in Kent and Essex. In the 13th century they seem to be possessed of at least one manor in Norfolk. The similarity of the arms on this tile and the letter 'R' surmounting them, suggests that this might represent the Rokele family. However, it is unknown whether they had connections with Croy(w)land Abbey.

The Ashmolean museum in Oxford has a watercolour of a similar tile, drawn in the 19th century and recorded at the time to be of a tile from either Thorney Abbey in Cambs or from Crowland in Lincs.. However, the tile appears to be an inlaid one with the lozenges and ermine drops in white slip on a red clay background (see object file). This would mean that the shield was blazoned: gules lozengy and ermine drops argent - technically an incorrect heraldic charge.
A major industry was operating at Bawsey near King's Lynn in the years around 1376, producing small, square relief tiles decorated with a mix of heraldry, animals and birds, geometrical and foliate motifs and inscriptions. Pale and dark glazes were used to produce a mix of red and dark-brown tiles that on occasion were laid in chequerboard arrangements. The products of the Bawsey kiln were distributed widely in East Anglia, especially in the more populous northern areas, but also to the south and east of King's Lynn where the tiles could be readily transported over the region's extensive network of inland waterways. Numerous parish churches were supplied, as well as a number of larger religious houses including Castle Acre Priory.

One tile design produced at Bawsey is datable through its inscription to ca.1376. The exact dates of production of the tilery are not known.

A major tile industry was in operation at Bawsey, near King's Lynn in the years around 1376. The tiles produced there were distributed widely in East Anglia, especially in the more populous northern areas, but also to the south and east of King's Lynn, where the tiles could readily be transported over the region's extensive network of inland waterways. The Bawsey tilery is known for the production of relief-decorated tiles, featuring birds, animals, heraldry or inscriptions

1109-1892