Roman Terracotta: Terracotta Roof Tile Fragment

Inv. No.: 85.001
Provenance: Caerleon (Romano-British)
Date: 2nd century AD
Height: 166mm
Length: 213mm
Depth: 55 mm (maximum)
 
An irregularly shaped fragment of a terracotta roof tile with an unframed stamped inscription at one corner. The letters of the inscription are in relief, rather worn or from a worn stamp. The first and the last letters and the top right-hand end of the inscription are missing, but comparison with intact examples suggests that the complete inscription would read as follows: LEG II AUG. This identifies the tile as the product of the Legion II Augusta. The fragment comes from a tegula or flat roof tile, 33 mm thick, with flanges along each side. It includes a rectangular flange along one edge, varying in thickness from 22-15 mm. The clay is dark pinkish-red in colour with dark speckles.

 

Function:
The tegula is one of the two main elements in the Roman system of roof tiling. Such flanged flat roof tiles were laid side by side with the join being covered by a curved tile or imbrex fitted over the flanges. Towards the upper end of each tegula the flanges were trimmed in order to allow it to slot beneath another tile in the row above. The weight of the tiles and the low pitch of the roof held the tiles in place without need for nailing to rafters. The practice of stamping tiles began in the early Republican era in order to identify workshops, ensure the quality of the product and deter thieves. Legions in Britain began stamping their tiles towards the end of the first century AD in order to prevent civilian misappropriation of military building materials at a time when there was much building activity and to distinguish the product of different legions.

Manufacture:
The tiles were probably made by pressing weathered and prepared clay into frame moulds with excess clay perhaps being removed from the surface using a wire cutter. They were then left to dry and harden, with stamps being applied at the leather hard stage, and finally fired. Stamps were usually carved from end-grain wood although some metal stamps have survived.

Bibliography:
Frere, S. S. and R. S. O. Tomlin (eds.), The Roman Inscriptions of Britain, Volume II, Fascicule 4, 1992, 125-147.

Holder, P. A., The Roman Army in Britain, London, B. T. Batsford, 1982.

McWhirr, A. (ed.), Roman Brick and Tile: Studies in Manufacture, Distribution and Use in the Western Empire, BAR International Series 68, 1979.

McWhirr, A. and D. Viner, "The Production and Distribution of Tiles in Roman Britain with particular reference to the Cirencester Region", Britannia, 9 (1978), 359-377.

Comparanda:
Collingwood, R. G. and R. P. Wright, The Roman Inscriptions of Britain, Volume II, Fascicule 4, 1992, 2459.1-2459.72.