Aspects of the Production, Evolution and Use of Ceramic Building Materials in the Middle Ages

The essential differences between the nature and use of pottery and ceramic building materials in the medieval period are considered, as a preliminary to an overview of evolving patterns of use of the latter in England. A ‘century of innovation’, c1130-1230, is proposed, characterised by the emergence through experiment of a very wide range of forms, soon reduced to much smaller ranges, standardised within regions. The changing role of ‘Flemish’ brick in England through the remainder of the medieval period is considered: until the late 14th century largely as a concealed material, thereafter increasingly expressed as a cultural statement.