Global events change the fate of individuals but their achievements remain for generations. This is what happened to our factory, the construction which began in the late 19th century. It operated for over 100 years, supplying clay building materials. Exploiting the extremely rich clay deposits, the factory produced very durable basic bricks and handmade clay tiles. At the beginning of this millennium, the work by experienced craftsmen gave rise to a new era – ‘Traditional’ was established: a high-end brand of handmade clay roof tiles.
We switched from the production of short series of roof tiles to large-scale production. We are the sole entity in Europe to boast such an accomplishment. We produce over 5 million roof tiles and accessories every year and all that is the result of this production process – just like over a century ago.
The starting point was the establishment of a family company in 1989, with an ambition to create clay roof tiles and clay tiles for heritage structure renovation – which would not only compete with mature global brands by its quality but also be distinguished by an exceptional aesthetic value.
Past and Present
Since 1666, handmade plain clay tiles adorn some of our most historic and eye-catching buildings throughout the country. Classical solutions and traditional technology unchanged for centuries – this is the source of our inspiration. In our work, we combine history with the past. Originality and uniqueness are the features that distinguish our offer on the market and guarantee satisfaction from the most demanding customers.
Our roots
We have grown together with our company, drawing from the experience and wisdom of generations of ceramic artists. We know that the strength and future of our company lie in wisdom, reliability and faith in our mission. We have been aware of this since 1989 when we first started the production of our tiles. Today we are a leading producer of handmade tiles, and our company’s production capacity can reach up to 10 million tiles per year.
A family-owned and run business, our strength and future are forged together in trying to produce the most aesthetic and consistent tiles available.
Tradition demands that…
We continue to be faithful to the century-old traditions and craft that precede today’s technology, and we strive to use the best practices available to produce the finest handmade tiles.
Our tiles are produced from our own high-quality clay reserves, combined with natural environmentally friendly materials, and fired in a coal-fired Hoffmann kiln. Firing in this way bestows the tiles with their unique character and shades, which is virtually impossible to recreate with gas-fired kilns. Once fired, tiles are unloaded, sorted and palleted by hand. This is our final stage of quality assessment, as the human eye is the finest instrument to assess the subtleties of the finished products.
We maintain our high standards of quality through rigorous and thorough quality control procedures set at each stage of production, making sure any tile or fitting that does not meet the required market demands, is removed and recycled.
Practical information
Customers have peace of mind as all our tiles are tested with our in house laboratory facility to meet current British standards – BS EN 538 Flexural strength, BS EN 539-1 Impermeability and BS EN 539-2 Frost resistance. Our tiles were tested by German Keramik Institut GmbH and UE independent laboratories.
All of our tiles come with a 30-year guarantee.
The variety of products we produce means even the most complex of roof designs can be covered in our beautiful range of tiles and fittings, we offer; plain tiles, eaves, gables, bonnet hips, valleys, half-round and hogs back ridge, plus specials such as bat access tile sets, mono, porch, third round ridges and external angles to complete vertical tiling projects. We also offer a set of ornamental tiles which include; club, bullnose, diamond and fishtail designs*
Traditional Clay Roof Tiles and fittings are suitable for a vast range of new & refurbished buildings – private new builds & self builds, timber frame buildings & developments, barn conversions, cart sheds/outbuildings, commercial properties & developments, agricultural, listed properties & historic buildings.
Traditional Clay Roof Tiles strives to further enhance and contribute to the beautiful heritage and architecture we see across the UK building sector.