View source for Mathematical tile

{{dablink|For tilings in geometry, see [[Tessellation]].}}

[[File:Black Glazed Mathematical Tiles, 44 Old Steine, Brighton.JPG|thumb|right|Black glazed mathematical tiles—as seen here at 44 Old Steine—are a characteristic feature of [[Brighton]]'s 18th-century architecture.]]
[[File:9 Pool Valley, Brighton (IoE Code 481045).jpg|thumb|right|[[9 Pool Valley, Brighton]] has a black tile façade of 1794.]]
[[File:Jireh Chapel, Cliffe 2.JPG|thumb|right|The [[Lewes Free Presbyterian Church|Jireh Chapel]] at Cliffe, Lewes, has one mathematical-tiled face.]]
'''Mathematical tiles''' are a building material used extensively in the southeastern counties of England—especially [[East Sussex]] and [[Kent]]—in the 18th and early 19th centuries.<ref name="Antram6">{{Harvnb|Antram|Morrice|2008|p=6.}}</ref>  They were laid on the exterior of [[Timber framing|timber-framed]] buildings as an alternative to brickwork, which their appearance closely resembled.<ref name="Pevsner661">{{Harvnb|Nairn|Pevsner|1965|p=661.}}</ref>  A distinctive black variety with a glazed surface was used on many buildings in [[Brighton]] (now part of the [[City status in the United Kingdom|city]] of [[Brighton and Hove]]) from about 1760 onwards, and is considered a characteristic feature of the town's early architecture.<ref name="Antram6"/><ref name="EncB4">{{Harvnb|Carder|1990|loc=§4.}}</ref> Mathematical tiles had an extra price advantage  during the time of the [[brick tax]] (1784–1850), although later there was a tax on tiles also.

==Usage and varieties==
The tiles were laid in a partly overlapping pattern, akin to [[roof shingle]]s.  Their lower section—the part intended to be visible when the tiling was complete—was thicker; the upper section would slide under the overlapping tile above and would therefore be hidden.  In the top corner was a hole for a nail to be inserted.  They would then be hung on a [[lath]] of wood, and the lower sections would be moulded together with an infill of [[lime mortar]] to form a flat surface.<ref name="Berry110">{{Harvnb|Berry|2005|p=110.}}</ref>  The interlocking visible surfaces would then resemble either [[Brickwork#Brickwork bonds|header bond or stretcher bond brickwork]].<ref name="Antram6"/><ref name="Pevsner661"/><ref name="MBaH">{{cite web|url=http://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/page_id__6738.aspx|title=Building materials in Brighton and Hove: Mathematical Tiles|last=Martin|first=Ron|date=22 March 2006|publisher=My Brighton and Hove (c/o QueensPark Books)|accessdate=9 February 2010}}</ref><ref name="EH-Tiles">{{cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/upload/pdf/Conservation_Bulletin_01.pdf?1261342202|title=Conservation Bulletin, Issue 1, February 1987|last=Chitham|first=Robert|year=1987|month=February|format=PDF|publisher=[[English Heritage]]|page=4|accessdate=9 February 2010}}</ref>  Mathematical tiles had several advantages over brick: they were cheaper,<ref name="Antram6"/> easier to lay than bricks (skilled workmen were not needed),<ref name="Berry103">{{Harvnb|Berry|2005|p=103.}}</ref> and were more resistant to the weathering effects of wind, rain and sea-spray, making them particularly useful at seaside locations such as Brighton.<ref name="BoB65">{{Harvnb|Brighton Polytechnic. School of Architecture and Interior Design|1987|p=65.}}</ref>

Various colours of tile were produced: red, to resemble brick most closely; honey; cream; and black.  Brighton, the resort most closely associated with mathematical tiles, has examples of each.  Many houses on the seafront east of the [[Royal Pavilion]] and Old Steine, for example on Wentworth Street, have cream-coloured tiles,<ref name="EncB4"/> and honey-coloured tiles were used by [[Henry Holland (architect)|Henry Holland]] in his design for the Marine Pavilion—forerunner of the Royal Pavilion.<ref name="Berry103"/>  Holland often used mathematical tiles in his commissions, although he usually used blue [[Gault clay]] to make them.<ref name="Antram31">{{Harvnb|Antram|Morrice|2008|p=31.}}</ref>

==Black glazed tiles==
The black glazed type is most closely associated with the Brighton's early architecture:<ref name="Antram6"/> such tiles had the extra advantage of reflecting light in a visually attractive way.<ref name="Musgrave125">{{Harvnb|Musgrave|1981|p=125.}}</ref>  Black mathematical tiles started to appear in the 1760s, soon after the town began to grow in earnest as its reputation as a health resort became known.<ref name="EncB15">{{Harvnb|Carder|1990|loc=§15.}}</ref>  When [[Patcham Place]], a mid 16th-century house in nearby [[Patcham]] (now part of the city of Brighton and Hove), was rebuilt in 1764, it was clad entirely in the tiles.<ref name="BoB111">{{Harvnb|Brighton Polytechnic. School of Architecture and Interior Design|1987|p=111.}}</ref>  [[Royal Crescent, Brighton|Royal Crescent]], Brighton's first unified architectural set piece and first residential development built to face the sea, was faced in the same material when it was built between 1799 and 1807.<ref name="Antram133">{{Harvnb|Antram|Morrice|2008|p=133.}}</ref>  When Pool Valley—the site where a [[Winterbourne (stream)|winterbourne]] drained into the [[English Channel]]—was built over in the 1790s, one of the first buildings erected there was a mathematical tiled two-storey shop.  Both the building (now known as [[9 Pool Valley, Brighton|9 Pool Valley]]) and the façade survive.<ref name="EncB125">{{Harvnb|Carder|1990|loc=§125.}}</ref>  All three of these have [[Listed building|Grade II* listed status]],<ref name="BHCC-LB">{{cite web|url=http://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/downloads/bhcc/conservation/LB-03_B__H_Summary_Oct_09_Lists_of_Historic_Buildings_2009-10-16.pdf|title=The Brighton and Hove Summary Lists of Historic Buildings (ENS/CR/LB/03)|date=16 October 2009|format=PDF|work=Brighton and Hove City Council Register of Listed Buildings|publisher=Brighton and Hove City Council|accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref> indicating that in the context of England's architecture they are "particularly important ... [and] of more than special interest".<ref name="EH2">{{cite web|url=http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.1373|title=Listed Buildings: Listing and Other Types of Designation|year=2008|publisher=[[English Heritage]]|accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref>  Other examples can be seen at Grand Parade—the east side of Old Steine, developed haphazardly with large houses in a variety of styles and materials in the early 19th century;<ref name="Antram92">{{Harvnb|Antram|Morrice|2008|p=92.}}</ref><ref name="BoB43">{{Harvnb|Brighton Polytechnic. School of Architecture and Interior Design|1987|p=43.}}</ref> York Place, a fashionable address when built in the 1800s;<ref name="Antram88">{{Harvnb|Antram|Morrice|2008|p=92.}}</ref> and Market Street in [[The Lanes (Brighton)|The Lanes]], Brighton's ancient core of narrow streets.<ref name="EncB4"/>

[[Lewes]], the county town of East Sussex, also has many buildings with black mathematical tiles, including the Grade I-listed [[Lewes Free Presbyterian Church|Jireh Chapel]] in the Cliffe area of the town.  The timber-framed chapel was built in 1805.<ref name="IoE293297">{{cite web|url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/Default.aspx?id=293297&mode=quick|title=Detailed Record: Jireh Chapel & Sunday School to north, Malling Street (east side), Lewes|year=2007|work=[[Images of England]]|publisher=[[English Heritage]]|accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref>  Elsewhere, a study in 2005 identified 22 18th-century timber-framed buildings (mostly [[townhouse]]s) with mathematical tiles of various colours.<ref name="EUS-42">{{cite web|url=http://www.lewes.gov.uk/Files/plan_Lewes_EUS_reportpg42to47.pdf|title=Lewes Historic Character Assessment Report|last=Harris|first=Roland B.|year=2005|month=March|format=PDF|work=Sussex Extensive Urban Surveys (EUS)|publisher=Lewes District Council in association with [[English Heritage]]|page=42|accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref>  Examples are the semi-detached pair at 199 and 200 High Street,<ref name="EUS-42"/> the small terrace at 9–11 Market Street, 33 School Hill (an old building with a mid-18th century renewed façade), and the [[Religious Society of Friends|Quaker]] meeting house of 1784.<ref name="EUS-43">{{cite web|url=http://www.lewes.gov.uk/Files/plan_Lewes_EUS_reportpg42to47.pdf|title=Lewes Historic Character Assessment Report|last=Harris|first=Roland B.|year=2005|month=March|format=PDF|work=Sussex Extensive Urban Surveys (EUS)|publisher=Lewes District Council in association with [[English Heritage]]|page=43|accessdate=7 February 2010}}</ref>


== Examples from Brighton ==
<gallery>
Image:Bay Window Mathematical Tiles.jpg|Brick coloured Mathematical Tiles on a bay window in George Street [http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=george+street,+brighton&sll=50.818382,-0.120776&sspn=0.001013,0.002213&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=George+St,+Brighton,+East+Sussex+BN2,+United+Kingdom&ll=50.826365,-0.138252&spn=0,0.025878&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=50.822242,-0.134202&panoid=ZhYyQvQLLcuUa3LaFca8NA&cbp=12,337.83,,0,1.51 Location on Google Maps]
Image:Grand Parade Mathematical Tiles.jpg|Terracotta coloured Mathematical Tiles on a bay window in Grand Parade [http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=grand+parade,+brighton&sll=50.822242,-0.134202&sspn=0.008106,0.025878&g=george+street,+brighton&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Grand+Parade,+Brighton,+East+Sussex+BN2,+United+Kingdom&ll=50.823821,-0.13592&spn=0.000507,0.001106&t=h&z=20&layer=c&cbll=50.823722,-0.135968&panoid=Pej8km3pULIQeJW2cw_IHw&cbp=12,113.5,,0,-13.87 Location on Google Maps]
Image:Cream Coloured Mathematical Tiles.JPG|Cream coloured Mathematical Tiles on a building in Old Steine [http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=grand+parade,+brighton&sll=50.822242,-0.134202&sspn=0.008106,0.025878&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Grand+Parade,+Brighton,+East+Sussex+BN2,+United+Kingdom&t=h&layer=c&cbll=50.820535,-0.13666&panoid=NawN7WV26ppBMm795j5vTA&cbp=12,67.97,,0,-19.93&ll=50.821065,-0.138187&spn=0.003646,0.017703&z=16 Location on Google Maps]
Image:Marine Square Mathematical Tiles.jpg|Cream coloured Mathematical Tiles on houses in Marine Square [http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=marine+square,+brighton&sll=50.821065,-0.138187&sspn=0.008106,0.025878&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Marine+Square,+Brighton,+East+Sussex+BN2,+United+Kingdom&ll=50.818395,-0.130227&spn=0.003647,0.025878&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=50.818097,-0.121556&panoid=Mi4mxvysqESJ6MrgeTsy-g&cbp=12,295.16,,0,-1.18 Location on Google Maps]
Image:White and Terracotta Mathematical Tiles Grand Parade.jpg|White and Terracotta coloured Mathematical Tiles on Grand Parade [http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=marine+square,+brighton&sll=50.821065,-0.138187&sspn=0.008106,0.025878&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Marine+Square,+Brighton,+East+Sussex+BN2,+United+Kingdom&ll=50.824237,-0.137029&spn=0.003646,0.025878&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=50.824236,-0.137026&panoid=hzxGaAH_ZTt_D4oT1zY1-g&cbp=12,286.78,,0,-10.67 Location on Google Maps]
Image:Cream Mathematical Tiles 47 Grand Parade.jpg|Cream coloured Mathematical Tiles on an Amon Wilds house at 47 Grand Parade [http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=marine+square,+brighton&sll=50.821065,-0.138187&sspn=0.008106,0.025878&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Marine+Square,+Brighton,+East+Sussex+BN2,+United+Kingdom&ll=50.824983,-0.135548&spn=0.003646,0.025878&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=50.824875,-0.135584&panoid=dj05mLATdpmiXpcIOQaJlQ&cbp=12,127.71,,0,-7.84 Location on Google Maps]
Image:Cream Mathematical Tiles St Georges Place.jpg|Cream coloured Mathematical Tiles on an Amon Wilds house on St George's Place [http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=marine+square,+brighton&sll=50.821065,-0.138187&sspn=0.008106,0.025878&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Marine+Square,+Brighton,+East+Sussex+BN2,+United+Kingdom&ll=50.826921,-0.135419&spn=0.003646,0.025878&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=50.827,-0.13542&panoid=RGw-18QiyGBpbohq3ikCZw&cbp=12,294.64,,0,-14.92 Location on Google Maps]
Image:Portland Place Mathematical Tiles.JPG|Rare example of blue, cream, maroon and dark maroon mathematical tiles at the end of the terrace on the West of Portland Place.[http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=portland+place,+brighton&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=15.45591,36.254883&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Portland+Pl,+Brighton,+East+Sussex+BN2,+United+Kingdom&ll=50.818029,-0.120893&spn=0.001007,0.002213&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=50.818382,-0.120776&panoid=3U1fElNIJa5q06Vhz6An9A&cbp=12,196.7,,0,2.05 Location on Google Maps]
Image:Ship_Street_Mathematical_Tiles.jpg|Brick and Flint effect mathematical tiles on a building in Ship Street. This image is a Photoshop 'Photomerge' image composed of 4 individual photographs. [http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=marine+square,+brighton&sll=50.821065,-0.138187&sspn=0.008106,0.025878&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Marine+Square,+Brighton,+East+Sussex+BN2,+United+Kingdom&ll=50.821147,-0.142028&spn=0.003646,0.025878&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=50.821149,-0.14202&panoid=oXSnAV8NQTv1Aibu9i3QgQ&cbp=12,68.84,,0,0.94 Location on Google Maps]
Image:Black Mathematical Tiles Offset Bay Window .jpg|Black Mathematical Tiles on houses with unusual offset bay windows on Grand Parade [http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=marine+square,+brighton&sll=50.821065,-0.138187&sspn=0.008106,0.025878&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Marine+Square,+Brighton,+East+Sussex+BN2,+United+Kingdom&ll=50.826569,-0.13469&spn=0.003646,0.025878&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=50.826569,-0.134692&panoid=xyyUlYTT9eAvdsFKq6Ubhg&cbp=12,102.91,,0,-1.79 Location on Google Maps]
Image:Royal Crescent Mathematical Tiles.jpg|Houses on [[Royal Crescent, Brighton]] are entirely faced with black Mathematical Tiles [http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=marine+square,+brighton&sll=50.821065,-0.138187&sspn=0.008106,0.025878&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Marine+Square,+Brighton,+East+Sussex+BN2,+United+Kingdom&ll=50.818666,-0.13469&spn=0.003647,0.025878&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=50.818106,-0.125627&panoid=UKkAbZl3vBd9R9tara8hzQ&cbp=12,17.96,,0,7.09 Location on Google Maps]
Image:Mathematical Tiles On Laurence Oliviers Former House.jpg|Laurence Olivier's former house on [[Royal Crescent, Brighton]] with Mathematical Tiles
Image:Two Styles of Black Mathematical Tiles.jpg|Two styles of black Mathematical Tiles on [[Royal Crescent, Brighton]]
Image:Mathematical Tiles on 44 Old Steine.jpg|44 Old Steine [http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=george+street,+brighton&sll=50.818382,-0.120776&sspn=0.001013,0.002213&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=George+St,+Brighton,+East+Sussex+BN2,+United+Kingdom&t=h&layer=c&cbll=50.820432,-0.138096&panoid=ONGtk5dIHHo98lhXPIQTfA&cbp=12,241.18,,0,-6.25&ll=50.820428,-0.138102&spn=0.003647,0.025878&z=16 Location on Google Maps]
Image:Missing Mathematical Tile.jpg|Missing Mathematical Tile on St James's St showing the flange of its lower left neighbour used to attach it to the woodwork [http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=marine+square,+brighton&sll=50.821065,-0.138187&sspn=0.008106,0.025878&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Marine+Square,+Brighton,+East+Sussex+BN2,+United+Kingdom&ll=50.820754,-0.133553&spn=0.003647,0.025878&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=50.820733,-0.13341&panoid=IepyxZSh6jtUC-YEisJNyA&cbp=12,222.86,,1,-19.4 Location on Google Maps]
Image:Pool Valley Missing Mathematical Tiles.JPG|Missing tiles from the building on Pool Valley reveal the shape of the tiles and how they were attached to the woodwork when this building was constructed in 1794. [Not on Google Maps]
</gallery>

==External links==
* [http://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/page_id__6738.aspx Building materials in Brighton and Hove] photos and diagrams
* [http://www.robusceramics.co.uk/mathematicaltiles.html Robus Ceramics - Mathematical tiles] a modern supplier

==References==
===Notes===
{{reflist|2}}

===Bibliography===
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book|last1=Antram|first=Nicholas|last2=Morrice|first2=Richard|title=Brighton and Hove|series=Pevsner Architectural Guides|publisher=Yale University Press|location=London|year=2008|isbn=978-0-300-12661-7|ref=harv}}
*{{cite book|last=Berry|first=Sue|title=Georgian Brighton|Phillimore & Co|location=Chichester|year=2005|isbn=1-86077-342-7|ref=harv}}
*{{cite book|last=Brighton Polytechnic. School of Architecture and Interior Design|title=A Guide to the Buildings of Brighton|year=1987|publisher=McMillan Martin|location=Macclesfield|isbn=1-869-86503-0|ref=harv}}
*{{cite book|last=Carder|first=Timothy|title=The Encyclopaedia of Brighton|year=1990|publisher=East Sussex County Libraries|location=Lewes|isbn=0-861-47315-9|ref=harv}}
*{{cite book|last=Musgrave|first=Clifford|title=Life in Brighton|year=1981|publisher=Rochester Press|location=Rochester|isbn=0-571-09285-3|ref=harv}}
*{{cite book|last=Nairn|first=Ian|authorlink=Ian Nairn|coauthors=[[Nikolaus Pevsner|Pevsner, Nikolaus]]|title=The Buildings of England: Sussex|publisher=[[Penguin Books]]|location=Harmondsworth|year=1965|isbn= 0300096771|ref=harv}}
{{refend}}

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