Moses Farm Piltdown

Product Used: Shire

Colour: Downs Red

Description:

To put the finishing touches to a stunning Grade II listed twin kiln Oast and separate Barn conversion, only genuine hand made clay tiles from Keymer could deliver the right level of authenticity and unique style.

Dating from the 1800s and set on Moses Farm in rural Piltdown, East Sussex, The Oast and Barn were discovered in a dilapidated condition alongside two other properties, The Lodge and The Stables. All four properties retained many original farmyard features such as solid barn doors and well-preserved oak.

Owners Ashe Developments Ltd, who specialise in sympathetic conversions of listed buildings, required superior materials such as local bricks, hand made roof tiles and high quality joinery (to fuse existing oak with new supporting beams) to ensure the renovation projects for The Oast and Barn were a success.

The Oast's high specification interior, comprising over 2,300 sq ft, now features polished oak floors, magnificent vaulted ceilings and many period characteristics. Externally, it presents attractive brick elevations under a pitched roof. Ashe Developments chose Keymer's handmade Shire tiles range to complete the distinctive architectural design.

Locally produced using Wealden clay, the tiles naturally complemented the surroundings to deliver an authentic end result. Each tile is genuinely hand made using Wealden clay dug from Keymer's own pits. Produced in three colours - Heritage, Priory and Downs Red - the tiles are designed to make any project look outstanding.

The Shire range is hand made, exhibiting all the style and quality but at a lower price, and weathering naturally to look better and improve with every passing year. Ashe Developments used over 80,000 tiles to complete the renovation project, and specified a mixture of the three colours.

Keymer's Shire Tiles were also used on The Barn renovation, undertaken by Ashe Development, as well as The Lodge and The Stables which were both self-build projects.

Keymer, who can trace its roots back over 400 years, is one of the few tile manufacturers that still employs many of the traditional craft skills, which have been passed down from maker to maker through the generations. As an indication of their hand made qualities, each tile bears the individual handprint of its maker on the reverse.

Hand made tiles, unlike machine made ‘hand crafted' tiles, have their own inimitable style offering variations in colour, texture and shape that simply cannot be replicated with machine made products. Such inherent quality makes tiles from Keymer the perfect choice for properties required to blend harmoniously with existing buildings or surroundings, helping to maintain Britain's rich and colourful architecture.