ABSTRACT
In the mid-nineteenth century, when the new wave of archaeology swept the country, enthusiasts began to discover the sites of the old kilns, and to examine and record the designs of surviving medieval tiles in cathedrals and churches. Furthermore, in 1843 Prince Albert was present at a soirée at the home of the Marquis of Northampton, at which a revival of the technique was demonstrated. Soon afterwards its author, Herbert Minton, was commissioned to exercise his skills in tiling floors at Osborne, Isle of Wight, the summer residence of Queen Victoria. Born in 1793, Herbert was the son of Thomas Minton, whose business he had joined in 1817; by 1828 he had become interested in reviving this lost craft: the company were soon foremost in producing large quantities of tiles, and for a rapidly growing market further stimulated by the work of the most prominent architects, among them Augustus W.N. Pugin. The magnificent Hall floor at Liverpool, executed in 1853, immediately followed his successes at Osborne and the Palace of Westminster, but exceeds them in grandeur as one of the finest examples of its kind.
