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Overseas customers will be charged an extra £2.50 per tile during checkout for deliveries outside the United Kingdom.
Don't forget, if you buy 6 tiles you get 1 free. (Please see Ordering/Delivery page for further details).
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| Green Lady of WellsBased on an unusual 14th century roof boss from the Chapter House of Wells Cathedral.
During the 1980s an eagle-eyed Cathedral guide saw that one of the corbels high up in the Chapter House of Wells Cathedral was not just composed of ‘stiff leaf’ carving. Using binoculars, she saw that amongst the foliage was the figure of a young girl, who had remained hidden from view for hundreds of years! Holding her sheaf of flowers, and with her hair flowing freely amongst the leaves, she is really not a true ‘Green Lady’. But we all like to call the delicate featured figure by the name “Green Lady of Wells”.
This could be the ideal gardening gift for the lady with greenfingers! Dimensions: 10.5cm
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| Green Man of WellsBased on a 14th century Green Man from the Chapter House of Wells Cathedral.
Carved heads sprouting foliage have appeared in churches over many centuries. They are known by many names - including 'Lord of the Greenwood' & 'Tête de Feuilles' (Head of Leaves). Whilst their origins undoubtedly can be traced back to Pagan times, the images perhaps appear in churches as a symbol of Spring turning into Summer and rebirth.
Being so high up in the ceilings of churches and cathedrals, roof bosses usually escaped destruction by the zealous Puritans who so disapproved of images in the House of God. Wells is famous for the carvings of kings, prophets and saints on the Cathedral’s west front, but there are also has some very fine corbels of which this is one.
This is an ideal present for those who are Pagans or Wiccans or it could be the perfect gardening gift for the gentleman with greenfingers! Dimensions: 10.2cm
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| Swan (new version)SWAN The mute swans which live on the moat of the Bishops Palace, Wells, England were taught by the daughter of a Victorian bishop to ring a bell to ask for bread. Over the generations the swans taught each other that by pulling a string attached to a bell on the side of the drawbridge entrance, they will attract the attention of the lodge keeper.
It is thought that Villard de Honnecourt, the artist who did the drawing on which this graceful swan is based, may have been an itinerant master-builder of Picardy in northern France. A surviving portfolio of thirty three sheets of parchment (animal skin) contains about 250 drawings from about the 1230s, which is in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (MS Fr 19093). The portfolio contains architectural plans together with beautiful, accurate drawings of mechanical devices and figures suitable for sculpture.
This decorative wall hanging makes a lovely souvenir of Wells, and as such has travelled over the world. Dimensions: 10.5cm x 10.2cm
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| George & the DragonMisericords (sometimes named mercy seats) were small wooden shelves underneath folding seats in a church. From the start of the 13th century, they were installed so that the clergy, who had to stand for long hours during services, could prop themselves on the edge, providing some small level of comfort.
Although hidden underneath the seats of choir stalls, they were usually carved with skill and often show detailed scenes. The vast majority of English misericords date from the 14th and 15th centuries and curiously most often show secular or pagan images and scenes, not holy ones as you might expect.
Here we have a man fighting a wyvern, which is the Somerset equivalent of a dragon. Dimensions: 10cm x 8.5cm Special Price - End of Range
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| Grape PickersThis decorative plaque is based on one of a series of four animated carvings forming the capitals of a pillar in the north transept of Wells Cathedral (circa 1200). It tells the story of thieves stealing grapes.
In the first, a man and a boy are seen obviously stealing fruit. This used to be thought of as apples, but we now realise that it is grapes that they are after. (Vines grew in Somerset in medieval times, as they do again today.) In the second carving, another man is telling the farmer or owner, that his grapes are being stolen. In the third, the farmer has the older thief by the ear, about to give summary punishment. In the fourth, he proceeds to beat the culprit with a stick!
This tile shows the first incident, often called “The Grape Stealers” It is full of exquisite detail, with the young boy and his basket of grapes, the man with his hooked tool at the vine.
As well as being a good gift for all wine lovers, the tile makes a lovely souvenir of Wells and as such has been taken over the world. Dimensions: 10cm x 9.2cm Special Price - End of Range
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| Man With ThornBased on a stone carving from a capital in the South Transept of Wells Cathedral (circa 1200). A man is taking a thorn out of his foot. We can see his grimacing face, and the knife which he is using for the grizzly operation.
The cathedral is justifiably famous for the 293 pieces of medieval sculpture on the West Front of which it has been said that “half the medieval sculpture in England rests here.” But inside there is a treasure trove of smaller pieces, many of them depicting day to day life as it would have appeared to the craftsmen working at that time. This tile is based on one of these. Dimensions: 9cm Special Price - End of Range
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| Man With ToothacheBased on a 13th century stone carving in the South Transept of Wells Cathedral.
This animated carving forms the capital of a pillar in the South Transept. A number of images of men with toothache appear in the Cathedral. It is said that there are at least fifteen. One story has it that sufferers came to touch the tomb of a Saxon Bishop (circa 900) who was believed to have had perfect teeth. Certainly, when his tomb was opened it was seen that Bishop Bytton, who died in 1274 had remarkably good teeth. Perhaps he had prayed at the Saxon tomb!
As well as a really interesting souvenir of Wells Cathedral, this tile makes a humorous present for a dentist and everyone associated with the world of dentistry. Dimensions: 9cm Special Price - End of Range
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| Swan (in ring)The mute swans which live on the moat of the Bishops Palace, Wells, England were taught by the daughter of a Victorian bishop to ring a bell to ask for bread. Over the generations the swans taught each other that by pulling a string attached to a bell on the side of the drawbridge entrance, they will attract the attention of the lodge keeper.
The tile, based on a medieval drawing, makes a lovely souvenir of Wells, and as such has travelled over the world. Dimensions: 9cm Special Price - End of Range
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