Medieval; Fourteenth Century Floor Tile; Wessex School

Medieval; Fourteenth Century Floor Tile; Wessex School.

This floor tile with its crowned rampant lion design, although worn, comes with a significant and firm provenance.

It is part of a collection of Wessex school tiles commissioned for the Church of St Etheldreda, West Quantoxhead, Somerset. Thought to date to the thirteenth to fourteenth century, the medieval church by the mid nineteenth century was dilapidated and the decision to rebuild rather than restore was made; thus the medieval remains of St.Etheldreda were demolished.

Consequently the surviving floor tiles were dispersed and eventually sold; our rampant lion being part of this wonderful collection - God bless the tilemakers.