Dreadnought Tiles wins major roofing industry award

Dreadnought Roof Tiles, one of the UK’s oldest and well-established manufacturers of traditional clay roof tiles, has won the heritage category in the first ever ‘Pitched Roofing Awards’.

Organised by RCI magazine, these national awards showcase excellence in the roofing sector, highlighting successful partnerships between manufacturers and contractors and recognising commitment to quality.

The winning project in the ‘Best Roof Tile Application for a Heritage Roof’ category was St Mary’s Church, Bushbury, which used Dreadnought Tiles working with specialist contractor Four Oaks.

The restoration of this Grade II* listed church, which dates back to the 14th and 15th centuries, involved the re-roofing of the spectacular 56-degree roofs on the nave, south aisle, chancel and the organ chamber. Covered with blue clay plain tiles typical of the West Midlands area, they had been fitted in the 1850s and were now in need of replacement.

Architect Bryan Martin decided to re-roof the historic church with traditionally made clay tiles, which matched the existing as closely as possible, replicating the original alternating four-course bands of rectilinear and fishtail tiles.

Dreadnought provided a total of 32,000 Staffordshire Blue plain tiles and 14,250 fishtails which were a very close match, along with two matching bat tiles and approximately 140 300mm angle ridges. All of the old tiles were sorted, and the best ones were re-used on the roof of the organ chamber.

Chosen for their historical authenticity, shape and natural colours, Dreadnought’s Staffordshire blue clay tiles have hardly changed since the company started manufacturing in 1805. Their natural burnt clay colours are still produced the traditional way through skilful temperature control of the kiln rather than the application of surface stains and coloured sands.

The restoration of St Mary’s Church involved many challenges arising from the irregularity and undulating nature of the ancient chancel roof and previous modifications made to the Victorian south aisle roof. The site was also extremely difficult to access by road.

According to the judges: “This project was a worthy winner because as well as it being steep and difficult to access on-site, the completed roof was visually stunning. The delivery team was committed to the job and thorough about how they went about carrying out the application.”

Dreadnought Managing Director Alex Patrick-Smith said: “We are proud to have been involved in this impressive restoration and that the historical authenticity of our traditional Staffordshire Blue clay plain tiles has helped preserve the aesthetic integrity of this ancient building.”

Dreadnought Tiles manufactures a wide range of Staffordshire clay handmade and machine-made roof tiles in a range of natural colours with complementary handmade ornamentals and clay roof components.

For more information about Dreadnought Tiles and for expert advice please visit www.dreadnought-tiles.co.uk