These tiles were made by a travelling craftsman, in the 16th Century.
Most medieval tiles were from clay that was dug out of a riverbed (the clay for these tiles quite possibly came from the River Teifi, which is next to the abbey). The clay was then left on a table outside over the winter so that the rain, snow and frost could leach impurities from it. After all that it was pounded out and “levigated” – turned into a fine, smooth, paste-y powder.
After that they were shaped into squares, and decorated, either by pushing in moulds to create patterns, or by painting over the top. Some tiles were glazed using tin, to create different colours, or carefully inlaid with a contrasting colour of clay.