The Allestree Library at Christ Church, Oxford, and its tiled pavement

The Allestree Library at Christ Church is one of Oxford's hidden treasures, in several different ways. Here, a small barely-known room above the south side of the cathedral cloister contains not only a priceless collection of early manuscript and printed books, but also a remarkable pavement consisting almost entirely of medieval floor tiles. These appear to be scarcely known even within Oxford, let along in the wider academic community. This short paper seeks to redress that balance by providing an introduction to the medieval tiles. This study has been carried out in conjunction with the TileWeb project; further details of this can be found at http://tileweb.ashmolean.museum/. [Publication Abstract]