Pantile

A pantile is a fired clay roof tile with an S-shaped cross-section. One side of the tile forms a hollow channel (the pan) and the other a rounded ridge (the cover) that overlaps the channel of the next tile. Combining the two parts in a single unit means fewer tiles, fewer joints and a lighter roof than two-piece curved tiling.

Laying

Pantiles are single-lap tiles: each course overlaps only the course immediately below it, whereas flat plain tiles usually lap two courses. As a result a pantile roof is much lighter than a plain-tiled one and can be laid at a lower pitch. Traditional pantiles were hung on battens by a nib on the back; modern versions are often also nailed or clipped. In older work the gaps under the tiles were sometimes "torched" with lime mortar from inside to reduce draughts and wind-blown snow.

History in Britain

Pantiles were first imported into eastern England and Scotland from the Netherlands in the early 17th century. They became characteristic of the east coast and are found in Norfolk, East Yorkshire, County Durham, Perthshire, Angus, Lothian and Fife. They are rare in western England and western Scotland, apart from around Bristol and Bridgwater in Somerset, where local tile-making industries developed.

Variants

• Scandia tiles, used in Scandinavia, are a pantile variant with a subdued S-curve.
• Spanish S-tiles are extruded tiles in the same family, with a deeper curve.
• Interlocking pantiles, both clay and concrete, add side grooves for better weather resistance at lower pitches.

Not to be confused with

"The Pantiles" in Royal Tunbridge Wells, England, is a paved walk named after square clay paving tiles shaped in a pan; it has nothing to do with roofing pantiles.