Found a load of smashed Victorian hearth tiles under my floorboards.

Starting to have newfound respect for archaeologists

Gotta admit tho - every time a bit goes together...

So, the journey so far...

We found about 6 wholeish tiles...

I was googling 'majolica' and tube lined tiles and it started to bring up 'Perakanan Tiles'

...Peranakan*. I can't spell...

Peranakan refers to a place in Malaysia, Singapore.

What did this have to do with my old, broken Victorian tiles?!

You're not mistaken. The Peranakan Tiles are identical to my old Victorian Tiles, just a different colour...

It turned out that the fashionable, British influenced Singaporeans had been copying the late Victorian fireplace tiles from Oop North

And this leads us to the beautiful and amazing Joo Chiat Road in Singapore, which is covered in the same tiles, and which tourists flock to visit...

This leads us to Victor Lim, who has spent his life trying to save and catalogue these tiles...

And now runs the Perakanan Tiles Gallery where you can purchase MY tile in an alternative colour...

But this still leads us to wonder HOW and WHY my tiles ended up in Singapore. Thanks to interviews with Victor Lim, we have the answer...

So this brings us back to local production. There were 2 large potteries called Minton...

Or Boote...

And my tiles are T & R Boote...

They got all over the world....

Australia....

Denmark

And, of course, England...