ROOFTILES OF LA HAIE SAINTE

[miltiades]

Hello guys,
I need your help with this
What kind and what colour were the tiles of the famous farm in 1815?
I want to paint the AIRFIX kit "Waterloo Farm house" as "historically as possible"
The picture of this  kit has the farmhouse in red tiles. When I visited the site of Waterloo in 2010, I saw the farmhouse in "grey" slate.
Now if you take a look at this link https://www.wiki-braine-lalleud.be/index.php5?title=Ferme_de_la_Haie_Sainte
you may see the farm in many old [some very very old] pics [in half of them in red and in half of them in grey tiles]
Please tell me what do you think?

thanks ,
miltiades

[SteveBurt]

I think probably slate is correct.

[miltiades]

thank you... I was thinking the same, although I am not sure

[westwaller]

It may be worth having a look at contemporary paintings of the action, to see what colour the tiles where? Although, don't rely on paintings as your only source...

[miltiades]

It may be worth having a look at contemporary paintings of the action, to see what colour the tiles where? Although, don't rely on paintings as your only source...

Thanks. I have done my research and that's why I am a little confused. Some drawings show it in red tiles some others in grey slate.  There are also pictures that show grey slate but others show some buildings in grey slate and some others in red! Very confusing

[Harry Faversham]

Which colour do you think it will look better in? Red slates and grey/white walls looks far better than a depressing grey rooftop!

[Clawed_Greengrass]

I would do Slate Grey for the house and Red for the barns like Hougoumont

[Elk101]

I saw the title and thought it was a new Osprey book.

I'd go with a mix of red and grey too (obviously not on the same roof!) as that seems to be pretty common in the wider area. Hougoumont has something similar and I understand that the restoration project used contemporary paintings as a source (not always 100% reliable but a decent starting point).

[DintheDin]

I saw the title and thought it was a new Osprey book.

I'd go with a mix of red and grey too (obviously not on the same roof!) as that seems to be pretty common in the wider area. Hougoumont has something similar and I understand that the restoration project used contemporary paintings as a source (not always 100% reliable but a decent starting point).

I'm also of the same opinion... Miltiades, you made me make my own surfing through the Internet and I'm almost convinced that at least the main building and the gate roofs were made of grey slate.
Don't rely also on black and white pictures that had been tinted afterwards.
For the rest of the buildings I propose that you paint them the way that pleases your aesthetics and maybe a future use of them for other places and battles

However, please, have a look at this

http://thecanadasite.com/art/art50_fake_art.html

under the title "A French farm"

[Arthur]

I'm no expert on the subject but the materials used for roofing would depend largely upon locally available resources. As it happens, both grey slate and red/orange/brown terra- cotta tiles are commonly seen in Picardy, Artois and Flanders. Slate was then readily obtainable from local quarries but the brightly coloured red pantile (known up north as the panne flamande) was - and still is - very popular as well, especially for town houses.

Regarding the Haye Sainte, I'd lean toward grey slate myself.        

[miltiades]

Thank you all very much for your comments. They were very helpful. As you might have guessed, I was really looking for excuses to use red colour for the roofs of La Haie Ste. I was a little disappointed that most of you think the grey slate is historically accurate. I was also glad that you didn't reject the red colour !

Dinos thank you very much for the link:

I'm also of the same opinion... Miltiades, you made me make my own surfing through the Internet and I'm almost convinced that at least the main building and the gate roofs were made of grey slate.
Don't rely also on black and white pictures that had been tinted afterwards.
For the rest of the buildings I propose that you paint them the way that pleases your aesthetics and maybe a future use of them for other places and battles

However, please, have a look at this

http://thecanadasite.com/art/art50_fake_art.html

under the title "A French farm"

Now it seems that [at least most of] the roofs of La Haye Sainte were made of grey slate. This is a little disappointing because [as Harry Faversham says] "Red slates and grey/white walls looks far better than a depressing grey rooftop!"   
I will certainly not follow the solution of  "mixed" buildings [some with grey and some with red rooftop], even if this was the "real thing", because ["artistically" speaking] the view of different roofs together, reminds me more of a favella-  sorry guys... 
 The choice is between the [more accurate but dull] grey slate and the [less accurate but better looking] red.
 

 
 

[Harry Faversham]

Red... you know it makes sense!
I've had another cogitation, wot about cost of terra- cotta and slate tiles? La Haie Sainte was a working farm, might be the roofers went for the cheapest?

[miltiades]

Red... you know it makes sense!
I've had another cogitation, wot about cost of terra- cotta and slate tiles? La Haie Sainte was a working farm, might be the roofers went for the cheapest?

Right you are! thanks  Harry !
Now I feel free to proceed with my project ...   La Haie Sainte with red tiles! the dice is cast
[...sorry Dinos]

[Eric the Shed]

Visited Waterloo last year - La Haie Saint is now a private residence

The roofs are grey





more piccies here

http://shedwars.blogspot.co.uk/2016/05/a-visit-to-waterloo.html

[Eric the Shed]

and the rebuilt barns at Hougomont are red...