Handwritten 200-year-old P45 found on roof tile

What appears to be a 200-year-old letter of dismissal, written on a roof slate, has been found at a salvage yard.

The tile, informing what is thought to be a 19th-century pottery worker that he was no longer needed, was found at Cawarden Reclaim in Rugeley, Staffordshire,

The message had been written into soft clay before the Staffordshire Blue tile was fired, and reads: "I do hereby discharge you, John Lewis, from my employment, Thomas Austin."

Research had found a firm called Thomas Austin Brick & Tile Makers, based at Clay Hills, Stoke-on-Trent in 1820, which could be the business referenced on the tile, the firm said.

"We were looking around and we just happened to come across this tile," said general manager Adam Giles.

He said he brought it back to his yard, cleaned it up a bit, and immediately felt it had a historic significance.

The name, location and period made a fascinating potential connection, the company said, but conceded they did not know for certain that the two were linked.

"If it is the same person [Thomas Austin], we may have uncovered not only a glimpse into somebody's working life in the early 19th century, but also a connection to the people who made the very building materials that have survived to this day," Giles said.

"You come across quite a few pawprints from animals and old shoes, where they used to walk across the clay while they were being fired," he said.

"You see that, but not very often you see handwritten text in a tile. Very unusual, very rare."

Once the inscription had been made, the clay was fired to create a finished roof tile and was then put to its intended use.

"The fact that someone went to the trouble of writing that out on the back of clay before it was fired, and then firing the tile and using it for the purpose it was designed for," Giles added.

The company said intriguing items such as this were uncovered from time to time, and that they were kept aside and preserved when they were found.

Eventually, they would go on display in the firm's reception area as part of a wall of interest, they said.

Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.