handmade tiles from Suffolk
tile makers

Our Story

Mark Aldridge studied Fine Arts before establishing Smoke and Fire in Lincolnshire, a small workshop dedicated to the making of handmade wall tiles.<a name=”story”></a>

In 2000, Mark moved to Suffolk and set up Smoke and Fire in a large converted granary building at Darsham, where the showroom and workshop are located today.

Mark and his team are first and foremost artists making unique and bespoke tiles as well as exquisite works of ceramic art with contemporary design techniques and age old traditional methods. All three of his sons are artists – Boris, the ceramist and Christian, a painter both have studios at Smoke and Fire

Discover how our tiles are made

Unique Handmade Tiles

Our tiles are made with age old traditional methods combined with contemporary design techniques.

The clay is put through an extruder to produce a long tongue of clay which is then cut up to the correct size and design for the tiles.

The glaze is then applied which contains minerals such as powdered flint and china clay before the tiles are fired in the kiln to strengthen them, the heat is intense with temperatures of up to 1008 degrees. They are fired once and sometimes twice, finishing with glaze paints to bake the design onto the tile.

We have a fabulous selection of tiles to view in the showroom and are delighted to discuss special commissions.

ceramic tile extrusion

Handmade Artisan

Handmade Plain

Handmade Shaped

Wood Floors

timber flooring

Paint

handmade tile showroom

Visit us

We are located at Darsham, Suffolk on the A12 between Aldeburgh and Southwold, 30 minutes north of Ipswich.

Smoke and Fire is the big black building opposite the railway station at Darsham with ample parking.

We have a large showroom displaying a wide range of tiles, wooden flooring and paints.

The sizable workshop provides studio space to the Ceramic Artist Boris Aldridge who creates amazing Islamic inspired work and Artist Christian Aldridge.