About 1,000 peg tiles were stolen overnight between 8 and 9 December - the burglars would have needed ladders and a lorry to carry out the theft.

The traditional hand-made tiles are named after the means of fixing them to roof battens using round oak pegs driven into square holes.

Records show they were produced from local Kent clay from the 12th Century.

Peg tiles staged a comeback in the county after damage to roofs in the 1987 hurricane, when Kent County Council planners identified a need to revive the industry.

Canterbury police have appealed for information about the theft at the cottage in Faussett Hill, Street End, owned by the Canterbury Joinery.