8. To keep down the number of poor people in a parish, order was given that only one family might live in one house, and no new house might be built in the country unless it had 4 acres of ground attached to it. In the cities of London and Westminster, and for three miles round them, no houses were to be built except for persons worth a specified amount. Houses might not be divided into tenements, nor might lodgers be taken in.
9. All this was to keep people as much as possible in the places where they belonged. The churchwardens and overseers had to attend to the relief of the poor. There are, belonging to a good many parishes in England, old account-books, showing how these officers raised and spent money on the relief of the poor. Some of these books go right back to this time, though most of them begin a good deal later. These officers had to keep a very sharp look-out. Of course they did not want the poor-rate to be any higher than they could help, so strangers coming into the parish were quickly tracked and hindered from gaining a settlement there. Vagabonds and strolling players were hurried out of the parish, and in some cases whipped. The stocks, the whipping-post, and the cage were set up near the churchyard gate, and they were in pretty constant use.
10. The officers were very anxious, too, to prevent any travellers from falling ill in their parish. Those who were sick, and could possibly be moved, they shifted on to the next parish, lest they should become chargeable to the parish. Some parishes spent a good deal of money, and the officers much time, in conveying people out of their bounds. That led, we may imagine, to many disputes between parishes, and gave the court of Quarter Sessions a lot of work to do; for amongst the many things which Quarter Sessions had to attend to was the carrying out of the Poor-Laws.
11. Parishes had to look after and to support their own poor in much the same way right down to the early part of the nineteenth century, less than a hundred years ago.
Summary.—Relieving the poor was, in early times, a Christian duty. The poor belonging to a place were then easily known. Wandering from place to place was discouraged. Pilgrimages became very popular, as it was the chief way by which poor people could travel and see the world. In later times pilgrims were often idle vagabonds.
In the sixteenth century some attempts were made to restrain vagrants, and to find work for the poor. After the religious houses had been got rid of, the duty of doing this was thrown on the parishes, and gradually rates for the relief of the poor came into being. The officers who specially looked after the poor were called overseers. Most parishes have still the old account-books, which show how the money was raised and spent for about two hundred years. Our present poor-law came into being less than 100 years ago.
[CHAPTER XXXVIII]
CHANGES IN HOUSES AND HOUSE-BUILDING
1. In the time of King Edward III, that is, in the fourteenth century, there was a great change in the arrangement of castles and castle-building. We cannot say much about it here, it would take too long; but the changes made show that there was a desire to make the castle, not merely a strong defence against an enemy, but also a dwelling-place for the baron, his family, his servants and men-at-arms. Many buildings were added for comfort and convenience. In fact, a castle became a kind of little town.
2. William of Wykeham, that great master-builder, was not only a builder of churches and colleges, but a castle-builder as well. The great Round Tower at Windsor Castle, and other parts of that building still in use, are his work. The general arrangement of the Tower of London will give us an idea of the sort of habitation a castle of the fourteenth century was intended to be. In fact, we may say that every old castle, which is still inhabited, has considerable indications of work done in this and the following centuries, to fit it to be a comfortable dwelling-place as well as a fortress.
