In 1356 the bad roads just outside the Gates were taken into consideration, and a toll was ordered; for every cart, one penny, for every horse, one farthing.
In 1357 the King called the attention of the Mayor to the disgusting condition of the river banks, and ordered them to be cleansed. In consequence a Proclamation was made that no one was to throw refuse into the streets or on the river banks.
In 1367 it was ordered that lay-stalls should not be placed near the water beside the Tower. A lay-stall was a large shallow depression, generally a pond, into which ordure and filth of all kinds were thrown.
In 1371 the King himself ordered that there should be no killing of cattle, sheep, and pigs at the shambles, but that the abattoirs of the City should be at Stratford le Bow on one side of the town, and at Knightsbridge at the other. I am not aware that any record exists to show obedience to this order. But in the same year the Mayor established a tax at Smithfield of one penny for a horse, a halfpenny for an ox, a penny for eight sheep, and a penny for four pigs, the tax to be paid both by the vendor and the purchaser, and the proceeds to be devoted to cleansing Smithfield.
VIEW of the RUINS of Part of the late CHURCH of ST. LEONARD, and the Steeple of St. Vedast Foster Lane
VIEW of the CRYPT on the site of the late COLLEGE of St. MARTIN le GRAND,
From Londina Illustrata.