The house was to contain a large hall with, no doubt, a fire under the lantern in the middle of the hall; also a sitting-room with a chimney near the hall, but with a larder between. In the larder was, one supposes, the entrance to the cellars. The “old chamber” with the “oriole” beside provided two bedrooms; the solar or upper chamber over the larder and sitting-room was another bedroom; the solar and garret over the stable gave two more bedrooms; there was the “old kitchen” and there was the new kitchen. In all, five bedrooms, two sitting-rooms, and two kitchens, with cellars and other things. The buttery or larder always stood, for convenience, next to the hall. Sometimes it was called a Spence, and the servant who attended to it was called the Spenser or Despencer, which shows the origin of a very common surname found everywhere, from the House of Lords to the village pothouse. The room with a chimney next to the larder was sometimes called the “berser” or the “ladies’ bower”: some houses had a “parlour” or room where visitors of distinction might be received. Such was the house of a substantial citizen. As for the house of the retailer, there are many pictures which leave us in little doubt as to the appearance of these houses. Thus, as good an illustration as I know of the mediæval street with its shops is given by Lacroix (see Science and Literature in the Middle Ages, p. 161). The street is quite narrow: there is no gutter running down the middle, but perhaps this was an oversight of the limner. The pictures represent four shops, viz., that of a barber, an apothecary, a tailor, and a furrier. The houses are detached, not standing side by side in a line, but each according to the will of the builder: they are built of wood and plaster, and are gabled, with tiled roofs. There is a room—the solar or sollar—above the shop and a garret in the roof. The barber’s shop has a sign: it is a pole projecting into the street horizontally, hung with brass or latoun basins, which indicate an important part of the barber’s calling. The shops are all open to the street, and the goods are displayed upon a counter. (See Appendix VI.) A pent-house, or pentice, projecting from the front of the house, protects the goods on the counter; hangings on either side shelter them further from wind and rain and sun; and there is a curtain suspended from the pentice for still further protection. This illustration represents a French town. In London it was necessary to ensure a greater amount of protection against cold, and rain, and hail, and snow. Consequently the upper half of the window was covered in and glazed, while the lower half in very cold weather was closed by means of a shutter. In summer the shutter disappears, and the window is always open. This arrangement was probably what Chaucer calls a “shot” window. Mr. Baring-Gould (Old Country Life) gives plans and drawings of two ancient country houses. The first of these shows the houses built round a small court, into which all the windows of the house looked. A gateway, over which was a room, led into the hall, a room of 20 feet by 15 feet. Beyond the hall was the ladies’ bower. Above the bower were bedrooms. The kitchen, buttery, and dairy took up two other sides of the court. In front of the house were the yard, the barn, and the stables. The court was no more than 18 feet square. We have, therefore, the court as the leading feature of a mediæval house; it survives in colleges and in some almshouses to this day. The dimensions of the court marked the splendour or the humility of the house. The rich merchant when he began to build laid down his court with a view to the proportions of his hall; we may be quite sure that Whittington sat in a hall which proclaimed his wealth; the great hall of Crosby House was not the only noble hall belonging to a City merchant.
WHITTINGTON’S HOUSE IN SWITHIN’S PASSAGE, MOOR-LANE
The following details and specifications are found in the MSS. belonging to the Dean and Chapter of St. Paul’s, and printed in an abridged form in the 9th Report of the Royal Historical Commission, p. 20:—
“Agreement between Master Walter Cook and Sir Henry Jolypas, clerks, and John More, tymbermongere, and John Gerard, carpenter, citizens of London, for the erection of three shops in Friday Street, with one cellar below. The three shops are to have three ‘stalles’ and three ‘entreclos’ on the ground floor. On the first floor each house is to have ‘une sale, une spence, et une cusyne,’ and in each ‘sale’ there are to be ‘benches et speres.’ The second floor in each house is to be divided into ‘une principal chambre, une drawying chamber, et une forein,’ and was to have ‘une seylingpece.’ Each house is to have two ‘esteires.’ The height from the ground to the ‘gistes del primer flore’ is to be ten feet and a half, and the ‘punchons’ of the first floor are to be nine feet up to the ‘gistes’ above, and the ‘punchons’ of the second floor eight feet up the ‘resoner.’ Each house is to have a gable towards the street on the east, according to a ‘patron’ made on parchment. The ‘huisses’ and ‘fenestres’ are to be made of ‘Estricchebord.’ Dated, August 20, 11 Henry IV.”
It is generally stated that access to the upper chamber of a mediæval house was by stairs on the outside. I venture to think that this statement requires explanation. The houses of London at first consisted of nothing more than a room below and a smaller room above, and in the upper room—oh! so tiny—were a bed and a cradle, and the cushions or pillows of which the Londoner was so fond. I have seen one or two old houses in which a ladder from the room below served for access to the room above, and this arrangement, I believe, was that commonly adopted. But early in the fourteenth century we find houses of two or three storeys, each of which in some cases formed the freehold of different persons; in fact, it was an early kind of “flat.” It is observed that communication to these upper storeys could not be made through the lower rooms and must have been by an external staircase. (See also below, p. 252.) We find this arrangement in the modern flat; and in Edinburgh in the old flats. There were quarrels among the occupants of these “flats.” King Edward II. passed an ordinance directing each owner to keep his own part in due repair.
Riley quotes a case in which a widow claimed Free Bench in a tenement belonging to her late husband in the parish of St. Nicholas Flesh Shambles. The sheriffs gave her a wing (alam) or perhaps the principal room (aulam) with a chamber, a cellar, and the right of easement in the kitchen, stable, common drain, and courtyard; the rest of the house remained in possession of the heirs and next-of-kin of the deceased.
The chief source of information on the houses of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries is Fitz-Aylwin’s Assize, of which an abridgment will be found in Appendix VII. The regulations were drawn up in consequence of a fire in 1212, which destroyed a part of Southwark and a part of London Bridge. The following by Riley (Introduction to Liber Albus, p. xxx) is an explanation or commentary chiefly on that Assize:—
“The party-walls of the houses were of freestone, three feet thick and sixteen feet high, from which the roof (whether covered with tiles or thatch) ran up to a point, with the gable towards the street. Along this wall rain-gutters were laid, to carry off the water, either on to the ground of the party to whom the house belonged or into the high road. Kennels for its reception are not mentioned in the Assize, but they were very general, about 100 years later. If arches were left in the walls, for ‘almeria’ or ‘aumbries’ (cupboards or larders), they were to be one foot in depth, and no more. The framework rising from the top of the party-wall was of course of wood, and the gable facing the street, as well as the one opposite to it, seems to have been in general made of the same material, plastered over probably by the ‘daubers,’ and perhaps whitewashed. The upper room was generally known as the ‘solar,’ and is also called in Fitz-Alwyne’s Assize the ‘domus,’ or ‘house’: its usual height in comparison with the room below does not appear from the present work; but from a deed bearing date 1217 or 1218, it appears that the corbels or joists for supporting the upper floor were inserted at a height of eight feet from the ground. Apart from the main room or rooms on the ground floor in the houses of the citizens was the ‘necessary chamber’; in reference to which it was enacted by the Assize, that if the pit was walled with stone, the mouth of it was to be two and a half feet from the neighbour’s land; but in case it was not faced with stone, the distance was to be three and a half feet. The same regulation too held good, at a somewhat later period, in reference to sinks for receiving refuse or dirty water.
At the time of the promulgation of Fitz-Alwyne’s Assize, it is evident that the houses in London consisted of but one storey over the ground floor and no more. At what period more storeys were first added does not appear; but in the early part of the fourteenth century we find houses in London of two or three storeys mentioned; each of which storeys, as also the cellar beneath, occasionally formed the freehold of different individuals: a state of things which caused such multiplied disputes between the owners, that the King (Edward the Second) was at length obliged to interfere by mandate, directing each owner to keep his own part in due repair. The upper storeys in houses of this description were entered probably by stairs on the outside.
Cellars are not mentioned in the Assize, but we find them noticed, and that too as places used for business, as early as the first half of the reign of Henry the Third. It is incidentally mentioned, also, that steps led to these cellars from the street; indeed, they seem to have seriously encroached upon the footway at times, for at later periods they are the subject of frequent enactment. By Fitz-Alwyne’s Assize, contrary to the spirit of equity that has prevailed in more recent times, a person when building had full liberty to obstruct a neighbour’s ancient lights, unless, indeed, some writing could be produced by that neighbour showing a right on his side to the contrary.
BUILDERS AT WORK
From MS. in British Museum. Harl. 2278.The Assize, as already noticed, makes no provision for the materials to be used for roofing; within a century and a half later, however, we find reiterated enactments that the houses of the citizens shall be covered with lead, tiles, or stone. Stalls, too, are not mentioned in the Assize; but these had become common in the latter part of the following century. These stalls were projections—of wooden framework, no doubt—from the gable facing the street, and were used as shops for the exposure of various articles for sale. By civic enactment we find it ordered that these stalls shall not be more than two and a half feet in depth, movable and flexible, according to the discretion of the Alderman of the Ward, and according as the streets or lanes are wide or narrow. The pentices, or pent-houses, which are so frequently mentioned in the City ordinances, must have been projections on a larger scale, as the citizens are reminded that they are to be made at least nine feet in height, ‘so as to allow of people riding beneath’; a provision, from which it is evident that they must have extended beyond the portion of the street reserved as a footpath. In favour of the landlords, it was also enacted that penthouses, once fastened by iron nails or wooden pegs to the timber framework of the house—be the occupier a tenant for life, for years, or quarterly,—should be deemed not removable, but fixtures, part and parcel of the freehold.
Windows are mentioned in the Assize. Glass, however, was used only by the most opulent in those days, and the windows of the citizens, temp. Richard the First, were evidently mere apertures, open in the day, crossed perhaps with iron stanchions, and covered, no doubt, by wooden shutters at night. In the reign of Henry the Third, however, glass, packed in the Karke, is enumerated among the regular imports into this country, from Flanders, most probably. Glaziers (Verrers) are mentioned as an established Mystery, in the time of Edward the Third, and in the account given of a riot which took place, about forty years later, at Barking, in Essex, and the vicinity, the offenders are represented, even in those suburban districts, as arming themselves with doors and windows, ‘by way of shield’; glass windows of lattice-work, in all probability, being meant.
There is no mention of, or most remote allusion to, chimneys in Fitz-Alwyne’s Assize; and at that period, if they existed at all in this country, they were to be found only in the abodes of the most wealthy; the smoke in the houses of the middle and lower classes having to find its way out at the doors and windows as it best might. By the close, however, of the following century, the use of chimneys had become, probably, comparatively common; for, by way of prevention against fire, we find it enacted that chimneys shall be faced with plaster, tiles, or stone; and part of the oath taken by the Scavagers of the City on entering office is to the effect that they will see ‘that all chimneys, ovens, and rere-dosses, are made of stone, and sufficiently protected against the peril of fire.’ In the same prudent spirit too it was enacted that no reredos of an oven or furnace, where bread or ale was made, or meat was cooked, should be placed near wooden partition, lath-work, or boards; and, in case of contravention thereof, the Scavager was to remove the same, exacting four pence from the offender for his trouble.
By way of further precaution against fire it was also ordered, that occupiers of large houses should keep one or two ladders for the succour of their neighbours on an emergency; and that they should keep, in summer, i.e. between the Feasts of Whitsuntide and of Saint Bartholomew, in consequence of the excessive drought, a barrel or large earthen vessel full of water before the house, for the purpose of quenching fire; unless, indeed, the house should happen to have ‘a fountain’ of its own. For the more speedy removal also of burning houses, each Ward was enjoined to provide a strong iron hook, with a wooden handle, two chains, and two strong cords; these to be left in possession of the Bedel of the Ward, who was also to be provided with a good horn, ‘loudly sounding.’ Nothing could more strongly bespeak the frail nature of the London houses, even to the days of Edward the Third, than the above enactments as to the barrel of water and the Bedel’s hook.
The mention of conflagrations naturally leads to some enquiry about fuel. Charcoal (carbones) is frequently mentioned: it was prepared in the country, and the suburbs, perhaps, as well, for it is spoken of as being brought into the City by cart; by enactment, temp. Richard the Second, it is ordered that charcoal shall be sold at the rate, between Michaelmas and Easter, of ten pence, and between Easter and Michaelmas, of eight pence per quarter, the price of it, as also of firewood, being assessed by the Mayor and Aldermen. Seacoal (carbo marinus) too was in common use so early as the time of Edward the Second, and perhaps much earlier, being sold in sacks, and measured by the quarter under the inspection of Meters appointed by the Mayor. Seacoal Lane, in the vicinity of the Fleet River, or Ditch, is mentioned under that name, we learn from other authorities, so early as 1253, the reign of Henry the Third; it had its name from the seacoal being brought thither by water, and there stored. The different kinds of wood used for fuel seem to have been distinguished under the names of ‘talwode,’ ‘faget,’ and ‘busche,’ tallwood, faggots, and (probably) brushwood. Carts with wood and charcoal on sale stood at Smithfield and on Cornhill, and seacoal is mentioned as paying custom at Billingsgate. Ferns, too, reeds, and stubble were sometimes used as fuel.
To revert, however, to the structure of houses. Bricks, as distinguished from tiles, are not mentioned throughout the book, or indeed in any other English work of so early a date; and there is strong reason to believe that the ‘teule’ or ‘tile’ was used indifferently for tile or brick. At all events, there can be no doubt that, like those of Roman times, the bricks then in use were much thinner than at the present day; and supposing the tiles to be flat, there would be nothing to distinguish them from bricks. Repeated injunctions by the civic authorities are to be met with, that the teules shall be ‘well burnt, of the ancient scantling, and well leaded;’ the latter provision, however, it is apprehended, could only apply to such teules as were used for genuine tiles. The ‘Tilers’ so often mentioned, in all probability performed the duties of the modern bricklayers as well. Lime was sold, sometimes by the sack, containing one bushel, and sometimes by the basket, holding half a quarter. Temp. Edward the Third, a sack of burnt lime cost one penny, and tiles were sold at the rate of from five to eight shillings the thousand.”
“Tenements are mentioned, about the time probably of Edward the Second, as renting in the City above the sum of forty shillings, and below. The fact has been already noticed that in some cases houses of two and three storeys were divided into distinct separate freeholds. In one instance a case is met with, perhaps a not uncommon one, of a widow claiming her Free-bench in a tenement that had belonged to her late husband (in the parish of St. Nicholas Flesh-Shambles), and the Sheriffs putting her in possession of a wing of the building, the principal chamber and the cellar beneath that chamber, with a right of easement in the kitchen, stable, common drain and courtyard; the rest remaining in possession of the heirs and next of kin of the deceased; an arrangement certainly by no means conducive to a state of domestic tranquillity, but bespeaking the existence of considerable mansions, and that too in that most uninviting locality—the near neighbourhood of ‘Stynkyng Lane’ and the Convent of the Friars Minors.
It sometimes happened that a house was situate in two Wards; in such case it was provided that the owner should be assessed in the Ward in which he went to bed, slept, and put on his clothes. Of course such an enactment as this could only apply to a house with more than one room, on the floor where the sleeping-room was situate, and probably of more than ordinary magnitude.
The ‘shopae,’ or shops, were probably mere open rooms on the ground floors, with wide windows, closed with shutters, but destitute of stanchions, perhaps; these rooms being enlarged, no doubt, in some instances, by the extra space afforded by the projecting and movable stalls already mentioned: of their plan or structure, in the present volume, no further particulars are given. ‘Seldæ,’ selds, or shealds, are occasionally mentioned as places for the stowage or sale of goods; the selda of Winchester, for example, belonging probably to the Soke or exclusive jurisdiction of the Bishop of that diocese; and the selda in Friday Street, to which place, in the latter part of the reign of Edward the Third, the sale of hides was wholly restricted. These seldæ seem to have been sheds, on a large scale, used as warehouses, and belonged probably only to public Guilds, or men of considerable opulence; there is some evidence also that cranes and balances for the ascertaining of Customs and Pesage were kept beneath them.
Before quitting this subject, a few words in reference to the relation of landlord and tenant within the City, will, perhaps, be not altogether inappropriate. By an ordinance, of the time probably of Edward the Second, or Edward the Third, it was enacted that every tenant at will within the franchise of the City, whose yearly rent was below forty shillings, should give the landlord (at any time, it is presumed) at least one quarter’s notice; but in case the yearly rent exceeded forty shillings, the notice was to be given a full half-year before leaving. In case of neglect on part of the tenant to give the proper notice, he was to pay the landlord a quarter or half-year’s rent, beyond the rent due at the time of leaving, as the case might be; or else to find a sufficient tenant for those periods. Conversely, the landlord was bound to give similar notice to his tenant; but in case the landlord sold the house, the tenant having no ‘specialty by deed,’ the purchaser was at liberty to eject him at his pleasure. On seizure of the tenant’s goods and chattels, at the suit of any other person, the landlord was deemed a preference creditor for two years’ rent in arrear, but no more; the landlord’s oath being taken for proof that so much rent was due.” (See Appendices VI. and VII.)
