Artisans and
shopkeepers of more modest means lived in rows of dwellings, each
with a shop and small storage room on the first floor, and a
combination parlor-bedroom on the second floor. The humblest
residents crowded their shop and family into one 6 by 10 foot room
for rent of a few shillings a year. All except the last would also
have a small garden. The best gardens had a fruit tree, herbs,
flowers, a well, and a latrine area. There were common and public
privies for those without their own. Kitchen slops and casual
refuse continued to be thrown into the street. Floors of stone or
planks were strewn with rushes. There was some tile flooring. Most
dwellings had glass windows. Candles were used for lighting at
night. Torches and oil-burning lanterns were portable lights.
Furnishings were still sparse. Men sat on benches or joint stools
and women sat on cushions on the floor. Hall and parlor had a
table and benches and perhaps one chair. Bedrooms had a curtained
feather bed with pillows, blankets, and sheets. Clothes were
stored in a chest, sometimes with sweet-smelling herbs such as
lavender, rosemary, and southernwood. Better homes had wall
hanging and cupboards displaying plate. Laundresses washed clothes
in the streams, rivers, and public conduits. Country peasants
still lived in wood, straw, and mud huts with earth floors and a
smoky hearth in the center or a kitchen area under the eaves of
the hut.
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