Most dwellings were of brick and stone. Only a few were of wood or
mud and straw. The average house was now four rooms instead of
three. Yeomen might have six rooms. A weaver's house had a hall,
two bedrooms, and a kitchen besides the shop. Farmers might have
two instead of one room. A joiner had a one-room house with a
feather bed and bolster. Even craftsmen, artificers and simple
farmers slept on feather beds on bed frames with pillows, sheets,
blankets, and coverlets. Loom tapestry and painted cloth was hung
to keep out the cold in their single story homes. They also had
pewter spoons and plates, instead of just wood or earthenware
ones. Even the poorer class had glass drinking vessels, though of
a coarse grade. The poor still used wooden plates and spoons.
Laborers had canvas sheets. Richer farmers would build a chamber
above the hall, replacing the open hearth with a fireplace and
chimney at a wall. Poorer people favored ground floor extensions,
adding a kitchen or second bedchamber to their cottages. Kitchens
were often separate buildings to reduce the risk of fire. Roasting
was done on a spit and baking in irons boxes placed in the fire or
in a brick oven at the side of the fireplace. Sometimes dogs were
used to turn a spit by continual running in a treadmill. Some
people lived in hovels due to the custom in many places that a
person could live in a home he built on village waste land if he
could build it in one night.
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