How the Goldsmiths and Others survived

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paul bulkley

How the Goldsmiths and Others survived

Legg inn av paul bulkley » 16 mai 2006 18:03:01

The early history of the Goldsmith's Company 1327-1509
provides a vivid picture of the frailty of human life.
Not only the constant plagues, but one is reminded of
the minimal accommodation that must have encouraged
ill health.

Houses in London projected outwards, storey by storey.
Civic regulations demanded that the projection of the
first floor must begin not less than nine feet above
ground level so that folks on horseback may ride
beneath them.It would appear that it was quite common
for the ground floor height to be less than nine feet.

Houses of two or three storeys were the norm, the
lowness of the rooms being dictated by the greater
expense of longer timbers, the narrowness of the
frontages by the shortage of building land. In the
area between Old Jewry and Ironmonger Lane, one of the
richest in the city, fifteen houses with shops had a
combined frontage of only 150'0" - each house was
maximum 10'0" wide!

Above these shops, and stretching back behind them,
were the dwellings of the craftsmen traders. Most
contained only three or four rooms and access to the
upper storey was often by an outside stairway or even
by a ladder. The more prosperous - a goldsmith, mercer
or draper of the middling upper rank - had larger
rooms in his house, but not more rooms, save where a
second storey added a couple of attics. The normal
pattern was a living room, one or two small rooms used
as a Kitchen, buttery, or counting house, and a family
bedroom.

It should be noted that everyone slept in that one
bedroom with several beds. Childrens' and servants'
beds were no more than boards or trestles. Possessions
were very sparse.

Richard Tokay, a well to do grocer who died 1391
leaving houses which sold for 322/8/4 lived with his
wife and five children in a house only a little
larger. Like the average householder he had a hall, a
bed chamber, a counting house, and a storehouse.

And although this accommodation may appear very
limited, conditions did not improve for many
centuries. Naturally expectation of life was low and
epidemics frequent.

One can wonder of the records that do exist despite
the difficulties of life in earlier centuries.

Sincerely Yours,

Paul Bulkley

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