EARLY TOWN HOUSES
1. Houses in towns have been more frequently rebuilt and altered in
various ways than those in the villages. The chief material used in
building was wood, as it was in the villages, and one of the great
dangers in the Middle Ages was that of fire. In the towns this danger
was greater than in the villages, and fires happened more frequently.
2. The leading men in a town had more money to spend, and the increase
of business, or a desire for change, led them to improve their
houses. It was easier for a wealthy townsman to get leave from the
"corporation" or guild to rebuild his house than it was for the villein
in the village to get the leave of the manor court.
3. The thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries all saw a great
growth in architecture; they were the Early English, the Decorated, and
the Perpendicular Periods of architecture. In most of the old churches,
and in many of the old mansions, we have specimens of all these
periods; but not very many of the town houses founded in the Middle
Ages, and still standing, are much earlier than the fifteenth century.
In that age there was a great development of wood-work, and there is
hardly one old town which has not some wood-work of that time in some
of its old houses.
4. The rich and prosperous townsman rebuilt his house according to the
fashion of his time; but through all the three centuries the general
arrangements of the dwelling-house did not alter very much.
5. In some parts of London, and in many country towns, you can see that
some of the shops in the main street are reached from the pavement by
a little flight of steps. Below the shop there is a big light cellar,
and the small boy or girl who wants to look in at the shop window has
to "tiptoe" very much in order to do so. Now, that arrangement is just
a little relic of the old town house of the Middle Ages.
6. The house was usually quite narrow, and had a gable facing the
street. It was built over a cellar of stone, often arched and vaulted
very much like a church. There were steps from the street down to the
cellar, and these steps had to be protected, or accidents were certain
to happen to careless foot-passengers. Then, too, there were steps
up to the room over the cellar, which formed the shop and workroom in
one. The front of the shop would be open, like a stall, and there would
probably be a passage through to the back of the house.
7. Above the shop would be another room or rooms, over which, in the
open space under the roof, was the great attic running through the
house. This attic was often kept as a store-room, and goods were
hoisted from the street by a crane; but, in later times, it would be
formed most likely into little sleeping-rooms, very small, very dark,
and very unhealthy.
8. Most of the work would be done in the shop, where the master, his
workmen, and apprentices all did their share. The apprentices would
sleep in the shop at night, and very probably the workmen as well. It
was quite a usual thing for all the establishment to work and live and
sleep on the premises. The rooms occupied by the master and his family
at first were few in number; separate bedrooms only came into use very
gradually indeed.
9. The walls of the house above the cellar were usually of wood, and
the front towards the street was often skilfully and beautifully
carved. In some English counties still there are very fine specimens of
these old town houses; those at Chester, Shrewsbury, and Ludlow, for
instance, are famed all over the world.
[Illustration: Photo. Catherine Ward
IRELAND'S HOUSE, SHREWSBURY (page 90)]
10. We must not suppose that all the houses were equally splendid, or
equally well built; there was then, no doubt, bad building as well
as good. In fact there must have been some very careless building
in early days, and especially so in Norman times. It is a curious
fact that almost every big Norman church tower tumbled down because
it was badly built, even though Norman work looked very massive and
substantial.
11. Merchants and wealthy tradesmen took great pride in their houses,
and the wood-work and furniture in them were splendid. Kings and nobles
were no better housed than these wealthy townsmen, nor did they have
more of the comforts of life.
12. But the poor! There were always the poor and the outcast in every
town; but they did not exist in the enormous numbers of later years, or
of the present day. Their wretched little hovels were huddled together
in close alleys, and life in them must have been very cheerless. It
was, however, somebody's business to look after them. The religious
houses, the churches, the colleges, all did their part in distributing
food at their gates daily. Many wealthy people, both nobles and
citizens, did likewise; and to give =alms to the poor= was a work of
charity which no self-respecting citizen thought of shirking. Then,
too, the guild or corporation kept a sharp look-out upon the poor;
strangers were turned out of the town, and the people punished who had
taken them into their houses.
=Summary.=--Town houses were often rebuilt, owing to the fact
that fires were common, and townsmen had more money to spend on
building. They consisted of a cellar of stone, a shop, a room or
rooms above, and a big attic. All the work was done in the shop,
and there the men and apprentices slept at night. The wooden
fronts of these houses were often very handsome, and specimens
of those built in the fifteenth century may be seen at Chester,
Shrewsbury, and Ludlow.
All the building of those days was not equally good, but some
of the best has lasted. Wealthy townsmen were as well housed as
kings and nobles. The poor were not crowded in the towns. It was a
work of mercy to look after the poor, and the poor were kept very
largely by the places to which they belonged. Strangers were not
admitted into the towns, and so many wanderers were kept away.