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An attached privy with a chute to a cesspit worked as the restroom in a wealthy household. However, the norm was the use of chamber pots, which may be emptied in said cesspits, or – in many cases – tossed out on the streets. Upstairs, the second story would feature a solar on the street side and a kitchen in the rear.
Introduction: The Charm of Medieval House Construction
There are also windows formed by the timber frame – two small and one larger. Inside a woman sits in a rectangular room in front of a fireplace built into the wall opposite the doorway. A small chimney stack is visible at the ridge of the roof which is constructed of a thick layer of thatch. With more money, peasants were able to afford better housing and many now lived in wattle and daub houses. Peasants’ houses from this period have not survived because they were made out of sticks, straw and mud.
Houses as Status Symbols: Wealth and Power Displays
A medieval manor house was primarily the main residence of a lord of the manor. As the hub of a large estate, the manor house was built according to the latest renaissance styles and featured a bastioned defensive wall around its perimeter. The original building fell into disrepair in the 19th century but was restored in the late 20th and early 21st century.
England
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These varying landscapes set the stage for a rich tapestry of architectural styles and construction techniques. The design and construction of these houses were heavily influenced by the social, economic, and cultural conditions of the time. The early medieval houses were simple structures made of wood, wattle, and daub.
It was a blend of resource availability, architectural innovations, and the prevalent socio-economic dynamics. From the humble abodes of peasants to the grand residences of the nobility, the essence of medieval living was captured within the walls of these dwellings. Hall houses were typically built by wealthier peasants or by the lords of the manor, who would rent them out to their tenants.
Medieval Clothing: Making a Statement in the Middle Ages
Essentially most of the framing of a house as well as the roof structure was made by wood. In England, Oak was used widely due to its strong resistance to humid weather. Although an important element of many buildings, solely wooden houses were not so commonly used.
Sam's Castle
Peasant cottages were the most common type of medieval house and were typically made of wattle and daub or stone. These homes were small and cramped, with one or two rooms serving as both living and sleeping areas. Peasant families often shared their homes with livestock, which provided heat and company during the cold winter months. Life inside medieval houses may have been challenging, but it was also full of warmth, community, and rich cultural traditions.
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Bledington – St Leonard’s Church
While much of the surviving medieval architecture is either religious or military, examples of civic and even domestic architecture can be found throughout Europe. Examples include manor houses, town halls, almshouses and bridges, but also residential houses. Masonry, whether in the shape of grand stones or small bricks, was the material of choice, being structurally firm, and acting as an effective thermal insulator. Unless a town was near a quarry, or fabulously wealthy, townhouses consisted mostly of wood. Many places saw the use of half-timbering, a design choice whereby the ground level was masonry or bricks, crowed with wooden stories.
Castles By Country
Clay, mud and even animal dung were the main choices for this filling, which would usually be covered with plaster or wooden paneling and painted over. Linen or embroidery may have draped the housing interiors of the better off, and in the 14th century, rich tapestries would have further decorated these urban residences. The architecture of the following centuries was characterized by altering the Romanesque style to give way to other magnificent structures. Gothic architecture was the result and was characterized by pointed arches and buttresses to support interior walls. Cathedral walls were made thinner allowing for colorful stained-glass windows as decoration, creating a sense of wonder and awe. Romanesque and Gothic styles played across Europe and the UK–creating the Medieval ideals we still enjoy today until they gave way to the Renaissance era.
They made their houses themselves because they could not afford to pay someone to build them. This medieval cottage from the thirteenth century, has been reconstructed by the Weald and Downland Museum, Sussex, England. It has two rooms, one containing the hearth that would have been the main living area. The scarcity of the timber could add to the cost of building a house in medieval times.
Thus, the medieval house, in its structure and ornamentation, became a canvas for the ambitious, an emblem of their ascent in the social hierarchy. Despite their humble appearance, cruck houses were well-suited to the needs of medieval peasants. They were cheap and easy to construct, requiring only basic tools and local materials, and could be built in a matter of days or weeks. The cruck frames were made from curved timbers that were shaped like the letter “U” and joined together at the apex of the roof. The walls were then built up around the cruck frames using wattle and daub, with the roof covered in thatch or wooden shingles.
The main elements of Medieval architecture can be divided into two basic categories, Romanesque and Gothic. The former is identifiable by its rounded arches, extremely thick walls, and minimal windows. On the other hand, pointed arches with plenty of windows and thinner walls (possibly supported by flying buttresses externally) are pointers to the Gothic style. Split timbering, wattle-and-daub, and early brickwork are easy identifications for less-posh buildings. An ancient holy well is half a mile from the church and it provided crystal clear water to the village.
Finally cob houses were and, still are extremely resilient to fire which made them ideal candidates for a long-standing structure. Their roofs were in most cases thatched and in some occasions made of timber or even clay. Due to the plasticity of the material cob-made houses are easily distinguishable by their curvy walls, an architectural style that was used a lot due to its uniqueness.
In this way, the manor was a distinct societal unit with crucial legal, social and economic functions – it was therefore important for a lord to have a manor house befitting his status. The manor house was primarily the residence of a lord of the manor during the medieval period. Peasants could only look on with envy at the well-built medieval manors of the nobility, grand houses of merchants, and the castles of Royalty. The peasants would also make a hole in the top of the house’s thatched roofs so that the smoke coming from the fire in the middle of the house could go out. The merchant’s old Medieval house became a stately mansion, with spacious halls and wide-spread living-rooms, far more richly furnished than those of the feudal castles.
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