Life in a mediæval city : $b illustrated by York in the XVth centuryBenson, Edwin
History
Life in a mediæval city : $b illustrated by York in the XVth century
Benson, Edwin
York (England) -- History; York (England) -- Social life and customs
The paving of rough cobbles and ample mud was distinctly poor. There
was no adequate drainage; in fact there was very little attempt at any
beyond the provision of gutters down the middle or at the sides of the
streets. There were no regular street lights, and pavements, when they
existed, were too meagre to be of much use to pedestrians.
Streets led to the two open market-places of this mediæval city. Both
of them (Thursday Market, now called St. Sampson's Square, and
Pavement, which was a broad street with a market cross near one end)
were used as markets, but for different kinds of produce. Some
markets, such as the cattle market, were held in the streets. These
two market-places were the principal public open spaces, parts of a
town that are given such importance in modern town-planning schemes.
Other open spaces were the cloisters and gardens of the monasteries,
the courts of the Castle, the graveyards of the churches, and private
gardens. In spite of these and the passage of a tidal river through
the city, it cannot be denied that the inhabitants of our mediæval
city lived in rather dirty and badly ventilated surroundings.
The River Ouse was crossed by one bridge, which was of stone, with
houses and shops of wood built up from the body of the bridge. The
arches were small, and afford a striking contrast to the later
constructions, in which a wide central arch replaced the two central
small arches. The quays were just below the bridge. At one end of Ouse
Bridge was St. William's Chapel, a beautiful little church,[2] as we
know from the fragments of it that remain. Adjoining the chapel was
the sheriffs' court; on the next storey was the Exchequer court; then
there was the common prison called the Kidcote, while above these were
other prisons which continued round the back of the chapel. Next to
the prisons were the Council Chamber and Muniment Room. Opposite the
chapel were the court-house, called the Tollbooth,[3] the Debtors'
Prison, and a Maison Dieu, that is, a kind of almshouse.
The present streets called Shambles (formerly Mangergate),[4] Finkle
Street, Jubbergate, Petergate, and especially Shambles, Little
Shambles, and the passages leading from them, help one to realise the
appearance of mediæval streets and ways.
C. BUILDINGS
[Illustration: COOKING WITH THE SPIT.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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