A history of not-so-private privies in the Middle Ages.
Obviously, human biology hasn’t changed much since the Middle Ages. Human needs are human needs. To relieve oneself in the countryside, one could go behind a bush. But in cities, things were more complicated. Affluent households usually had their own privies. But for the common people, things were more complicated and it was forbidden to go in public spaces. In 1339, a beggar kid killed by a cart in a London street when squatting to relieve himself was described in public records as a “savage”. So, where did medieval people go when they had a pressing need? On the one hand, there were portable toilets — from chamber pots to easement chairs — and, on the other hand, built-in latrines, private and public.
In all cases, the main problem was waste disposal. Indeed, whether people used chamber pots, private toilets or public lavatories, excrements needed to go somewhere, and sewage was not an option. Waterways provided a convenient way of getting rid of waste. But, when privies were far away from a stream, their owners had to dig a cesspit to keep urine and faeces. However, cesspits had to be emptied and cleaned up to prevent overflowing and leakages – very unpleasant outcomes! In urban centres, the focus of this article, the management of latrines or “privies” was a challenge for public authorities concerned with sanitation.
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Private latrines in the Middle Ages
As a starter, let’s say a few words about portable devices. Houses with privies were far from being the norm. Chamber pots–which could simply be buckets or any sort of appropriate vessel–were quite common in the Middle Ages. Families kept chamber pots to relieve themselves in the privacy (and warmth) of their homes. The content of the pot had to be thrown away, for instance on the farm’s pile of manure, in a waste pit, a cesspool, a river, or, if you wanted to play a practical joke on someone, through your window, directly onto the street.
Another portable device, fancier, was the “commode chair”, or to put it more directly, a potty chair. It is a chair with a hole on the seat, under which a pot is attached to keep the seater’s urine and faeces. The pot’s content had to be thrown away, like the chamber pot, with the same issues pertaining to its destination: a nearby pile of manure? A waste pit? The street? Throwing urine and faeces out into the street was forbidden and punished with fines. In 1421, a London document deplored that, because they lived in a building deprived of a privy, the residents of an apartment building resorted to throwing their waste by the widows, into the street.
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Emptying out a chamber pot from this 15th-century drawing – Wikimedia Commons
Private built-in toilets were less common in crowded urban areas than in rural settings, where farmers had more space to make their own “backhouse”, which, in turn, provided manure for their crops. In cities, backhouses were sometimes built at the rear end of a lot; all the inhabitants of a given building would have access to the latrines. Human waste went to a cesspit directly underneath the privy or to which the privy connected with a drain. In 1326, Richard le Rakiere was doing his business on his toilet when the planks of the seat gave way. Richard fell into the cesspit and drowned.
Some private toilets, nicknamed “garderobes” were located on the second or third story of buildings, overlooking the alleyway or the street. In theory, these “garderobes” were connected to a drainage pipe that brought waste down to a pit. But some negligent homeowners simply let the waste fall to the ground, at the risk of being severely fined. Private latrines could also be shared between neighbours but the upkeep of the privy, drainage pipes and cesspit sometimes created tensions. Conflicts also arose when pits were leaking or overflowing on the other neighbours’ properties. For that reason, a thirteenth-century London ordinance provided that cesspits lined with a stone wall should sit at a minimum distance of two and a half feet from the neighbouring property. One more foot was required for non-stonewalled pits.
In London, archaeologists have found evidence of early twelfth-century privies equipped with timber-lined pits. In the thirteenth century, the city’s building regulations pushed for the use of stone-lined pits and citizens followed suit. A greater number of stone pits and drains are attested in the private toilets of the English capital city in the later Middle Ages. Private toilets, however, were far more common in elite and affluent houses than in commoners’ dwellings.
Public restrooms
At a time when not all houses had their privies, and when urination and defecation in public space were forbidden, public lavatories were a necessity. They were often called “sege houses” in medieval English documents. In 1301 for instance, a decree in York provided that public latrines should be available in all four wards of the city. One of the earliest public latrines or “necessary house” mentioned in British documents was founded by Matilda, the widow of King Henry I, in the twelfth century. These latrines were located in the Queenhithe ward of London, on the shores of the River Thames. Market places, quays and gates — the busiest places of late medieval cities — were often where people would find the public lavatories.
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A row of medieval toilets at Portchester Castle – photo by Colin Babb / Wikimedia Commons
In 1934, historian Ernest Sabine estimated that, in fifteenth-century London, a minimum of thirteen public conveniences had been built in the busiest parts of the city. Sabine’s appraisal is “very conservative” according to Carole Rawcliffe, in her 2013 book on communal health and sanitation in late medieval England. These public latrines, however, served more than one customer at once. In medieval public lavatories, people sat next to each other to do their business. One London latrine had two rows of 64 seats each. In the 1980s, archaeologists found in London a three-seated oak toilet seat they excavated from a late medieval cesspit. The cesspit connected to the River Fleet (now buried), that flowed into the Thames.
Public restrooms were often built over bridges and on quays to facilitate the evacuation of human waste that went directly into running water. Having these privies near or over a watercourse meant that costs were reduced: no need for a stone-lined pit, no need to worry about emptying and cleaning the pit. In York, some of the aptly nicknamed “pyssingholes” – the public privies – had been erected over the Ouse Bridge. In Exeter, the “fairy house”, as was known this vaulted public latrine, stood on the Exe Bridge. In the late fifteenth century, “common privies both for women and men for their easement” were built on the Welsh Bridge at Shrewsbury. Many other towns and cities, such as London, Salisbury or Bristol kept public latrines on their bridges.
The upkeep on public latrines usually fell on the urban governments. In 1411, the city of Norwich decided to “scour and make new” the public lavatories at the fish market and Guildhall. That same year, records of expenses show that the Norwich treasurers employed a “fower latrinarum” to clean the latrines. In 1339, a latrine cleaner drowned in the Thames where he was washing after his job was completed. In London and in York, the bridge wardens were responsible for repairing and cleaning the privies situated on the cities’ bridges.
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Public authorities could also lease out the latrines to private investors. Against a fixed sum of money, the renters would keep, clean and maintain the public lavatories, and keep the benefits for themselves–hopefully making money in the process. Customers needing to access these latrines were then expected to pay a small fee. In Coventry for instance, a certain William Pere was leased by the city the “privies in the West Orchard”, for 99 years. William Pere would pay 12 d. to the town (assumedly per year), for him to “renovate them and the bridge there, and to keep them in satisfactory repair during that term”.
Finally, generous donors could finance the building of public latrines. In 1309 for instance, a man named John of Walton established a public privy near the church of St Margaret, at Lynn. In the 1420s, the executors of Richard Whittington’s will undertook the building of a “longhouse” on the bank of the River Thames, following Whittington’s testamentary wishes. These public latrines were at the lower floor of an almshouse. They counted no less than two rows of 64 seats (128 in total), with separate sections for men and women. Assumedly, because they had been built out of the benevolence of a wealthy donor, these lavatories were accessible free of charge.
Even the upkeep of lavatories was construed as a charitable endeavour. Circa 1390, for instance, a widow donated a small bequest for repairs at the aforementioned Walton’s public privies. In his 1369 will, Nicholas Hanyton, a citizen and former mayor of Winchester, bequeathed 6 s. annually to “roof, support, repair, and maintain the long public privy of the city, situated on the east side of the wall and cemetery of St. Swithun’s.” Catering to the bodily needs of their fellow citizens while ensuring the upkeep of the city’s infrastructure were deeds of mercy. Building public latrines was then seen as a philanthropist gesture, rewarded by spiritual benefits.
Detail from The Dutch Proverbs, created by Pieter Brueghel the Elder in 1559.
The main issue urban dwellers and public authorities faced was the disposal of human waste. When latrines did not connect to a river, waste fell into a cesspit. But cesspits had to be regularly emptied and cleaned and the waste had to be carried somewhere. Fortunately, many urban centres had options for exporting their waste. They could sell it to peasants to make manure, or they brought it to wastelands in the cities’ outskirts. Waste disposal, whether domestic refuse or human excrements, will be the topic of another column.
By Lucie Laumonier
A history of not-so-private privies in the Middle Ages.
Obviously, human biology hasn’t changed much since the Middle Ages. Human needs are human needs. To relieve oneself in the countryside, one could go behind a bush. But in cities, things were more complicated. Affluent households usually had their own privies. But for the common people, things were more complicated and it was forbidden to go in public spaces. In 1339, a beggar kid killed by a cart in a London street when squatting to relieve himself was described in public records as a “savage”. So, where did medieval people go when they had a pressing need? On the one hand, there were portable toilets — from chamber pots to easement chairs — and, on the other hand, built-in latrines, private and public.
In all cases, the main problem was waste disposal. Indeed, whether people used chamber pots, private toilets or public lavatories, excrements needed to go somewhere, and sewage was not an option. Waterways provided a convenient way of getting rid of waste. But, when privies were far away from a stream, their owners had to dig a cesspit to keep urine and faeces. However, cesspits had to be emptied and cleaned up to prevent overflowing and leakages – very unpleasant outcomes! In urban centres, the focus of this article, the management of latrines or “privies” was a challenge for public authorities concerned with sanitation.
Private latrines in the Middle Ages
As a starter, let’s say a few words about portable devices. Houses with privies were far from being the norm. Chamber pots–which could simply be buckets or any sort of appropriate vessel–were quite common in the Middle Ages. Families kept chamber pots to relieve themselves in the privacy (and warmth) of their homes. The content of the pot had to be thrown away, for instance on the farm’s pile of manure, in a waste pit, a cesspool, a river, or, if you wanted to play a practical joke on someone, through your window, directly onto the street.
Another portable device, fancier, was the “commode chair”, or to put it more directly, a potty chair. It is a chair with a hole on the seat, under which a pot is attached to keep the seater’s urine and faeces. The pot’s content had to be thrown away, like the chamber pot, with the same issues pertaining to its destination: a nearby pile of manure? A waste pit? The street? Throwing urine and faeces out into the street was forbidden and punished with fines. In 1421, a London document deplored that, because they lived in a building deprived of a privy, the residents of an apartment building resorted to throwing their waste by the widows, into the street.
Private built-in toilets were less common in crowded urban areas than in rural settings, where farmers had more space to make their own “backhouse”, which, in turn, provided manure for their crops. In cities, backhouses were sometimes built at the rear end of a lot; all the inhabitants of a given building would have access to the latrines. Human waste went to a cesspit directly underneath the privy or to which the privy connected with a drain. In 1326, Richard le Rakiere was doing his business on his toilet when the planks of the seat gave way. Richard fell into the cesspit and drowned.
Some private toilets, nicknamed “garderobes” were located on the second or third story of buildings, overlooking the alleyway or the street. In theory, these “garderobes” were connected to a drainage pipe that brought waste down to a pit. But some negligent homeowners simply let the waste fall to the ground, at the risk of being severely fined. Private latrines could also be shared between neighbours but the upkeep of the privy, drainage pipes and cesspit sometimes created tensions. Conflicts also arose when pits were leaking or overflowing on the other neighbours’ properties. For that reason, a thirteenth-century London ordinance provided that cesspits lined with a stone wall should sit at a minimum distance of two and a half feet from the neighbouring property. One more foot was required for non-stonewalled pits.
In London, archaeologists have found evidence of early twelfth-century privies equipped with timber-lined pits. In the thirteenth century, the city’s building regulations pushed for the use of stone-lined pits and citizens followed suit. A greater number of stone pits and drains are attested in the private toilets of the English capital city in the later Middle Ages. Private toilets, however, were far more common in elite and affluent houses than in commoners’ dwellings.
Public restrooms
At a time when not all houses had their privies, and when urination and defecation in public space were forbidden, public lavatories were a necessity. They were often called “sege houses” in medieval English documents. In 1301 for instance, a decree in York provided that public latrines should be available in all four wards of the city. One of the earliest public latrines or “necessary house” mentioned in British documents was founded by Matilda, the widow of King Henry I, in the twelfth century. These latrines were located in the Queenhithe ward of London, on the shores of the River Thames. Market places, quays and gates — the busiest places of late medieval cities — were often where people would find the public lavatories.
In 1934, historian Ernest Sabine estimated that, in fifteenth-century London, a minimum of thirteen public conveniences had been built in the busiest parts of the city. Sabine’s appraisal is “very conservative” according to Carole Rawcliffe, in her 2013 book on communal health and sanitation in late medieval England. These public latrines, however, served more than one customer at once. In medieval public lavatories, people sat next to each other to do their business. One London latrine had two rows of 64 seats each. In the 1980s, archaeologists found in London a three-seated oak toilet seat they excavated from a late medieval cesspit. The cesspit connected to the River Fleet (now buried), that flowed into the Thames.
Public restrooms were often built over bridges and on quays to facilitate the evacuation of human waste that went directly into running water. Having these privies near or over a watercourse meant that costs were reduced: no need for a stone-lined pit, no need to worry about emptying and cleaning the pit. In York, some of the aptly nicknamed “pyssingholes” – the public privies – had been erected over the Ouse Bridge. In Exeter, the “fairy house”, as was known this vaulted public latrine, stood on the Exe Bridge. In the late fifteenth century, “common privies both for women and men for their easement” were built on the Welsh Bridge at Shrewsbury. Many other towns and cities, such as London, Salisbury or Bristol kept public latrines on their bridges.
See also: Public Toilets in the Middle Ages
The Public Privies’ Management
The upkeep on public latrines usually fell on the urban governments. In 1411, the city of Norwich decided to “scour and make new” the public lavatories at the fish market and Guildhall. That same year, records of expenses show that the Norwich treasurers employed a “fower latrinarum” to clean the latrines. In 1339, a latrine cleaner drowned in the Thames where he was washing after his job was completed. In London and in York, the bridge wardens were responsible for repairing and cleaning the privies situated on the cities’ bridges.
Public authorities could also lease out the latrines to private investors. Against a fixed sum of money, the renters would keep, clean and maintain the public lavatories, and keep the benefits for themselves–hopefully making money in the process. Customers needing to access these latrines were then expected to pay a small fee. In Coventry for instance, a certain William Pere was leased by the city the “privies in the West Orchard”, for 99 years. William Pere would pay 12 d. to the town (assumedly per year), for him to “renovate them and the bridge there, and to keep them in satisfactory repair during that term”.
Finally, generous donors could finance the building of public latrines. In 1309 for instance, a man named John of Walton established a public privy near the church of St Margaret, at Lynn. In the 1420s, the executors of Richard Whittington’s will undertook the building of a “longhouse” on the bank of the River Thames, following Whittington’s testamentary wishes. These public latrines were at the lower floor of an almshouse. They counted no less than two rows of 64 seats (128 in total), with separate sections for men and women. Assumedly, because they had been built out of the benevolence of a wealthy donor, these lavatories were accessible free of charge.
Even the upkeep of lavatories was construed as a charitable endeavour. Circa 1390, for instance, a widow donated a small bequest for repairs at the aforementioned Walton’s public privies. In his 1369 will, Nicholas Hanyton, a citizen and former mayor of Winchester, bequeathed 6 s. annually to “roof, support, repair, and maintain the long public privy of the city, situated on the east side of the wall and cemetery of St. Swithun’s.” Catering to the bodily needs of their fellow citizens while ensuring the upkeep of the city’s infrastructure were deeds of mercy. Building public latrines was then seen as a philanthropist gesture, rewarded by spiritual benefits.
The main issue urban dwellers and public authorities faced was the disposal of human waste. When latrines did not connect to a river, waste fell into a cesspit. But cesspits had to be regularly emptied and cleaned and the waste had to be carried somewhere. Fortunately, many urban centres had options for exporting their waste. They could sell it to peasants to make manure, or they brought it to wastelands in the cities’ outskirts. Waste disposal, whether domestic refuse or human excrements, will be the topic of another column.
Lucie Laumonier is an Affiliate assistant professor at Concordia University. Click here to view her Academia.edu page or follow her on Instagram at The French Medievalist.
Click here to read more from Lucie Laumonier
Carole Rawcliffe, Urban Bodies: Communal Health in Late Medieval English Towns and Cities (The Boydell Press: 2013)
John Schofield and Alan Vince, Medieval Towns: The Archaeology of British Towns in Their European Setting (Continuum: 2003)
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