TUDOR TIMES

[Kiya]

Hope the link opens.......Can you imagine living in this era, it looks so dark & gloomy.

Quick Edit from Horus to add the video for you Kiya

phpBB [video]

[Horus]

That is a fabulous bit of digital work from those students
It didn't look too bad and I suppose if it weren't for the stink it would be tolerable, we still have a few places such as Chester and York where those sort of houses can still be seen and before now I have posted images of the moated timber framed manor house quite close to my home. I watched a programme the other night and it was saying that back in medieval England it would be normal for the rushes spread on the floor to remain there for over 20 years with just the top few being changed. It said that bits of food, animal faeces, urine, spit and even vomit would just be covered over with a few more rushes, is it any wonder we had the plague?

Thanks for posting

[Ruby Slippers]

And that's not even mentioning how the people must have stank! Imagine the amount of lice around in those days!

[Kiya]

Thanks for fixing Horus

I've read numerous times how & when they could afford they would add another floor to their houses, they would start to bulge out on all 4 sides, looks like they would tumble at any time.

Even in some castles there would just be another layer of rushes added.

I'd be watching up always watching for the next potty been thrown from the window so I could run or duck

No wonder its written in so many books how London city stank at this time

[Grandad]

What an excellent video, thaks Kiya for finding and posting it

Horus you can certainly add Canterbury to your examples of Chester and York where similar buildings can still be seen. Just one question? Would they have had iron railings around the church at that time?

And little wonder that life expectancy was only about 40 years or so.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Super interesting video clip. Am assuming that it is correct to the times which makes it interesting to me that some of the building brick front are laid in a herringbone pattern which is obviously more difficult than just laying bricks straight down which means even though you're basically living in squalor everywhere there is still an artistic sense of design.

Might be common there but HERE to find a brick and then use it you've got to be Bill Gates Brick and mortar here (on the Island) are not common and very few know how to lay them or set them.

I know this was animation but were the windows true? I couldn't quite make them out in the video. They seemed somewhat shiny and square - was this supposed to portray tiny frames of leaded glass all joined together? And - in Tudor times how were the pieces of glass joined? Were the joints wood? Or metal? or ?

Lastly I see the gallows took a prominent place in the setting and I have to go back and look again because I saw it only on a fly by but there was a tall stand or pedestal idea with a pot burning on top. Just didn't think that looked real. Can't think of anything I've seen other than burn barrels on the ground that would hold fire UP in the air on a pedestal (Unless I saw it wrong)

[Horus]

On a couple of points, yes Grandad not forgetting the places around your neck of the woods. I am not to sure about those railings myself, but they would have had iron although it would not have been in such common use, except maybe in a wealthy church as they would have been in those days?

LLL, the windows look pretty accurate to me as glass would only have been produced in small panes due to how it was made. The usual method was to blow a bubble which would be rolled on wood to make a tube like cylinder, this cylinder would be cut down its length with shears whilst still very pliable and pulled out so it lay flat during cooling. That is why glass of that period often gives a distorted view when you look through it. The other method was to take a big blob and press it down against a flat surface, this would produce the typical ‘Bulls Eye’ glass you see in Victorian pictures. As the pieces were comparatively small they would use lead beading to join them all up, often in a square or diamond pattern. The other item you asked about is the ‘Brazier’ these were quite a common method of lighting up an area such as courtyards and these would be made from iron strips riveted together by a Blacksmith.

[Grandad]

You have introduced the topic Kiya and so often I find that I have some pictures in my E4U album to contribute. (Well I have more than 1600 pictures there so there is often something appropriate ) Unfortunately I have very few to illustrate the specific topic subject of medieval buildings.

LLL, this is an example of the use of herringbone brickwork. This is the Town Hall c1544 for Fordwich a village just 2 miles from me. (It actually has the status of a town and as such is the smallest town in Britain and has a Town Council)


I have posted this before but this is All Saints Cottage in All Saints Lane. Original date unknown for sure but it is medieval and we had the pleasure of living there for a few years after we married.


This is All Saints Lane after the owners of the medieval terrace on the right painted it in an inappropriate colour (IMO). I preferred it painted white.


This building is of later date, c1647, but it illustrates Kiyas point of how buildings became distorted under the load when built up. All Saints Cottage has a steel tie about 1" diameter passing right through the property to hold it together.

[Kiya]

Great photos Grandad Would love to see inside these buildings

[Horus]

This is a shot of a street in York (a bit overblown)


Now this is what you call a twisted building Grandad


LLL, you can see some typical windows in this image

[Grandad]

Good examples H I think York has more original features tha Canterbury. We lost a lot in the Baedeker raids of 1942 and any rebuilding was new with no attempt to restore.

Another point I note is that many of the original facades have been rendered leaving only timbers still visible. Our little cottage was all original, timbers; low ceilings; lathe and plaster (wattle and daub) walls; and small windows. And we backed right on to the river where there was a ducking stool.

[LovelyLadyLux]

Interesting and interesting. A Brazier - hmm - interesting. What is called a brazier here is a metal drum with holes punched in the sides to let air pass through Quite interesting the one in the photo.

Explanation of the windows makes sense too and that would give them a rather opaque look and distort what is being seen through it.

I can't even imagine the smells of Tudor times and the thought of all the lice just makes me shudder. Bet they had rats as big as ANNIE! No wonder terriers were developed as ratters!

Must of really been hard living in those days. Any simple cut could become infected and the thought of putting a cloth bandage would insure infection. Definitely had to be of hardy stock to have survived to a ripe old age which wasn't even that old.

[Kiya]

These are great examples & seeing the timbers in the first photo

Love the quaint narrow streets

[LovelyLadyLux]

What I find interesting about buildings and people in general is how they adopted a building style. Granted the style(s) came from raw materials available, tools available and the skill(s) of workmen but I find it fascinating how different cultural groups identified through the style of buildings.

I can imagine the horror of a fire back in Tudor times. On the one hand a fire would definitely sanitize but it must've struck fear in many as houses full of dried out grasses and rushes would become tinder dry and just go up like a rocket.

Keeping warm must have been the ultimate luxury back then too. I'd imagine more people spent a considerable part of their life just trying to be warm and feel comfortable and scratching lice isn't exactly comforting.

[Jayway]

I LOVED all these, video and photos. My favourite building in Bristol was the Llandoger Trow. you could take your drinks to many rooms, all had that ancient drink aroma, I will have to google now to see if its still there ! Also in St. Albans, French Row, I did have photos somewhere. So lovely, city buildings now, are for me, eyesores. Just googled, changed a lot there, well it was 40 years ago . . huh.