What were the houses like ?
A Peasant's
Hut
Peasants homes were simple wooden huts. They had wooden frames filled in with wattle and daub (strips of wood woven together and covered in animal hair and clay). However in some parts of the country huts were made of stone.
The poorest people lived in one-room huts. There were no panes of glass in the windows only wooden shutters, which were closed at night. In the middle of a peasant's hut was a fire used for cooking and heating. There was no chimney. Instead smoke came out of a hole in thatched roof. Furniture was very basic and they sat on benches or stools..
At night in summer and all day in winter the peasants put their animals in their huts, with them !
Peasants homes were simple wooden huts. They had wooden frames filled in with wattle and daub (strips of wood woven together and covered in animal hair and clay). However in some parts of the country huts were made of stone.
The poorest people lived in one-room huts. There were no panes of glass in the windows only wooden shutters, which were closed at night. In the middle of a peasant's hut was a fire used for cooking and heating. There was no chimney. Instead smoke came out of a hole in thatched roof. Furniture was very basic and they sat on benches or stools..
At night in summer and all day in winter the peasants put their animals in their huts, with them !
Rich People's Houses
In the Medieval Times the great hall was still the centre of a castle but the lord had his own room above it. This room was called the solar. The other members of the lord's household, such as his servants, slept on the floor of the great hall.
At one end of the great hall there was a fireplace and chimney. In the Middle Ages chimneys were VERY expensive. As time passed they became more common but only a few people could afford them. Peasants definitely couldn’t afford one.
At first glass was very expensive and only rich people could afford it, but by the early 14th century the middle classes began to have glass in some of their windows. Furniture in the Middle Ages was very basic. Even in rich homes chairs were rare. Usually only the lord sat on one as he was in charge. Most people sat on stools or benches.
