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39. Chambers.

The Chamber.

From the 1550's the master's chamber was occasionally called his "Lodgings" in local wills, but few had another chamber to act as a parlour. One who did was William Hall of Great Bourton manor who died in 1588 and he slept in his lodging chamber calling another chamber the parlour [M.S. Will Pec. 41/1/12]. French's at Springfield [6] had just the parlour by 1595 (p509). Russell the blacksmith [13], who married his first wife in 1554, had come down from Bourton and before he died in 1600 they too had a chamber called the parlour. The majority still called this room the chamber.

It was a very gradual change to calling the head of the household's chamber the parlour. In Cropredy the bay of building furthest from the entry was often set aside for the chamber. At Hunt's [16] it was described as "above" the hall to distinguish it from the chamber "below" the entry in the nether bay. The chamber and hall would have a front window looking out onto the Lane or Street, unless the property was rebuilt to face north or southwards like Howse [28], Lyllee [29], French [4] and others (p487) with a gable end towards the road. In the downstairs lodging chamber, as a few still insisted on calling it, slept the heads of household, or a senior member of the family. Nuberry's [8] in 1578 had their "joyned" bed in the parlour, which is an early recording of both "joyned" and parlour. Later tenants Robert and Dyonice Woodrose [8] kept their parlour as a day room having another parlour chamber upstairs to sleep in. Most however needed to use it as a bedroom. When had this northern term for the masters sleeping place appeared in the Midlands, or had it always been around since the days of the monasteries which had a parlour room set aside for talking to visitors?

In April 1621 Ambrose Holbech and Leonard Gorstelow and two others went to assess the late Richard Gorstelow's estate at Prescote manor. There they found a parlour without a bed and well furnished with three tables, three chairs and eight joined stools as well as two court cupboards. They had not only a table carpet, but two cupboard ones and fifteen cushions, which with the fire equipment were valued at £7-10s [M.M.D 1/5 O.A.]. Gorstelow's parlour may have been without a bedstead, but this was still exceptional in Cropredy's husbandmen's, artisans' and labourers' dwellings. In Prescote manor the chamber over the parlour had four "cubboard" cloths and twelve cushions which were valued with the curtained bed at £20. They could light a fire in the grate and retire here to enjoy the warmth in private. Woodroses [8] and Gorstelows manor houses had gone one stage further. A hall for eating, a parlour for visitors and a sitting parlour chamber for the head of household, or even a great chamber. By 1689 Mansell's [35] had added a great chamber to their farmhouse (p605) .

"Bedsteds."

The most important piece of furniture in the chamber and probably in the whole house was the best bedstead. The frame to hold the mattress could be made from slats of wood, interwoven strips of leather, or hempen ropes. Over this they placed a mat made from straw. This did not conduct the heat away from the bed so that the straw mat was better than a woven undercloth.

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A bed mat was found on the bedstead in Woodrose's chamber over the boulting house. In 1578 one undercloth was worth 3s at Nuberry's and another 1s-8d (expensive items), but the worst was an old one on the parlour base valued at only 4d. Widow Gybbs in 1577 had three old undercloths. They disappear after the 1570's and were probably ignored or valued with the bed which was another name for a mattress. Straw palliasses may have continued, but none were valued.

Cropredy inventories reveal the presence of more bedsteads per household than was expected. Bedding referred to as "furniture" was reasonably plentiful and even if the children slept two or three to a double bed, at least they had one. Servants were also catered for increasingly in mens and maids' rooms (p91). The widowed mistress did not have to share with her servant and this was still only 1570 to 1640. The bed in a timber cottage down Church Street, or the smaller stone cottages may be the warmest spot in winter, when the fuel piles were low. Early to bed and early to rise made sense, wasting neither wood nor candle.

Cross [51] had a bedstead with a tester worth 8s. The tester made of wood or material had a dual purpose. Under a thatch it was there to keep out dust and droppings as well as to provide a rail to hang curtains from for privacy and warmth.

The most important piece of furniture and one of the indicators of household wealth, was the bed in the best chamber. What sort of value did the appraisers put upon the bedstead, mattress and bedding? Some valuations included the room furniture, others gave separate totals. The comments refer to their position in relation to other households. Woodhouse [8] in 1628 was the one gentleman and had the highest total.[J.B.= Joined bedstead].

Husbandmen and one gentleman:

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Cottagers

Wyatt [31] had bedding and furniture worth over £17. This kind of standard was exceptional and seen only at Robins in 1631, but both of these were only half the estimated value of Woodrose's at [8] who slept in the great chamber. Most like Hall [34] were valued around £4 and trades with only a little land seldom rose above this. Young Lumberd's [14] was unusual to be worth £10, though they had not long been married and it may represent the cost of purchase. Wood's [56] total of £3 in their one cell cottage was unusual, but nothing is known of his background or situation. Tanner [39] could be expected to have a comfortable bed having gone so long without the expense of children in his first marriage. It is worth recalling that Ralph Nuberry's wedding gift to his second wife was a bedstead and bedding worth £2-3s-4d (p105). In spite of everything she went through, it must have been some consolation to have been treated to a bed not slept in by his first wife.

Men, by custom were expected to leave their bedstead with its furniture to their wives, though there were exceptions like William Lyllee [29] whose will was made some years before he died. Who can say what physical problems his elderly wife was having to cope with. Widows had to pass the bedstead on to the next in line.

Justinian Hunt's [16] "joyned" bedstead was in the chamber next to the hall and they kept a bed in the nether chamber below the entry. Woodroses and Wyatts took their beds into an upper chamber and like Prescote manor kept the parlour free of beds. Once Thomas Holloway stopped acting as scribe there are fewer mentions of joined bedsteads or any other jointed furniture. Alyce Batchelors and Johan Robins left the most expensive and important item, their joined bedsteads, for legacies yet Ambrose Holbech refers to them as just "bedsteds." In Great Bourton George Gorstelow tells us a great deal about his lifestyle when he died possessing three joined bedsteads [MS. Will Pec. 39/3/33]. Who else had them besides the Hunts? French [4] has two, Nuberry and Woodroses [8], Lumberd junior [14], Lyllee and later his son-in-law Hall [29], Lucas [2] and Wyatt [31] all had at least one four-poster. Kynds [31] and A.Watts [34] had standing beds with a high top and bottom to support a cloth tester and side curtains.

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From the inventories their beds can be counted and it was noted that some chambers had two double beds. Nicholas Woodrose [8] owned eleven in 1628, but his mother Dyonice had at least three or four more, including her husband's bed which she left to Martha Wilkes her grand daughter: "the bedsteeade and bedding with all things belonging and the tester unto it where in her grandfather dyed." There was also Dyonice's second best bedstead in her daughter-in-law's great chamber as well as her own and a field bed with the canopy "curtaynes" of green cloth (p520). These camp beds did not have a solid tester above which took the curtain rod and draperies, instead the curtains met like the roof of a tent falling from the ridge and leaving the foot open. Had Dyonice left the other cloths in the room to match the green bedcover and curtains?

Robins [26] had eight bedsteads in 1631, Nuberry [8] seven in 1578 and Hanwell [34] seven in 1592. Then came Hunt's [16] who had six in 1587 and 1609. French's [4] had five in1617 and four in 1632. While Hall [34], Smyth [51], Truss [33] and Lumberd [14] four each. Nine others had three, nine had two and four had only one.

Widows like Joanne French did not actually own their beds, but had a life interest in one. Other widows such as Alice Devotion [3] hung onto her ownership of the marital bed. Thomas Browne [58] and Avis Gardner [24] had no bed amongst their personal estate, but this did not mean they slept on the floor. Both were servants and as such did not own their sleeping furniture. Brown's master John Pare [58] owned the bedstead in his servant's room (p91).

Eight houses had a truckle bed which during the day was pushed away under a standing bed. Instead of finding truckle beds in all the smaller one or two bay cottages, only two were found. Wyatt the farrier who was also farming, had two truckle beds. They were particularly useful for children, servants and night nursing the sick. Being narrow they slept only one, whereas the rest of the beds appear to be doubles. Hunt senior, French, Woodrose, Lumberd and Robins are the typical households having truckle beds, but each of the three properties on the west side of Hello had one: Wood [56], Palmer [59] and Suffolks [60]. When aunts came back to stay, or help, a truckle made a useful extra bed. The truckle bed could be made by sewing plaited staw rope into a mat held together by long pieces of wood. Two or three extra rows formed a side so that they resembled a long basket.

In 1611 Thomas Smyth of Bourton made his will and mentions the "beedsteede wherein I lye and the trundell beede under it [to] remayne as standderds unto they sayde Tenemente during suche tymes as they and everyone of them shall last and endure." The inventory had "In the Parlour one standing bede wth A trundell beede bothe readye furnished wth all things belonginge to ye same" valued at £6. His staff were provided in the men's chamber with "one beede furnished wth other small things" worth 20s. The men had a dry, but dusty chamber under the thatch, next to the cheese and apple store [MS. Will Pec. 51/1/2].

John Hentlowe's [35] father farmed up to five yardlands, but John had sublet the land and filled the house with his sister's family and another couple. In his will John left to his sister's two youngest children "my bedsteedd which I nowe lye in. My presse which standeth in my chamber. My featherbed wch i now ly upon and the boulster belonging to it two paire of sheets one Coverlet one blankett..." which they would have the use of after their mother's decease. The value of these items was given in an inventory which has been damaged:

"a featherbed a boulster and a pillowe.............. ij£ vjs vijd

a wooll bed and a boulster of wool [torn] ................xs

a helline [torn] ............................................................xxs

his bedsteede with a painted cloth ...........................xs..."

"two paire of sheets and a pillowbeer ....................xxs."

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WilliamVaughan's [23] inventory does not mention a bedstead in their chamber, but there is one in the children's chamber and the nether house. In the kitchen he had "a coverlett and a mattress" vs, but he owned no bedstead in there. That may have belonged to one of the grandmothers (p554). However in William's will he left Ann his wife "the bed with furniture and bedsted where on i doe lye." He also left his son-in-law Ralph a bedstead whereon he now lay and the bed with all furniture and "my sawed timber to make him a bedsted," presumably for the grand children.

The best cradles were low box structures with panels of oak on rockers. There are no clues as to the quality of Tanner's [39], who had two, or Nuberrys [8], Watts [34], Gybbs, Howse [9] and Pratts [24]. Home made cradles or baskets might be below a worthwhile valuation, unless the rest of the mothers took the baby into their bed ignoring the dangers?

Cropredy husbandmen and labourers were more fortunate than some land workers who only began to acquire beds and furniture for them much later. Some still filled their sacks with straw to sleep on and had only their clothes to cover themselves with, but Cropredy records leave the impression of a more prosperous town for the majority of households.

Mattresses, Pillows and Bolsters.

Joanne Robins [26] made a will in 1627 in which she left a joined bedstead and bedding to her grand daughter Elizabeth Robins. This was in the chamber where the widow lay:

"one bedsted one feather bed two

woole bedds three blanketts one

Coverlett two boulsters and one / pillowe £2-0-0..."

In farmhouses straw pallets were being replaced by softer beds, while the wooden log was being chased out by the bolster. Bolsters may originally have been bags, or boysters, used to carry goods under a saddle. The bedsteads all needed a bed. The mattress or bed was filled with straw, wool or feathers, but only feather or woollen beds were mentioned in the inventories. At least twenty had a stuffed woollen mattress (flock bed), and nineteen had feather beds.

Thirtynine inventories mention poultry on a third of the sites (Fig. 19.2 p279). Information for eleven other sites which had no inventory, but paid a poultry tithe, are revealed in the vicar's tithe accounts [c25/6]. Hen feathers and duck down were carefully collected and baked clean by placing them in the cooling oven after baking was finished. These were then put on one side, perhaps in a coffer, until there was enough to fill a tick. In 1623 Mrs Holloway [21] had enough to leave her daughter Anne Robins [26] "the newe feather bedtick I have in the house and feathers to stuffe it with." Alese Howse [28] in 1609 had a tick and was getting ready to make a new bolster. Wallsall [13] in 1582 had "an old tycke, a bolster tyke" 5s.

Prepared feathers had also been made up into six feather bolsters [1,8,14,31,35 & 39]. W. Harrison wrote that "Pillowes were thought meet onlie for women in childbed," but the sick and elderly also had need of them. Four had wool bolsters [8,14,35 & 39]. Old Elizabeth Gybbs [25?] in 1577 had "ij old bolsters ij pyllowes & an old pyllow" 9s.

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Wool mattresses at ten households would have been warm at first and then increasingly lumpy and uncomfortable. The wool picked off the bushes, or collected after shearing, was washed and put away with the waste left from spinning until they had sufficient to stuff a mattress [1,2,5,14-16,25-27,30,34,35,39,43,44,51,60].

Pillows were covered by pillow beares. Other names for these were pillow boxes, pillow drawers, pyllo case, pillow boards or pillow cloathes. Tanner had nine, Robins and Solomon Howse six pairs, while Hunts, Gybbs, French, Wyatt and Woodrose only five. Thirtyseven inventories covering just twentyfive sites reveal where pillow beares appeared on the beds.

Pairs of Pillowcases.

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Sheets.

Sheets were mostly for double beds and consequently very heavy and hard to wash and dry. If there were no convenient hedges in the backside then shrubs were cut low to spread the washing on, or laid out on the grass. Due to the high cost of heating water, and the work involved, the weekly washes might stretch to two weeks, or even a month. They used their wooden tubs or "broashes" (p673).

Holland sheets were made from high quality flax (p686). They called the lower grades flaxen and coarse. The latter being made from the outer fibres. Damask was a patterned linen, imitating silks made at Damascus. A twillie was woven with a twill pattern, but using unbleached linen threads. Otherwise called diaper when used for napkins or table-cloths. A twillie cloth may act as a bed cover in some households [14,25,40,43,49]. The earliest household to have their sheets divided by quality was at widow Gybbs [25?] in 1577. This family, which loved to have colour in their rooms and must have been very aware of texture and quality, had separated them according to their value:

"iiij payre of shets............................. xijs-viijd

iiij payre of shets more.................... xvjs-viijd

iiij payre of shets more...................... ixs-- vjd

j shet more............................................ js-viijd"

At the Manor farm [8] Nuberry's were also sorted by quality in 1578:

"xj paire of shetes .......................................iij£ -js- vjd

xj paire of shetes more .....................................xls

iiij paire and one shete....................................xiijs -iiijd."

Woodrose's [8] had more in their napery list besides cloths and napkins. The type of sheeting material is given, but none had individual valuations: "Three paire of hollan sheets two/ paire of flaxen sheets...two paire of laced hollan/ pillow beares, three other paire of hollan/ pillow beares... six paire of old Course sheets..." In spite of their wealth of furnishings only eleven pairs of sheets appear in this list, the rest may have been valued with the beds.

The highest value of ten shillings a pair were given to twenty at Alese Howse's [28] in 1609. The quality fluctuated between 2s-6d and 4s amongst the coarser sheets, while the better pairs from 5s-7d to 10s had an average of 8s. Before 1600 Nuberrys were high at 5s-7d. Even Alese Howse's husband left only nine pairs of sheets at 4s a pair. Over the next seventeen years how had Alese increased her linen and in so doing ensured a better quality? She had four sons and no daughter to help her spin the yarn. Her sons would however appreciate some linen to take to a marriage. There was no mention of her hemp plot or flax strip, but "In the Dea House and Butterie" Alese had "Lynnen yearne and Hempe" worth 6s-8d, and "In the Chamber beneth the Entrye...two wheeles and ffower payre of cardes ijs." One wheel for wool and the other for linen. Her cushioned chair perhaps necessary as she spun far into dusk, or by the dying fire in the hall, though surely she had a young day girl coming in to help?

The value of sheeting had not all doubled. Weaver Watts [27] who would have been the best judge of their value had sheets worth only about 2s-6d a pair. He may have sunk to the oldest pairs and not held on to good sheeting, yet he died soon after his son qualified, and was not yet old.

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Weavers would receive the homespun yarn from the customers and weave their sheet or blanket. How many women spun yarn to sell, so that the weavers could produce a pair of sheets for sale to those households who did not spin?

Sheets were usually counted in pairs. The mention of a single sheet may have come after one was used for a shroud, or some other emergency. You did not have to be a gentleman to have the most sheets, they were a major part of everyone's possessions. Naturally they would not last for ever if in constant use. Presuming each double bed had four pairs, then the older couples or widows who had no more than this were the most likely to have passed on good sheets to young relatives. Others would be too worn and had the edges recycled into pillowbeares. Lyllee at eighty left the basic amount of four pairs.

[To check their pairs quickly.First the husbandmen: Nuberry 27, Robins 26 in 1631, his father 20 in 1603, Alese Howse [28] 20, Gybbs 16, Lumberd Jnr 14, Justinian Hunt 13, his father 11, French 12, Woodroses 11, R.Hall, Rede, Rd Howse and Pratt 9, Devotion, Kynd, Toms and Allen 8, Palmer 7, Trusse 6, Cattell and Vaughan 5, Hanwell and Lyllee 4]. These numbers do not reveal their value. In 1614 Truss [33] had "sixe peare of sheets and one odd sheete xxxs," at around 4s-7d a pair.

[In the tradesmen's households Tanner the mercer had 18 pairs, Wyatt the blacksmith 16, the millers Palmer 14, and Cross 13, weaver Watts 9, Elderson a carpenter, Sutton a tailor and another miller Palmer 7, Rawlins the shoemaker and Smyth a miller 6, Pare a collarmaker 5, Lucas a carpenter 4, Matcham a tailor 3. Wallsall blacksmith 2].

[Trade or labourers John Palmer in 1634 had 7 pairs and his father 8 [59], Cox 8, Fenny 7, Wood 6, Hudson and Ladd 4, Norman, Gulliver and Bokingham 3].

French in 1617 had eleven pairs of sheets in the chamber over the hall and another pair in the chamber below the entry which had two bedsteads with bedding for one of them. He gave six pairs away leaving the rest for his executors who were his grandson Thomas and Thomas's mother Elizabeth (p177). Each of the three grandchildren were left a bedstead, Thomas was to have the best, but that left widow Elizabeth without one, for according to the inventory there were only three bedsteads. On the other hand we know she lived in a nether bay with a hearth in the kitchen and this means that as a widow she kept her own bedstead and some furniture in the room with perhaps a few of her personal belongings. As Elizabeth never left a will these may not have amounted to more than a few pounds. This was another case of the inventory not assessing all the contents of a chamber lived in by semi-dependent members of a household.

There were other kinds of sheets mentioned. Christening sheets or gowns along with bearing cloths rarely surface in Cropredy. The first to be mentioned was in widow Elizabeth Howse's [9] will of 1577. She left her daughter Ayllys a christening sheet. Justinian Hunt [16] in 1609 left a gown and one bearing cloth 23s-4d. In 1617 Thomas French [4] left to his three grandchildren one christening sheet which they were to share. Lastly the young widower Thomas Palmer [59] had one christening sheet when he died in 1634 (p449).

Blankets, Hillings and Coverlets.

Nearly all families had at least a blanket for each bed and some had a hilling or "coverlidd" as well. They varied between the generations. Alese Howse [28] had both and Pratts [24] with their two beds and a cradle had four blankets, four hillings and nine pair of sheets. At Toms [15] three hillings and three blankets were worth 10s and used on their two bedsteads. They were elderly and needed two bolsters and a pillow worth 4s.

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The six beds and a truckle at Robins [26] house in 1631 had fifteen blankets, six coverlets, a hilling and two rugs. Just a few inventories mention that the blankets are white or yellow. Weaver Watts had two "coverlids" worth 25s, one red and black the other red and yellow. Martha Woodrose [8] had a coverlet of "oerice" work [8]. This had either gold lace embroidered on the coverlet, or a lace made up in various gold and silver patterns.

Number of Blankets

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Coverlets or coverlids were used rather like a modern duvet or the older eiderdown. They were found at manor houses [8] but also in many cottages and farms.

Nuberry [8] and Robins [26] had seven coverlets (and Robins four in another inventory). Woodrose [8] and Wyatts [31] had four. There were three at [14 Jnr,25,29,44]. Two at [13 in 1582, 16 in 1587, 23,24 ,27, 28, 30,34 Hall, 39,56,58,59] and one at [4,13,16 in 1609, 25,26 widow,40,43,49,51,55]. Wallsall [13] had "a keverlett of redd & blew colors.." worth 2s in 1582 as well as "an old keverlett.." 8d.

Many had blankets but not all had a hilling which was a bed cover. Not all households which had two inventories agreed on the number of blankets and hillings as some could be given away before the widow died. At [31] widow Kynd had two hillings in 1598, but her husband John had had two blankets and three hillings in 1592. Thomas Tom's had three blankets and his widow Johan only one, but both had three hillings. There were two blankets at Palmer's [59] in 1631 and a furnished bed, but his son had only one blanket belonging to his bed and a spare bed. The father owned one hilling and his son two coverlets.

Hillings were also found at several more sites. Three at Hanwells in 1592 were worth 10s. Four were found at [1,24,26 and Cross 51]. Three at [27] and Smyths [51]. Two at [4,25,48,52]. One at [16,26,28,32]. There were three twillie covers at [14], and one at [29,40,43,49]. These were unbleached linen bed covers.

Four Households in the Town.

Up to 1635 Edward Lumberd senior [14] had lived on the south side of the Green. Grandfather Edward had in his sitting parlour a bedstead with the furniture belonging to it. A feather bed, two blankets, one hilling, one bolster, three pillows, a woolbed and a pair of sheets. A set of bed curtains hung from curtain rods. All the bedstead and bedding were valued at £3. The room furnishing included a "cubbard," a chair, a form, a bench and three stools as well as a coffer, little chest, a bible and a box worth £1-3s. On display were twelve pieces of pewter, five candlesticks, two salts, a pewter tankard, four saucers and a broken pewter bowl all worth £1-2s-6d. In addition there was £3 of linen, the warming pan, six cushions and another two old cushions (not already mentioned). Edward owned half of the table in his parlour, but had no fire tools. He had a spare bed in the chamber at the stairhead which had four blankets and a hilling.

Thomas Gybbs [25], on the far side of the Green just up the High Street, died seven years earlier. They still used the lower chamber to sleep in and kept their safe and a malt garner beside their bed for safety. As one of the wealthy families this was the safest place, when the household had few servants who might have slept with the garner, for their farm was mostly run with the help of sons and brothers. Clothes and linen were stored in a coffer, box and press, but there was no air of extravagance even though the bed had three blankets and a coverlet, the whole room was worth only £1-13s-4d and had not become a sitting room. In their hall chamber were two beds, two blankets and one hilling, while over the kitchen a bed with a hilling and blanket. Their linen was treated separately and valued at £9.

At the top of Creampot the carpenter Thomas Elderson's [38] second wife Avis had in their downstairs chamber "one baskett with yarnes," but the rest of that chamber was filled with two beds, four coffers, one press and all the linen of the household which came to over £5. Holbech, Robins and Broughton who made the Elderson inventory had not gone into detail so that "two bedsteeds with the beddinge upon them" was all they observed, no-one actually numbered the pillows, blankets or coverlets.

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Down Church Street at the upper mill John Cross [51] may have had a larger parlour for in it was a long table with a frame, two forms, a bench and four cushions as well as a bedstead with a tester "a fetherbed a mattress a bolster/ and iiij Curtaynes a pyllowe a coverlet/ and a blanket.".. He had both a feather and another unnamed mattress as well as ..."A Chayre and a Cheste." This was as early as 1614. Had the Cross's moved into the parlour away from the hall, where so many waited for their flour? Also in the parlour but itemised separately were:

"Lynnon in a chest in the plor

iiij stomachers ij pynners ij holland/

Aperns a little pece of Clothe a hand/

kerchefs and a hatt band------------------------------- xs..."

If these were on a tray then the other items were stored beneath:

"ix table napkins iij towells vij table/

clothes xiij payre of sheetes and an od/

sheete iij pillowe boxes----------------------------- v£ vs./

ij pynners and a corner kerchefs---------------------- ijs/

a pece of new clothe--------------------------------- xxxiijs iiijd..."

Coffers, Trunks, Chests and Presses.

"Trunckes, chests or boxes" Em's Will made 1658, proved 1662 [MS. Will Pec. 36/4/28].

"2 coffers 1 box and other wodden lumber" 10s: Em Devotion's Inv. [3] in 1662.

Husbandmen and craftsmen all spent more on furnishing down the years, and by careful laundering of their napery some would last long enough to be passed down the family. They stored the linen and clothes in coffers, trunks, chests and presses. Trunks were sometimes just a chest, or a box with a leather rounded lid. In Allens, Woodroses, Robins and the younger Lumberd's inventories they had trunks as well as boxes and all appear between 1628 and 1632. Past scholars or apprentices in the house may have required a trunk when they were away from home. Randell Holloway [21] as a student in Oxford had a chest worth 2s-6d rather than a trunk.

Several boxes appear, but are mostly described as little. These were used to hold items such as a bible, cheese, candles and implements. Twelve had one each, but Tanner, Robins, and Wyatt had two and Fenny had three. Why did he need three? Were they for his trade? Up in Bourton Elizabeth Denzie who had one "payre of tear of hemp" sheets, which was the finest quality, she also had three old coffers and a forcer 12s. Forcers were small coffers covered in leather and bound with an iron band . They were made to store valuables such as deeds, or jewellery which meant they needed a lock. Elizabeth's will was written in a year when many were very undernourished and ill, but then she lived on for six more years.

The coffer made a useful store for clothes, blankets or linen and often stood at the end of the bed. A hundred and eightyeight appear in sixtytwo inventories. Seven had at least four coffers but Lumberd, Gybbs, Robins, Tanner, Hall [34] and Vaughan had five each. French, weaver Watts, widow Howse and James Ladd six each, but Hunts [16] apparently had seven. The maid Avis Gardner [24] left a coffer with an unusual lock and hinge worth 1s-8d. Elizabeth Holloway's mother brought several when she came to end her days at the vicarage [21] and in 1578 Em Bryans [47] had an old one down Church Street.

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In the hall or chamber a chest could act as a linen coffer or provide extra seating. If long enough and provided with a mattress it could double as a sleeping bed. Later chests were given a drawer at the base and a candle box in the upper part. Drawers had reached the larger towns by the fifteenth century. At first the chests were fairly plain, but becoming elaborately carved by 1600. Those who could afford it purchased imported Venetian walnut chests.

Nuberry [8] had a joined chest in 1578 worth 8s. Dyonice [8] has a "danske" chest (also imported) in which her granddaughter Martha Wilkes kept her clothes. Her husband Robert Woodrose left a "cypesse" chest standing in his chamber, which was used to store woollen and fur articles because the cedar wood acted as a moth deterrent. Elizabeth Holloway [21] leaves her "sipers" chest to Joanne, and Alyce Kynd [31] had two "ciffers." Were these all made of cypress wood? Dyonice mentions a presse with a cupboard in her chamber standing by the chest. Solomon Howse [9] left in his will "my deeds and my chest now standing at my beds feete."

Chests were not very common before 1600. Three houses left them: Widow Bryans [47] had one in Church Street, the Nuberrys [8] had three and the Kynds [31] who left "a cubbord xiijs, two ciffers and a chest xs." After 1600 the following had one each: [3, 9, 14, 15, 16, 24, 26, 31, 34, 44,60], but Wood [56] had five, Woodrose [8] two chests and two little ones. Robins [26] and Howse [9] had two each and Wyatt [31] and Cross [51] three. Rychard Watts [34] had left "the cubbord and a little safe vjs...certain coffers vjs-viijd...a garner & an old chest vjs-viijd." There was always a great need for the carpenter's box for storage and over the years their different shapes brought different names according to their use.

Other items were creeping in such as court cupboards. These were to become expensive family heirlooms. Arthur Watts [34] had few belongings, so where had his press come from? These were similar to the press sometimes used as a side board. Arthur had his in his lower chamber with one little table and a frame worth 5s in 1624. The rest of the room held £2 worth of wool from the previous year's shearing. No-one slept in this room. The second court "cubbord" was in French's [4] parlour by 1632, but was again valued with other items "a table a frame a forme a box a table boarde and trunk" £1-6s-8d. French also had a cupboard in the hall and the chamber over the hall had a press and two coffers. Another coffer was in the chamber over the kitchen.

Presses were quite numerous, but again the majority appeared in inventories after 1600 though these were often described as old. Toms' [15] cupboard and press were both old yet valued together at £1. The first mention of a press was at Nuberry's [8] in 1578, followed by Hanwell at the bottom of Creampot [34] in 1592 and the third at Vaughan's of Church Lane [23] in 1599. The press, which had doors, was wider than a court cupboard and often had an open shelved cupboard on top. Only Tanner's [39] is described as a hanging press. Presses were found at: [1,3,4,8,15,16,23,24,26-30,33-35,38,39,43,44,59,60]. The Truss's [33] had perhaps the largest press and as the father left it to his son it appears twice in the inventories. Lyllee [29] gave up most items, but just could not part with his useful press. Watts [27] the weaver and Elderson [38] the carpenter have them in Creampot, and Fenny [43] at the top of Church Street. We must not forget Palmer's [59] press and Suffolks [60] in Hello. The last was a valuable one listed as "one Cubbord wth a presse £2."

Suffolks also possessed a "luidye cubbard" highly valued at 6s-8d. It was ventilated at the front and sides and used to store bread. They were not very big, but a great advance on open shelves to store food. Some hung from the wall, or had legs so they could be moved around.

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Nether Chamber or the Chamber Below the Entry.

Below and generally to the left of the entrance in the larger houses was an extra chamber taking up the front part of the nether bay. Cattell's [30] and Robin's [26] had a chimney backing onto the entry. Not all had a barn attached, but the name "neather" lingered on, or changed to the Chamber Below the Entry. Both being "below" the hall, but not underneath as in a cellar. This was often where the maid slept or a widow. For those who had a chimney in the bay it could be used to make two households under one roof [4, 26]. French's chamber below the entry in 1617 had no stores, but two beds as the house was a three generation household. There was a fireplace in the kitchen behind and this made the division of the house possible for first widow Elizabeth and then Mary. Widow Mary had had to split up the farm by the third quarter of the seventeenth century. These rooms had a lot to recommend them for a grandparent could live in them with their own hearth and have their own access through the entry passage, without having to disturb the rest of the family living in the hall to reach the parlour chamber. Edward Lumberd senior had to pass through his son's hall to reach the parlour bay [14], unless they put up a partition?

These must not be mixed up with the Low or Lower chambers which were in the timber cottages such as the four in Church Street [46-49], or at Toms [15]. The lower chambers had transverse beams to hold the upper chamber floor giving the cottage one high chamber up into the thatch and one with a low ceiling on the ground floor, where the head of household slept. There was however one "low chamber" in 1634 at Devotions [3] which had been the nether chamber in 1631. This one apparently had a particularly low ceiling (p418).

Gybbs' [25] chamber below the entry had a much later chimney. Alese Howse [28] had one without a hearth in an unusual position for it was beneath the entry (p580). It resembled a central store room, but they crammed in a double bed "with ffurniture to same" worth 6s-8d, perhaps for uncle Fremund. Each set of items for a particular chore, carefully located in one place rather than the haphazard method of allowing items to stray all over the house.

In Great Bourton Nicholas Plant (brother to William) had to make a will in 1617 when his eldest son was married. He left his daughter Avis £15, but insisted she dwell and remain if unmarried in the nether chamber below the entry during the term of twentyone years left in the lease. If Avis married she could choose a cow on the day of that marriage. Avis was already twentyseven and seemed likely to need the accommodation offered [PCC 136].

Before going into the service and store rooms we will follow the appraisers up the twisting perfectly made stairs (which were quite safe for those who used them with respect), as they swing round their newel posts to reach the upper chambers.

Upper Chambers.

At first each chamber upstairs took up one whole bay of building, until eventually many gained a partition. As the buildings were narrow the chambers led out of each other, something which was not then considered inconvenient. Most chambers had their widows facing the front, directly above the ground floor windows. The rooms were warm under the thatch in winter and cool in summer. If a second storey had been added the first had the advantage of not having to contend with the collars in the roof. Providing the roof was kept in repair these were not damp places like those described in Nuneham Courtenay in 1750. The sleeping accommodation was well above average and remained so until after the Enclosure of the Open Fields in 1775 when many of these three bay houses were made into three cottages.

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Some of the Hunt's [16] items of furniture are the first from the smaller farms to be recorded. Hunt's house and barn could have been built under the same roof as a long-house type (p543). In 1609 the appraisers began immediately downstairs, we join them after they have climbed the stairs and entered the buttery chamber which had "three/ Bedsteeds and furniture to two of the beds xxs." It looks as though this is where the children slept. Like many households space in the room was used for storage: "a coffer a payre of tressells & a wood hurdle ijs/ a tod of lockes and three fleeces of black wool xijs/ ffourtye pounde of linnen yearne and a/ Tod of hempe and one planke and two payre/ of cardes xxviijs." The household's raw materials for carding and spinning which was done by the women and girls in the family.

Sometimes, but not in this house, the hall chamber was divided up so that the part next to the chimney breast could be given over entirely to the storage of dry goods, hopefully free from rats and mice. At Hunts they used the whole bay to store "three/ coffers a cheeseracke three stafhookes/ a dozen of stands three shippikes two/ transomes a tod and halfe of hempe and/ grease and tallowe xxxs."

The last chamber over the entry was a place often used for the malt garner and a member of the staff would sleep here to keep this safe, which was the case at Hunts "the bed/ and furniture to the same vjs viijd/ a Garner and 18 strikes of mault/ in the Garner iiij£ xs." The Robins' [26] servant chamber also had beds and bedding and the malt garner (p91) in 1603.

If the Hunt parents had the main chamber next to the hall, the children the three beds in the buttery chamber, while male servants had the chamber over the entry and the maid the chamber below the entry, all could be catered for. When a second couple lived in, they would have the nether chamber and the maid sleep with the daughters. The hall chamber could be divided, or beds put up in the cockloft to acommodate more people. Between 1584 and 1599 the Hunts had nine children, but the eldest and youngest had died leaving only eleven years between the surviving eldest and youngest, so at least seven children had to be bedded down at night. Using a truckle for one child perhaps the rest slept two to a double bedstead. John Hunt and his wife Elizabeth were the third generation in our period and they employed a man, a maid and a shepherd in 1614, as the family may have being doing for some years. Three staff sleeping in and a married couple living in the farm cottage [17] would make up the rest of the household on this average farm. If the two men guarded the malt and the maid had the bed in the store next to the entry ready to start up the fire, all were well housed (p545). There was plenty of work spinning, drying the barley and preparing the malt in the kiln house, as well as making butter or cheese in the "dea house" out the back. The outdoor work on the farm would need both the men and the women.

At Vaughan's [23] timber cottage the upper chamber was called the children's chamber and reached by a ladder (p554). Others had a cheese chamber and the men servants' chamber up in the cockloft.

Cocklofts.

The first Cropredy cocklofts may have been late alterations within the house to take up the roof space, but in the stone houses most had been planned from the start. Originally a cockloft was a place for cocks to roost in over an outside hovel. They entered by a board ladder. The word was carried over to the house when access to the cockloft was via a rung ladder, as Eldersons [38] was even into this century.

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The lofts were in fact small garrets. A full sized garret was more likely to have been conceived and built immediately with the stone building for at Woodrose's [8] there are traces of a stone stairs running right up to the servants' garret under the steep thatch giving them plenty of head room. Huxeley's [36] newel stairs went on up to the cockloft, which was not as spacious having a "duck and dive" collar arrangement, though fully equipped with a gable window and floored in elm. Howse's [28] cockloft which was reached by a ladder had an early oak floor before oak became scarce and wide elm boards had to be substituted, or else narrow oak boards. A reminder that Howse was in the vanguard of the rebuilding. Other lofts were found at Halls [6], Lumberds [14], Gybbs [25], Robins [26], Watts [27], Hall [34], Tanner [39], Whyte [46], Coldwell [50], Palmers [59] and others like Thomas Holloway [21] whose inventories are missing. The schoolmaster at the Williamscote grammar school used his cockloft for the students' chamber.

The value of an extra floor became increasingly obvious and from both manor houses to husbandmen, shepherds, weavers and labourers cottages they overflowed up to the cockloft if necessary. There was no room for more cottages and they must use what space they could make under the one roof. When the family decreased it provided a valuable dry storage area. Mention of such lofts can be found throughout the period covered by this book, especially in the long-house types. Loose upper floor boards meant the tenant could remove any which belonged to him, but during his tenancy some could be taken up to help move goods up or down through the joists. Sometimes, perhaps rarely, wool sacks were hoisted up through a gable window. Apples found ideal storage in cocklofts. Servants and apprentices had their quarters in lofts as well as garrets once they were separated from the family chambers (p91).

A cockloft took up the whole of the upper floor of the house end at Huxeley's [36]. At Hall's [6] it was partitioned off into three rooms. Tanner's [39] was only over the eastern end of the building. A garret was a grander type of loft, but the local name of cockloft occurs in many more inventories and apparently much earlier in this area than elsewhere, especially as Howse [28] had one. There was also the evidence of the timber two and a half storey dwelling at Whytes [46] proving that the tradition was an old one [R.W.Brunskill Traditional Buildings in Britain p109]. Wood-Jones found cocklofts only in the largest of the yeomen's properties [Wood-Jones p114], but Cropredians also needed the extra room a cockloft could provide.

The cockloft at Howse [28] may not have been fully developed during the occupation of that family. The only entry came via a ladder from the hall chamber. The attic was lit by two one light windows at the gable ends. It would have been used for storage, especially apples from the orchard. The next tenants may have raised the roof, replacing the thatch with stone slates and adding better windows so that [28] could be said to have changed the cockloft into a garret (p580).