Posted by Caroline on June 19, 1997 at 13:22:02:
In reply to Re: Old Houses, Bulldogs and Movies posted by Lesley on June 16, 1997 at 00:41:20
What types of food would be stored in a pantry?Would this be the same thing as a larder?
The pantry would be divide into two sections,by one of those wattle screens , Lesley. One side would be the Pantry proper (pour le pain) and the other would be the Buttery (pour les bouteilles....)In the pantry you could find any or all of these kinds of things, though probably not all in the same season - Stonware jars filled with honey, dried beans and peas, barrels or jars of grains like oats, wheat, barley. (NOT rye or Buckwheat in England). These would probably be in fairly small quantities as large amounts would be kept in an outside granary. Tom's wife might have herbs dring in there, and strings of onions. Not many other vegetables- they were not big veggie eaters. There might also be a big, flattish round loaf of bread, some barrels of salted meat, maybe a few rabbits hanging.
In the buttery you might find clay bottles filled with mead, perhaps some homemade wine, made from berries or flowers. Grapes were grown, but not by individuals like Tom. The great monasteries had their own wine-making businesses, and great men imported French stuff,but I doubt if Tom had much.
he would have made Ale- from barley, heather stalks,apples or whatever else he could find, so a vat and a few barrels might be found here. The Rowes might store a few pots of rendered fat, from roasting meat, to be used in making rush lights(not common, most people went to bed and rose with the sun)or perhaps as a salve, with herbs.
I doubt if cheese would be made in the house,but it could be stored there.
Why was the Lintel so expensive?
This part of Kent does not have good building stone.You do not transport stone for building houses like this any distance- it's too expensive.
Almost everything used in the Rowe's house would have been found within a couple of hundred yards of the site. And these materials would be free. Although Tom had money, most of the transactions of his life would have been in Barter. To get a Lintel stone, he would have to have cash, travel several days to a place where there was a decent building stone available with men skilled enough to carve it, bring it back on horseback. Or pay someone to do the whole transaction for him.
Lintel stones are funny things. I have seen houses with dates carved in them ,like 1486, which are obviously much younger.The stone has been transferred from an older house, perhaps as a good-luck charm,or just a status thing!
What is whitewash made of?
It varies.I'm not exactly sure in this case. But Tom could have mixed powdered chalk with water and slapped that on. A coat of chalk whitewash on the outside of the house would last about a year.
What is vellum?
It is the very thin skin(leather) of a young animal, usually calfskin or lambskin. If treated with oil or fat(from the pantry?) it becomes pliable, but stays fairly translucent. If you let it dry out without oil, it becomes harder, and can be used as parchment
BTW, your questions are not irritating to me at all!
. I just hope we are not boring everyone else!
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