made in sanitation till the Victorian Age, when town sanitation was
completely revolutionised and, for the first time, efficiently
organised.

The house fire was of wood and peat, though coal was also used. For
artificial lighting oil-lamps (wicks in oil) and candles were used. A
light was obtained from flint and tinder, the latter being ignited by
a spark got from striking the flint with a piece of metal.

Rooms were furnished with chairs, tables, benches, chests, bedsteads,
and, in some cases, tub-shaped baths. Carpets were to be found only in
the houses of the very wealthy. The floors of ordinary houses, like
those of churches, were covered with rushes and straw, among which it
was the useful custom to scatter fragrant herbs. This rough carpet was
pressed by the clogs of working people and the shoes of the
fashionable. The spit was a much used cooking utensil. Table-cloths,
knives, and spoons were in general use, but not the fork before the
fifteenth century. At one time food was manipulated by the fingers.
York was advanced in table manners, for it is known that a fork was
used in the house of a citizen family here in 1443. The richer members
of the middle class owned a large number of silver tankards, goblets,
mazer-bowls, salt-cellars and similar utensils and ornaments of
silver, for this was a common form in which they held their wealth.

Beer, which was largely brewed at home, was the general beverage, but
French and other wines were plentiful. The water supply came from
wells, the water being drawn up by bucket and windlass, or from the
river when the wells were low. The drinking water of the
twentieth-century city is taken entirely from the River Ouse, but now
the water is carefully treated and purified before reaching the