Mary Bayning

What people wore

Identical left and right shoes

Women's shoes had no distinction between left and right feet at this time. Both were identical.

Daily life

Candles and open fires lit homes

Lighting and cooking relied heavily on fire: people used candles for light and open fires for cooking. Many houses were built close together and often of wood, increasing the risk of fire.

Work

Highly Seasonal Female Agricultural Work

Women's agricultural work was highly seasonal, with 72.7 per cent of their recorded workdays occurring between July and September.

Music

Music in daily trade and life

Music was ubiquitous, with tinkers singing catches, milkmaids singing ballads, and barbers keeping instruments like lutes and citterns in their shops for customers to play.

At the table

Street food included boiled sheep's feet

Street hawkers sold ready-to-eat treats including pancakes, spiced gingerbread, and a boiled sheep's feet delicacy.

Getting around

Everyday Travel for Work and Market

People regularly travelled between towns for work and trade, such as a 14-mile walk to return home from weaving or travelling 6 miles to sell crops at market.

What it cost

Supplementary income for rural families

During the Elizabethan and early Stuart period, many rural families supplemented their income by growing fruit and vegetables in cottage gardens or keeping pigs and cows.