16 A MEDIAEVAL CITY

taken entirety from the River Ouse, but now the
water is carefully treated arid purified before reaching
the consumer.

There were not many inns, as is shown in records
by the number of innholders, who formed a
trade company. There were also wine-dealers.
Typical inn-signs were The Bull in Coney Street,
and The Dragon. There is no reason to believe that
in this century there was a really large amount of
drinking and drunkenness, such as there was in the
eighteenth century. An ordinance of the Marshals
of 1409—" No man of the craft shall go to inns but
if he is sent after, under pain of 4d."—may be quoted.

The houses of the wealthy and the great lords
were, of course, the better furnished. They had
walls adorned with tapestries and hung with arras
or hangings ; occasional!}- their walls were panelled.
Their furniture was rich, well constructed, and
carved by skilled craftsmen. Their mansions were
large, for the}T had to house, beside the owner's
family and personal household, retainers and depen-
dents attached to his service in diverse capacities.

Civic Buildings consisted chiefly- of the halls
connected with the trade guilds. The rulers of
the city and of the guilds were often the same men,
in any case usually men of the same set. These
secular buildings were really distinguished in appear-
ance, but not monumental, They reflected some-
thing of the wealth that accrued from trade. They
were of good size and proportions, built to be
worthy of the practical use for which they were
intended. The lower stages were of stone, the
upper for the most part of wood and plaster (half-
timbering). The structural framework was com-
posed of stout beams artd posts of timber. The
timber roofs were covered with tiles. Examples may