Environmental regulation in Edinburgh and York, c.1560-c.1700 : with reference to several smaller Scottish burghs and northern English towns
This thesis challenges the deeply entrenched stereotypical image which depicts early modern urban dwellers throwing rubbish and effluent directly out of their windows and doors into the streets below almost as is this was a normal and widely permissible waste disposal practice. This âchamber pot in the windowâ myth has become almost synonymous with the early modern period itself in the current, popular, historical imagination, especially in relation to urban settlements. But the majority of urban inhabitants and their local governors alike valued clean outdoor public spaces. They had a vested interest in keeping the areas in which they lived and worked clean and they invested substantial time and energy into upholding their collective standards of acceptable cleanliness in the neighbourhoods, wards, towns and cities of which they were so proud. The small minority of householders who flouted sanitation bylaws by disposing of their waste problematically and by creating insanitary nuisances in public spaces encountered substantial resistance from their neighbours. Contemporaries were not afraid to approach the courts to complain about less fastidious neighbours, whose inadequate waste disposal arrangements
Skelton, Leona Jayne
Environmental regulation in Edinburgh and York, c.1560-c.1700 : with reference to several smaller Scottish burghs and northern English towns. This thesis challenges the deeply entrenched stereotypical image which depicts early modern urban dwellers throwing rubbish and effluent directly out of their windows and doors into the streets below almost as is this was a normal and widely permissible waste disposal practice. This âchamber pot in the windowâ myth has become almost synonymous with the early modern period itself in the current, popular, historical imagination, especially in relation to urban settlements. But the majority of urban inhabitants and their local governors alike valued clean outdoor public spaces. They had a vested interest in keeping the areas in which they lived and worked clean and they invested substantial time and energy into upholding their collective standards of acceptable cleanliness in the neighbourhoods, wards, towns and cities of which they were so proud. The small minority of householders who flouted sanitation bylaws by disposing of their waste problematically and by creating insanitary nuisances in public spaces encountered substantial resistance from their neighbours. Contemporaries were not afraid to approach the courts to complain about less fastidious neighbours, whose inadequate waste disposal arrangements
environmental regulation edinburgh york reference several_small scottish burgh northern english town challenge deeply entrench stereotypical image depicts early_modern urban dweller throw rubbish directly door almost normal widely permissible waste disposal practice chamber pot window myth become almost synonymous early_modern_period current popular historical imagination especially_relation urban_settlement majority urban inhabitant local governor alike value clean outdoor public_space interest keep area live worked clean invest substantial time energy uphold collective standard acceptable cleanliness neighbourhood ward town_city small_minority sanitation dispose waste problematically create public_space encounter substantial resistance neighbour court complain less neighbour whose inadequate waste disposal arrangement