The Medieval Peasant

Last week I was in Sussex for 'A Medieval Experience Day' at the Weald and Downland Museum - always one of my favourite places to visit. It wasn't quite what I expected as I'd thought we'd go through a fairly typical day in the life of a medieval peasant from getting up to going to bed. It wasn't quite like that but it still was very enjoyable and interesting. Later in the day we got chance to dress in period clothing which was probably my favourite bit - I just love dressing up:) The costume is absolutely authentic being hand sewn and using the same fabric that would have been available in the medieval period. The belt is a cord woven on a lucet and threaded on to the belt is my knife in a leather scabbard and a cloth pouch which would contain various personal bits and pieces. They aren't visible in the photo but I'm also wearing a pair of black leather boots.

I'm standing in the doorway of 'my' cottage which is actually Hangleton, a reconstruction based on archaeological evidence from a 13th century flint cottage in the deserted medieval Sussex village of that name. A home like this would have made me a fairly well off peasant, the poor would simply have lived in hovels made of sticks, straw and mud.

This is the back wall of the main room showing the window, you can see how small it is. Since there was no glass in those days (unless you were extremely wealthy) it would have been very draughty indeed in the cold weather even with the wooden shutter closed. Hangleton only has two windows, this one and one in the small inner room. You can imagine how dark it is inside even on a summer's day.

This is the small inner room and on the right you can just see the corner of the bread oven.

The bread oven which is really rather large for such a small cottage. Our tutor thought that it would probably be used to bake bread and pies for other villagers who had no oven of their own.

The main room has an open hearth where all the cooking was done and it was also the only source of heat. It was also the source of a great deal of smoke! You do get used to it after a while and in fact if you are crouching on the floor it's less smoky than when you are standing up. You can see the various cooking pots around the edge of the fire. There were seven of us on the course and between us we made Fish in a Coffin with Lumbard Mustard Sauce, Sowpys Dorry, Herb Fritters, A Cheese Pottage and Poor Mens Wardens in Syrup. The 'coffin' in case you're wondering is a paste of flour and water used to encase the fish while it cooks. It wasn't eaten except probably by the family pig.
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Lunch is served! It doesn't look especially appetizing but looks can be deceiving. The fish in a coffin is on the right and you can see the thick brown pastry crust which has been broken open to reveal the fish stuffed with herbs which was really delicious. The mustard sauce is in the bowl at the side of it.

Anyone for Sowpys Dorry? This doesn't look too great either does it? Actually it's a sort of white onion soup made with almond milk and served over toasted bread (the sowpys or sops - as in sops in wine). I can assure you that it tasted a whole lot better than it looks:)

This is one of the dishes that I was involved in making - the cheese pottage. Again it looks less than appealing and I wasn't over anxious to taste it. However having helped make I thought it would look bad if I didn't:):) It was fantastic! So good that I'm planning to make it in the winter as a breakfast dish. Here's the recipe:

120gm cracked wheat (bulgur wheat)
375gm ricotta cheese( or any soft curd cheese)
60gm honey
1 egg

Place cracked wheat in a bowl and add just enough water to cover it Leave to soak for 10-15 minutes. When soft drain away any remaining water and add the cheese, honey and beaten egg. Bring slowly to boiling point but don't let it actually boil. Simmer for 10 minutes stirring regularly until it's a porridge consistency. Serve immediately with extra honey if you like.

Here we have the Poor Mens Wardens in Syrup. Wardens are a very ancient variety of hard cooking pear that were used to make Warden pie which I gather was a great favourite of Elizabeth I. These were cooked in cider, honey and a spot of cider vinegar with caraway and sweet cicely. They hadn't been poached quite long enough but would have been really nice if the pears had been softer. I might give this a try at some point too.

This basket contains both wool and linen which has been dyed using natural plant materials. Most people have the impression that medieval people lived in a sort of brown and grey world but nothing could be further from the truth. The colours that can be obtained from very ordinary plants such as nettles, woad and onion skins are really lovely. In the afternoon we were able to try our hand at some of the crafts that most women would have been expert at as they would have been taught by their mother from childhood. Spinning with a drop spindle is something that will need a good deal more practise on my part! Lucet weaving I've done before and can manage to make a reasonable job of. The weaving I didn't even attempt! It was a really enjoyable day and a nice group of people to work with too. As well as the practical part we learned something about medieval history too which is something I shall probably read more about during the long dark nights to come.

As I walked back I passed these wonderful teasels in the garden of Poplar Cottage.

I couldn't resist a quick look inside as well. Poplar is a 17th century labourer's cottage.
I'm going back to Sussex in September for a course on hedgerow preserves and I plan to spend some time looking round the rest of the Museum then. I've done posts on the Weald and Downland Museum in the past, for anyone interested just click on 'Weald and Downland' in the labels on my sidebar - there are posts on Tudor cooking and herbs.