6 - The ‘Practice’ and Domestic Culture of the Thame Household

Summary

In this chapter we shift the focus from individual objects to objects in association, and the dwelling itself as complex and multidimensional ‘object’. Objects acquire meaning through context and association. One of the attractions of probate inventories as historical evidence lies in the way in which they list objects in association with one another, and frequently locate them in distinct settings within the dwelling. Notwithstanding the caveat that objects may not always have been listed in the locations in which they were customarily used, or that certain objects may have been removed prior to the appraisal process, this characteristic provides an opportunity to determine the habitual actions which occurred in specific spaces within the dwelling, and thence the way in which the dwelling was divided both spatially and conceptually – a manifestation of early modern ‘practice’ and its development through time.

The Differentiation of and Naming of Household Rooms: Tradition, Concepts and Activities

It is through language and practice that undifferentiated ‘space’ is transformed into ‘place’. The probate inventories reveal the fact that dwellings in Thame were consistently divided into a limited number of distinctly named spaces, the frequencies of which are shown in Table 6.1. A number of terms (in bold in the table) – chamber, hall, parlour, kitchen, buttery, cellar, loft, ‘room’ and service houses of various descriptions (brew-, milk-, boulting- and slaughter house, for example) – occur with overwhelming frequency and will form the basis of this examination of the division of space and its definition. In Table 6.2a we see that these terms persist through the century, with a small diminution in the number of halls and butteries, and a small increase in the number of cellars, lofts and ‘rooms’. There are therefore a number of differentiated spaces within the dwelling, distinctions which are widespread and persistent. Do these terms indicate structural arrangements, tradition, distinct usages or a combination of all these factors? The architectural review of early modern houses in Thame in Chapter 2 revealed that construction was governed by a traditional concept of layout and subject to development with the introduction of chimney flues and the release of upper spaces for dwelling.