A small addition will be made this week to England’s treasury of listed buildings: a tiny oak weatherboarded structure, which speaks of a rural past ignored by costume dramas, a time when parents and child could sit down peacefully together and let nature take its course.
The little shed will be declared a Grade II listed building this week, and it is far rarer than the handsome Georgian farmhouse in whose pretty garden it stands. The official report by English Heritage for the Department of Culture declares it “a rare surviving example of a late 18th century privy, even rarer because it is a three-seater”.
“It is the most glorious little building,” its proud owner, Mary Kellett, said. “It faces towards the evening sun, and it is the most delightful place to sit in the evening with a glass of wine and the door open, and just be peaceful and think.”
She adds hastily that it is no longer in practical use, though she suspects it was in her father-in-law’s day, as luxuries such as a bathroom were only installed in the main house in the 1960s.
A family that poops together – better eat the same root vegetables.
I’d like to point out that people used hands to wipe their arses back then. Three people? Where’s the sink?
Middle-class analysis. #1 – you think they were going to run tap water to the loo? They were well-off if they had a hand-pump in the kitchen.
Finally, a story reflective of your intelligence. Well done editor!
#2 god, you already knew what I was referencing, why are you lying to yourself?
[Message deleted – Violation of Posting Guidelines. – ed.]
# 7 Gerald T McCann said, on February 18th, 2008 at 10:35 am Attn: Executive Marketing Team
Dvorak Uncensored
To whom it may concern,
[Duplicate comment. – Deleted. – ed.]
So does any body know how to spamm this guy into submission?
# 7 Gerald T McCann said, on February 18th, 2008 at 10:35 am Attn: Executive Marketing Team
Dvorak Uncensored
To whom it may concern,
We had 5 seaters when I was in the Army.
Nothing better than taking a dump right next to your buddy with no courtesy divider. Of course all that means is, the noise and smell is just that much more fun.
James Hill was born in a similar privy in Utah. Not that it will make much of a mark in the history books.
#12 They say he still sleeps in the basement.
Multi-holed outhouses weren’t made for pooping together, they were so you could pick the hole that best fits you (and obviously then do your business by yourself).
The problem with historical listings, is that you aren’t allowed to develop your property. This is nothing more than the government taking your land, to a certain extent.
My Grandfathers house in Ohio still has 2 outsiders. One is just for looks and was last used for it’s original purpose in 1952(according to my Mom) and was built the year the market crashed(1929). The other is still occasionally used for peeing and was built in 1910 over a small creek. Both are only 2 holers though. 🙂