Tudor Trades and Town Life
Urban life in all it’s variety allows us to explore a range of trades and crafts typical of the Elizabethan era.Tudor skills, materials and methods come together to create a lively and bustling scene where butter wives rub shoulders with blacksmiths.It is a great opportunity to join in a card game at the alehouse, try on some of the second hand clothes being sold by the petty chapman or listen to the ballad seller’s song. Tudor town life draws us into the worlds of money and commerce, apprentices and masters, shopping and hawking that is both familiar and enticingly different.
Hot meat shop
Tudor Tailors' workshop
The blacksmith at work
Finished spearhead
The Leatherworker
The Plumber
Child labour
The Cloth Armourer
Jack of Plates
The Pancake Seller
The Knife Grinder
The Dyer
Beware the card sharp!
Roll your dice and place your bets
Mistress Warren holds forth
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Hot meat shop
The take-away is nothing new. Shops providing hot take-away food could be found in many towns. They catered not just to travellers, but also to townspeople who found it more convenient to carry on with their trade rather than to stop and cook. -
Tudor Tailors' workshop
Outer clothes were made by professional male tailors, their apprentices and work people. Tailoring was one of the most common trades in our towns and cities. -
The blacksmith at work
Everything from ploughshares to eating knives was made by the blacksmith, making him one of the engines of Tudor Britain. -
Finished spearhead
In larger towns and cities, blacksmiths frequently specialised in particular products. It was the village blacksmith that turned his hand to everything. -
The Leatherworker
Bags, purses, sword hangers and gloves were fashionable and personal items much in demand. -
The Plumber
The cheapest and least skilled job of the plumber was to manufacture shot for firearms. He also made water tanks, guttering, pipes and spouts from lead. -
Child labour
Every trade employed children. Here they are twisting tow fibres in to match for igniting firearms. -
The Cloth Armourer
Steal plates are stitched together between many layers of canvas to make a composite form of armour known as a jack of plates. -
Jack of Plates
Finishing touches are added to the jack of plates. -
The Pancake Seller
Casual traders set up on many a street corner. This one can sell you a pancake or entertain you with a tune. -
The Knife Grinder
Almost every trade relied on knives, chisels or other bladed implements. keeping them in good order was important and a profession in itself. -
The Dyer
Colour lent a spice to life and increased the value of all textiles. Blue, red and yellow were the cheapest, whilst greens and browns often required two dips of different shades and were more expensive. A true black that lasted is the hardest to produce with Tudor materials and consequently commanded the highest prices. -
Beware the card sharp!
Alehouses, inns and ordinaries provided spaces for socialising and unwinding at the end of the working day. Card sharps and conmen liked to frequent such establishments, so you need to know the warning signs. -
Roll your dice and place your bets
There is talk of a specialist who made loaded dice to aid the unscrupulous gambler. -
Mistress Warren holds forth
Respectable people, including women, also frequented alehouses, inns and ordinaries, and were often the heart of lively conversation.