The peasants on a manor lived close together in one or
more villages. Their small, thatch-roofed, and one-roomed houses would be
grouped about an open space (the "green"), or on both sides of a single,
narrow street. The only important buildings were the parish church, the
parsonage, a mill, if a stream ran through the manor, and possibly a
blacksmith's shop. The population of one of these villages often did not exceed
one hundred souls.
A VILLAGE AS SELF-SUFFICING
Perhaps the most striking feature of a medieval village
was its self- sufficiency. The inhabitants tried to produce at home everything
they required, in order to avoid the uncertainty and expense of trade. The land
gave them their food; the forest provided them with wood for houses and
furniture. They made their own clothes of flax, wool, and leather. Their meal
and flour were ground at the village mill, and at the village smithy their farm
implements were manufactured. The chief articles which needed to be brought
from some distant market were salt, used to salt down farm animals killed in
autumn, iron for various tools, and millstones. Cattle, horses, and surplus
grain also formed common objects of exchange between manors.
