Tudor House Interiors

The Tudor period saw a growth in the development and function of wood carvings This carving can be traced back to fifteenth century religious and church carvings displayed on screens, lecturns, pulpits and pews. By the sixteenth century this had spread into private homes. Wood was already used prolifically, panelling walls and large pieces of furniture. It was used to make cooking and eating utensils and structural framing for houses.

Furniture and ornamentation were still much sparser than today, and for this reason, Tudor dolls housing always works well, particularly in 1/24th scale because the empty space allows the small, delicate furniture pieces to stand out.

The Tudors, unless they were exceptionally wealthy had very few chairs, due to the complexity involved in making them. Instead stools and chests were used. The floors were covered in rush matting, either plaited together or simply strewn across the floor to absorb smells, spills and sounds. As they bedded down they became filthy and flea ridden. They were swept or replaced rarely. Towards the latter half of the sixteenth century there was a greater emphasis on cleanliness and hygiene and this habit changed.

Feather beds were introduced in the Tudor Age to replace the straw mattress. Elaborate carved wooden four poster beds became popular. Cloth drapes kept out the cold and enabled some degree of privacy to be maintained

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