This toilet closet was originally a latrine. Waste dropped down the hole into a pit at the bottom.

Description: In the first half of the 16th century most toilets were latrines. They had a wooden seat fixed above a open hole. This hole could either overhang the walls or drop into a shaft within the thickness of the walls. The pit at the bottom may have been flushed with running water from a stream or river. Sometimes workmen known as 'gong farmers' had to dig out the pit with shovels. If latrines became blocked it might even be necessary to break open the wall. Latrines must have been very smelly and draughty to use!

A 'stool of ease' is a type of toilet. It was made from a bowl set in a wooden cabinet but it did not flush with water. Instead the bowl and its contents could be removed and taken away by a servant. This was an important job. 'Grooms of the Stool' were trusted personal servants. Mary would have had a female servant called the 'First Lady of the Chamber'.

The bowl had a lid to hide the contents. The toilet closet no longer needed an open hole over a smelly pit full of waste. It could also be kept warm and perfumed with herbs.

'Stools of ease' were also known as 'close stools'. Link to see an original close stool from a 16th century house in Conwy, North Wales.