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First edition cover | |
Author | Rev. J. Aelwyn Roberts |
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Country | Wales |
Language | English |
Subject | Outhouses, Toilets, Welsh history |
Genre | Non-fiction |
Publisher | Tegai Publications |
Publication date | 2000 |
Media type | Print (paperback) |
Pages | 100 (paperback edition) |
ISBN | 0-9539494-0-0 |
OCLC | 49001961 |
696.182 | |
LC Class | TH6498 .R63 2000 |
Privies of Wales is a nonfiction book by J. Aelwyn Roberts, a former vicar of Llandegai. The book traces a history of human sanitation and examines individual examples of Welsh garden privies. The research for the book was paid for by a grant from Cadw.
A vicar is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior. Linguistically, vicar is cognate with the English prefix "vice", similarly meaning "deputy". The title appears in a number of Christian ecclesiastical contexts, but also as an administrative title, or title modifier, in the Roman Empire. In addition, in the Holy Roman Empire a local representative of the emperor, perhaps an archduke, might be styled "vicar".
Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and adequate treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems aim to protect human health by providing a clean environment that will stop the transmission of disease, especially through the fecal–oral route. For example, diarrhea, a main cause of malnutrition and stunted growth in children, can be reduced through sanitation. There are many other diseases which are easily transmitted in communities that have low levels of sanitation, such as ascariasis, cholera, hepatitis, polio, schistosomiasis, trachoma, to name just a few.
The Welsh are a Celtic nation and ethnic group native to, or otherwise associated with, Wales, Welsh culture, Welsh history and the Welsh language. Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom, and the majority of people living in Wales are British citizens.
The first half of the book presents a brief history of human sanitation disposal starting from the digging of small holes to the “earth closet”; the “privy pioneers” of the Minoans, Romans, and Normans; and information about cesspits. The second half examines multiple examples of Welsh privies, how they were constructed, and how they were used. Roberts also writes about industrial privies, public privies, and the restoration of old privies.
In historiography, ancient Rome is Roman civilization from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, encompassing the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and Roman Empire until the fall of the western empire. The civilization began as an Italic settlement in the Italian Peninsula, conventionally founded in 753 BC, that grew into the city of Rome and which subsequently gave its name to the empire over which it ruled and to the widespread civilisation the empire developed. The Roman Empire expanded to become one of the largest empires in the ancient world, though still ruled from the city, with an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants and covering 5.0 million square kilometres at its height in AD 117.
The Normans are an ethnic group that arose in Normandy, a northern region of France, from contact between indigenous Franks and Gallo-Romans, and Norse Viking settlers. The settlements followed a series of raids on the French coast from Denmark, Norway, and Iceland, and they gained political legitimacy when the Viking leader Rollo agreed to swear fealty to King Charles III of West Francia. The distinct cultural and ethnic identity of the Normans emerged initially in the first half of the 10th century, and it continued to evolve over the succeeding centuries.
A cesspit, is a term with various meanings: it is used to describe either an underground holding tank or a soak pit. It can be used for the temporary collection and storage of feces, excreta or fecal sludge as part of an on-site sanitation system and has some similarities with septic tanks or with soak pits. Traditionally, it was a deep cylindrical chamber dug into the earth, having approximate dimensions of 1 metre diameter and 2–3 metres depth. Their appearance was similar to that of a hand-dug water well.
In 1998 Nicholas Battle, publisher of Countryside Books, asked Roberts to write a book on “The Privies of North Wales.” Although Roberts initially did not want to write such a book, Battle was able to persuade him. The author recalls:
[Nicholas Battle] went on to tell me he was virtually giving me the opportunity to write a book that would be read by generations to come. He was inviting me to write a classic. He suggested that I could be to Welsh Privies what George Borrow is to Wales. He elaborated that if I wrote a book on the privies of North Wales for his publishing firm no other publishing firm in the country would touch the subject for another twenty years. And in twenty years, he said, “there will be no privies in North Wales for anyone to write about”. I am a vain person. I have always wanted to be the author of a classic. The book was written and very well received. [1]
George Henry Borrow was an English writer of novels and of travel books based on his own experiences in Europe. During his travels, he developed a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe, who figure prominently in his work. His best-known books are The Bible in Spain, the autobiographical Lavengro, and The Romany Rye, about his time with the English Romanichal (Gypsies).
Roberts was contacted by friends in south and mid-Wales about how they also had endangered privies but no way of "keeping them in remembrance." Roberts wrote to Cadw, the Welsh heritage service of the Welsh Assembly Government, to warn them of the "great catastrophe that was befalling [Wales]" with the loss of garden privies. Cadw offered a research grant to create the book on Welsh privies. [2]
Cadw is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. Cadw works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage sites of Wales, so that the public can visit them, enjoy them and understand their significance. Cadw manages 127 state owned properties and sites. It arranges events at its managed properties, provides lectures and teaching sessions, offers heritage walks and hosts an online shop. Members of the public can become members of Cadw to gain membership privileges.
The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier which is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency.
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William Williams, Pantycelyn, also known as William Williams, Williams Pantycelyn, and Pantycelyn, is generally regarded as Wales's most famous hymn writer. As a writer of poetry and prose, he is also considered today as one of the great literary figures of Wales. In religious matters he was one of the leaders, along with Howell Harris and Daniel Rowland, of the 18th-century Welsh Methodist revival.
Castell Coch is a 19th-century Gothic Revival castle built above the village of Tongwynlais in South Wales. The first castle on the site was built by the Normans after 1081, to protect the newly conquered town of Cardiff and control the route along the Taff Gorge. Abandoned shortly afterwards, the castle's earth motte was reused by Gilbert de Clare as the basis for a new stone fortification, which he built between 1267 and 1277 to control his freshly annexed Welsh lands. This castle was likely destroyed in the native Welsh rebellion of 1314. In 1760, the castle ruins were acquired by John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, as part of a marriage settlement that brought the family vast estates in South Wales.
An outhouse, also known by many other names, is a small structure, separate from a main building, which covers a toilet. This is typically either a pit latrine or a bucket toilet, but other forms of dry (non-flushing) toilets may be encountered. The term may also be used to denote the toilet itself, not just the structure itself.
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