What were the streets like in medieval times?

Answer 1

Medieval roads were as varied as the roads of today. In most places, the roads were simply tracks people could walk on and where pack animals could go, but not wagons of any sort.

But there were good roads, such as the old Roman roads that were still in use, some of which are still in use today, though widened and paved over. The good roads tended to be very narrow, by modern standards, but many were still paved with stone, a remnant of Roman times.

There were a large number of good roads, with protection in place against bandits, through much of Europe because of of pilgrimages. These went from city to city, ending up with various shrines in a number of places. There were a large number of these shrines, and the pilgrim routes were numerous. Most of these roads were unpaved, but they were tended by monastic organizations in many places.

Some roads went from country to country. The Silk Road went from Europe to China. It was open at various times, and closed when the political situation along it was unstable. For most of its length, it was simply a dirt path. It was over this road that Marco Polo traveled.

Answer 2

AnswerPoor. Muddy, full of ruts, and dangerous. AnswerRoads in medieval England ranged from excellent to flat out awful, with a few of the former and most of the later type. Some of the current highways follow the old Roman roads which remained open since ancient times. Newer roads connected ports and markets, and were often routed to cross available bridges. Some of the most important roads were the ones pilgrims travelled on, such as the one from London to Canterbury, which was the most important road for pilgrimage to Canterbury because Thomas Becket had travelled on it.

Many current roads in rural Britain are in fact medieval roads that have been kept up and improved for modern traffic. Where they cannot be widened, for example because of hedgerows, the can be scary.

Answer 3

Streets in villages would have been unpaved dirt roads.

In towns and cities, especially later in the period, main streets would have been paved with cobblestone or brick. Minor side streets might remain unpaved.

The size of streets vary. Main streets were broad enough to host markets on market days, alleys might be only a few feet wide.

Answer 4

Some roads were essentially the remains of roads built by the Romans, consisting of a series of layers of gravel and clay topped with carefully laid cobbles or larger, flat stones, often with kerbs each side and drainage ditches.

Otherwise roads were simply trackways of compacted earth that would turn to mud in wet weather. In some areas these dirt roads were used so frequently by ox carts, horses and pedestrians that they gradually wore down to a lower level than the land on either side - so-called "sunken roads".

A very clear example of this feature is preserved in the modern road outside the 12th century church at Barfrestone in Kent (south-east England), where the churchyard and the field opposite are about 5 feet higher than the roadway.

Another preserved medieval route is the sunken lane west of Edensor in the Peak District, which in medieval times was a main road from Bakewell to Chesterfield. This looks today very much as it would have done in the medieval period.

See link below for an image:

Answer 5

They had horse manure all over the place, and lots of road works.