Sunday, 16 October 2016

Southwold - Some History About Bins.



Bins and Southwold go back a along way, probably as far as the late Victorians who were conscious of rubbish and public health issues. Before this time bins may not have existed as they are not mentioned in early Charters or the Domesday Book. During 1086 when  Big Bills Commissioners were compiling the great book they didn't find, or forgot to mention , various items , such as; The Pier, The lighthouse or the various Fish and Chip shops and Coffee Emporia. But old St Edmund and his monkly followers did hold Southwold as a manor which supplied the monks with various comestibles and 25000 herrings per year. So I assume from that many of these herring would be cured in some form and other fish that were caught could well have been used by the locals to enhance there income, selling the fish battered but with out the deep fried potato products as the common spud hadn't been invented yet.

Seagulls are not mentioned in the Domesday entry for Southwold which is perhaps why bins are not mentioned ; as gull proof bins would not be required. The animals listed are 30 sheep, 3 pigs, 4 cattle and a neddy which probably did not require bins for foraging. Also at this time the local rabbit population are lying low as they are not mentioned in Domesday either. But I can imagine they were there quietly digging away under the hill and in the woods and thinking about how they could cause angst amongst the population to come.



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