Medieval Castle Toilets and Gong Farmers

If you used a toilet in a medieval castle, the experience would be very different from what we’re

used to today. Instead of plumbing, you’d be sitting over a vertical shaft built directly

into the castle wall. Once you were done, everything would simply drop straight

down, guided by gravity, through the stone passage below. These toilets—often

called garderobes—were intentionally built on the outer edge of the castle walls. The goal was simple:

keep the smell, waste, and unsanitary conditions as far away from the living quarters

as possible. By placing the room on the perimeter, the shaft could open directly to

the outside of the structure rather than into the castle itself. At the bottom of