YEAR 1212 A. D.
Ordinances Concerning Building.1
The documents quoted below give god evidence of the style in which the better class of houses was built during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The greater part of the city was built of wood , the houses being roofed with straw, reeds, and similar materials. The frequent first which took place owing to this manner of building, especially the great fire of 1135 which destroyed a great part of the City, compelled the citizens to take some precautions against the recurrence of such a calamity. Stone was used to a larger extent, and various privileges were conceded to those who used stone in the construction of their houses. This material was made compulsory in the party-walls, but the rest of the buildings might be made of anything, and usually constructed of wood. The regulations of 1189 did not produce any great or immediate effect on the style of building, and a further ordinance was issued in 1212, after a disastrous fire had destroyed London Bridge and a large number of houses.