Sewers/toilets in middle earth?

[davem]

Its interesting to consider the reality of sanitation in the Medieval world. There's an account of one individual, a Roger the Raker, given in 'Life on the Middle Ages' by Martyn Whitock.

Faced with the need to remove household toilet waste, some turned to piping it into the unused cellars of unwary neighbours.....More often householders dug cesspools in their yards & constructed latrines over them. One such enterprising Londoner was Roger 'the Raker'. Unfortunately, over the years this pit filled to capacity & rotted the floorboards. When Roger eventually plunged through these floorboards & drowned in his own accumulated excrement, it raised questions not only about the quality of London carpentry but also about the way in which health & well-being in the Middle-ages were affected by the sanitation of the time.