December 1444
Carts that transport malodorous and other vile materials through the
streets of the town may do so only twice a week, that is on Wednesdays
and Saturdays. Anyone who dumps such materials at the Muckhill, or in
the watercourses or ditches shall pay [a fine of] 1d. for
each "treyefull", 2d. for every "soo" and 4d. for every "grete lepe",
and shall forfeit the treye, soo or grete lepe. Butchers shall obey the
same in transporting animal entrails in enclosed carts or barrows to the
river at flood, half-ebb, or half-flood.
[Since entrails are separately mentioned, the materials
initially referred to were probably primarily dung and manure, perhaps
including human refuse. An ordinance made early the following year
specified a quarterly fee payable per household to carters who were
presumably collecting such refuse. It is not evident where this
offensive material could be dumped, if not at the Muckhill. I am not
certain what were the measures mentioned, although a "leap" is a name
which occurs throughout the late Middle Ages as a container for a dry
measure, and a "treye" was a tray which (in some circumstances) held
about 6 lb. avoirdupois and may have resembled the v-shaped container
used for carrying mortar, although the term could also be used for a
sled.]