Laundries

In the Middle Ages, the washhouses sometimes consisted of a simple stone placed on the edge of the river or a simple board and without shelter. They were mainly built thanks to the seigneurial money at the request of the subjects who paid a fee to use it: it was the right of banality. Some wash houses were equipped with fireplaces to produce the ash necessary for the bleaching of the linen, one "washed with ashes" twice a year. A washerwoman brought the laundry to the edge of a stream, rubbed it with ash, rinsed it and twisted it by folding it several times. She would then beat it with a wooden beater to wring it out as much as possible before taking it to the drying place. The laundries or washing places were numerous in Touques all along the stream of the ouïes.