"Of course," said the man on television, "in the middle-ages they knew better than to build on flood plains."
Well, that will come as news to the landlord of the King's Head in York which floods with such stunning regularity that it has its cellar in the attic. The natives of Shrewsbury must be laughing fit to bust that the waters of the Severn never creep into their ancient town. And of course the Bishop and Burgers of Sarum never suggested that they leave their windy hilltop and descend unto the meads.
In the middle-ages roads were impassable for wheeled traffic for much of the year, so rivers were used to transport goods. It followed that mediaeval towns and cities were built along major rivers, and that the wealthy merchants built their warehouses and homes on that river frontage.
Out in the country, while in prehistoric times defensible hilltop villages with a half-mile trek to the nearest spring may have been de rigeur, by the middle-ages a stream or other convenient water source had become a must have facility. No to mention the fact that the land near the river tends to be the richest and most productive.
Of course, there were big differences between their houses and ours: the main living quarters of wealthier establishments were upstairs with the carpets (if any) hanging on the walls not lying on the floor, furniture was made of wood which could just be wiped down once the flood receded, there were no electrical goods and upholstered furniture to be ruined by the wet, no electric circuit needing to be replaced . . . despite all this, I have no doubt that our mediaeval ancestors found floods every bit as distressing as we do today, and were certainly no more immune to them.
Of course we all know what the man on TV meant to say was that with all our modern knowledge we should know better than to build all over the water meadows and marshes which our ancestors left alone save for grazing animals on them. Well, yes, we should. But more than that, why not learn a lesson from our ancestors and, when building on land prone to flood, design houses with the living quarters upstairs, perhaps on concrete piles with the garage and a covered play area for the kids underneath and any lighting and electrical circuit for that floor at eye-level or above?
Still nervously touching wood since there is more rain to come this weekend, we have not flooded this time - just a little standing water on the drive - but here are some pictures of our garden and the road outside in the flash flood we experienced in July 2004. (I am glad to say that the waters did not get into the house.) Sorry the pictures are such poor quality, but I converted them to low resolution to send quickly by email (pre-broadband) at the time and failed to keep the original versions.
Amazing, Lissa. But worth it, I am sure. We, too, sit on a flood plain (North of Milton Keynes) and the cellar regualrly floods. Still, the Romans had a settlement here, so it can't have been that bad. I like to sit on history.