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The building of any new “back to back” houses was now banned. More workers lived in terraced houses and some of these had 3 bedrooms. After 1875, new houses had to be a minimum size but some people still lived in just one room. Gas lights, which were used to light the streets in many towns, were now common in most homes, although possibly only downstairs. Houses for the middle class now had bathrooms and also kitchens and often a scullery where food could be kept in a cool place. The kitchen might have a “copper”. This was something built into the corner of the kitchen and had a coal fire underneath and a copper cauldron-like container above. It had to be filled by hand, or actually with a bucket, and the hot water then removed with the same bucket. The iron cooker, called a range, became popular, first in middle class houses then for the poor. The poor might still have to wash in a tub in the kitchen with hot water that had been heated on an open fire. In some cases they would still have to collect their water from a single pump somewhere in the street. Old houses were divided into separate homes and rented out to the poor. If they couldn't afford this, they would live in a poor house. Here families were fed and given a bed but also split up with separate areas for men and women, Wooden furniture was now mass produced. A quarter of people lived in towns in 1801, by 1900 that was three quarters. The average family size was 6 children but a number died very young.
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