Stow, for 1273, informs us that coal was not allowed to be burned in or near London, being 'prejudicial to human health,' and that smiths were even prohibited from its use, and obliged to burn wood. This may have materially influenced the cost of iron-work at this period. Chaucer, in the 'Canon Yeoman's' tale, frequently speaks of coals being used by the alchemist.
A great degree of interest attaches to the next two drawings of shoes belonging to this period, from the fact that the actual specimens are closely related to an incident which somewhat prominently marks the otherwise eventful reign of Edward II., and are melancholy souvenirs of the downfall of a brave English nobleman.
We have already noticed the grants of land bestowed on Henry de Ferrarius by William the Conqueror, and mentioned that among these was Tutbury, an estate situated on the Staffordshire side of the river Dove, which there forms the boundary between that county and Derbyshire.
Standing on a commanding eminence of gypsum rock, which may have been selected as a stronghold by the ancient Britons and Romans, and on which there certainly stood a fortification during the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, but which was afterwards destroyed by the Danes, the castle of Tutbury was rebuilt on a much larger scale than before, by the Norman—farrier we had almost called him, and was a place of some importance in those days of family fortresses.
In 1269, this place, with his other possessions, was forfeited by Robert de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, and given by Edward I. to his brother Edmund, Earl of Lancaster,
