Note 511 — Front matter (continued 4)

In London the length of inn-signs was limited to seven feet (Liber Albus, lxv.). Signs were also affixed to shops to attract the eye; of this custom the barber's pole is a relic. Merchandise was usually kept in cellars partly underground beneath the solar or front dwelling-room. In great thoroughfares goods were displayed in covered sheds projecting in front of the dwelling-place (Turner, Dom. Arch. i. 96; iv. 34). Shops were usually open rooms on the ground floor, with wide windows closed with shutters (Liber Albus, xxxviii.).