ABSTRACT
This chapter examines evidence for children’s interactions with the built environment, furnishings and decoration of domestic houses in England over the period 1560–1660. It deals with two categories of primary source: personal testimony in the form of life-writing and extant visual and material evidence. The domestic household is a dangerous physical context for children. The household might be a hazardous place, but belief in God’s active agency provided a sense of comfort. The early modern home presented other hazards such as vermin, poor sanitation and, because many domestic houses were also the place of work, the dangers of heavy-duty equipment and processing of materials. Childhood falls are recorded by several early modern writers. Falls account for the majority of non-fatal accidents while the highest numbers of deaths are due to fire. Falls account for the majority of non-fatal accidents while the highest numbers of deaths are due to fire.
