this post was submitted on 16 Sep 2025
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As gross as it would be to be able to see someone's poop drop down the side of the wall, the one on the left must have smelled atrocious.
There was at least one incident where a strike force managed to climb up a castle's poop chute, so the right side has some additional disadvantages...
Imagine trying to take a dump and getting an arrow right in the taint...
How thick is the arrow? Asking for a friend
If the arrow doesn't kill them and they sound the alarm, you'd be in deep shit.
I've always wondered this. if you're surrounded and your shitter is the version that opens to the outside, your hanging ass is entirely visible to anyone. If you're locked in the keep, do you just plan to hold it for an entire standoff?
I mean... I'd collect it and fire it at the enemy... Certainly not hanging my bare ass over the wall during a siege.
You'd probably be emptying your chamber pot during moments of calm rather than shitting directly on the shitter at that point.
The one on the right often smelt pretty bad too because everyone’s poo and urine ended up in the moat, making that eventually turn into a cesspit too
Yeah, saw that once in a castle in France and wondered what in the hell people were thinking wanting to live in the middle of a shit pond?
Someone who hoarded lots of wealth and made enemies. The poop moat was a first line of defense, because you gotta be real pissed to try and cross it.
According to a commenter from when this was posted previously, both designs waste areas were cleaned out frequently
https://fedia.io/m/historyillustrations@lemmy.world/t/1018190/Two-types-of-Medieval-castle-latrines#comments