Appendix 1 Wage rates paid in the towns of northern England, 1450–1750

Wage-rate data for labourers and building craftsmen are given for each of the northern towns in a consistent form. Either a single rate is given or, where more than one rate is quoted, the lowest and the highest rate. Outlying rates which are either exceptionally high or low have not been included but they have been discussed at the appropriate point in the text above. Only rarely is the quoted rate the only one available for the year: in most instances a number of rates is available and frequently they are very numerous. For most towns the series for the craftsmen is dominated by the rates paid to carpenters and bricklayers although the rates paid to joiners, glaziers, sawyers, tilers, and masons have also been included. The series for each town is prefaced by a short introduction.

Some of the documents do not give the dates of transactions and present the data in a split year: e.g. most of the churchwardens' accounts run for a year from Easter – viz. Easter 1602 to Easter 1603. In a case like this the data in the series will be logged under 1602 unless the source gives a specific date for the entry.