Toilets Through Time

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What was it like to do your business in a Roman communal toilet? Why were medieval monks so afraid of going to the loo? Did constipation turn Henry VIII into a tyrant? Join David Musgrove as he heads down the u-bend in the company of leading historical experts to see what we can learn from the most universal of all experiences: going to the loo.

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Episodes

  1. 11/19/2025 • Subscribers Only

    Early modern chamber pots

    David Musgrove and Mark Stoyle tackle the toilets of the early modern period – from Samuel Pepys' graphic garderobe confessions to chamber pots and literary loo paper Samuel Pepys describes in great detail the toilet experiences of 17th-century Londoners. But how far did that reflect the bathroom habits of the whole population? For this final episode of Toilets through Time, Professor Mark Stoyle leads David Musgrove into the early modern water closet.

  2. 11/19/2025 • Subscribers Only

    Prehistoric toilets

    In episode six of Toilets Through Time, David Musgrove and Dr Sue Greaney look back at what we can learn about studying people's toilet habits from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. How and where did prehistoric people to go to the toilet, and what can we learn from studying their toilet habits? Dr Sue Greaney explains to David Musgrove what we know about loos from the Neolithic through to the Iron Age.

  3. 11/19/2025 • Subscribers Only

    Anglo-Saxon and Norman cesspits

    Did King Edmund Ironside die on the toilet? Why did the rich and powerful in Anglo-Norman England want their clothes to smell of poo? And could you use the facilities in front of an audience? These are just some of the questions tackled in this episode of our Toilets through Time, where David Musgrove talks to Dr Katherine Weikert about the Anglo-Saxon and Norman toilet experience.

  4. 11/19/2025 • Subscribers Only

    Victorian lavatories

    In the forth episode of Toilets Through Time, we’ve reached the age of avant-garde sewerage systems and shining porcelain cisterns: the Victorian era. David Musgrove is joined by historian and author Jerry White, who explains why the period nevertheless saw appalling sanitary conditions that sparked debates about the public health of Britain’s cities – and shares some surprising toilet-based euphemisms.

  5. 11/19/2025 • Subscribers Only

    Tudor garderobes

    Did constipation turn Henry VIII into a tyrant? For the third episode of Toilets Through Time, David Musgrove revisits the luxurious surroundings of the royal Tudor water closet. To tell him more about unappealing 16th-century alternatives to loo roll, 'grooms of the stool' and Henry VIII’s gut health, David is joined by author and public historian Tracy Borman.

  6. 11/19/2025 • Subscribers Only

    Medieval privies

    Why were medieval monks so afraid of going to the loo? In the second episode of Toilets Through Time, David Musgrove heads into the dark and dangerous world of medieval latrines on a quest to find out. Helping him navigate the risks of fire, filth and eternal damnation that came with paying a visit in the Middle Ages is author, architectural archaeologist and medieval myth-buster James Wright.

  7. 11/19/2025 • Subscribers Only

    Roman latrines

    What was it like to do your business in a Roman communal toilet? In the first episode of Toilets Through Time, David Musgrove begins his journey through the bathrooms of British history in the Roman era, with historian Dr Hannah Platts. They discuss dubious ancient ablutions, the confronting experience of sitting alongside your neighbours on the toilet, and why one gladiator reportedly stuck a toilet sponge down his own throat.

  8. 11/18/2025 • Subscribers Only

    Introducing Toilets Through Time

    What was it like to do your business in a Roman communal toilet? Why were medieval monks so afraid of going to the loo? Did constipation turn Henry VIII into a tyrant? Join David Musgrove as he heads down the u-bend in the company of leading historical experts to see what we can learn from the most universal of all experiences: going to the loo.

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    7 Episodes

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About

What was it like to do your business in a Roman communal toilet? Why were medieval monks so afraid of going to the loo? Did constipation turn Henry VIII into a tyrant? Join David Musgrove as he heads down the u-bend in the company of leading historical experts to see what we can learn from the most universal of all experiences: going to the loo.

Information

  • Channel
    HistoryExtra
  • Creator
    History Extra
  • Years Active
    2025
  • Episodes
    8
  • Copyright
    © Immediate Media
  • Show Website
    Toilets Through Time
  • Provider
    Immediate Media Company London Limited

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