For those familiar with an outhouse, the medieval toilet is its massive stone-built predecessor. Relegated to the private alcoves of a fort, medieval toilets were nothing but openings that led into a latrine or castle moat below.

In the Middle Ages, "going to the toilet" depended heavily on one's social status and location. For the general population, chamber pots—simple ceramic or metal bowls kept under the bed—were the norm; their contents were often tossed into the street, a courtyard, or a nearby river. Those in castles used a garderobe, a small room protruding from the castle wall with a hole in the floor that allowed waste to drop directly into a moat or a cesspit far below. In urban centers, public latrines were common, where people sat side-by-side on long wooden benches with multiple holes. These often emptied into massive stone-lined cesspits that had to be manually emptied by "night soil men." For personal hygiene, "toilet paper" didn't exist; instead, people used whatever was at hand, such as hay, straw, moss, or even old pieces of wool and linen. Despite the lack of plumbing, medieval authorities were surprisingly concerned with sanitation, often issuing fines for leaking cesspits or improper waste disposal in public alleys.