Gammelstad Church Town
Hägnan
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The privy, also called latrine or the secret house, is a building where people answered the call of nature. The latrine often had two or three places, and visiting the latrine was a social affair. Here people discussed everyday issues or exchanged secrets and gossip.
Originally, people took care of their business by sitting on a pole attached to the wall and extended over a ditch or directly above the manure pile. Having a special building for this purpose did not become common among farmers in Norrbotten until the end of the 18th century.
The first privies were often attached to the byre to facilitate manure handling, as all excrement was important fertiliser for farming. The privy at Hägnan comes from Jössgården in Sjulsmark village.