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"The records of the London Assize of Nuisance tell us that in 1333 a
terrible row broke out between Joan and Andrew de Aubrey and their
neighbours. The De Aubreys were livid because the people next door had
taken away some of the boarding round the shared privy, so that when
anyone used it their 'extremities' (as they delicately put it) were
clearly visible. This they felt was 'altogether intolerable'.
"Today it
would be parking spaces, hedges or bins, but the nub of it would be the
same: how people get along, or don't, with those to whom their only
connection is random proximity.
"With no pre-existing ties of kinship or
occupation, the balance of common to conflicting interests among
neighbours shifts constantly. They may end up by murdering one another,
or getting married."
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