Shoes are both protective and decorative. Is there one pair of shoes that we can use for all of our activities? Ballet slippers, walking boots, deck shoes, summer sandals and Wellington boots all serve a different purpose. They enable our feet to do what we want in a variety of environments.

During the Tudor period shoes changed according to both fashion and need. Early Tudor shoes had a blunt toe but the style became more pointed towards the late 1590s. Also, soles got thicker and uppers more tailored. At the beginning of the Tudor period, most shoes were flat but very high heels became popular during Elizabeth's reign, rising to about 10 cms off the ground. Early Tudor shoes slipped straight onto the foot but buckles and laces were introduced during Elizabeth's reign.

Changes in shoe style meant that technological solutions were needed for some problems. Early heels were made out of several layers of stacked leather, but when the heel became very high, strain was put on the waist of the shoe (the area of the sole between heel and the ball of the foot). The waist would collapse and the shoe would become unwearable. To overcome this problem a second piece of leather called a shank, first developed by the Romans, was fixed on the waist to support the height of the heel. Similarly, holes had to be created to thread laces but cutting holes in leather tore and weakened it. Punching a hole through the leather prevented this from happening. The tool to punch these holes was called an awl.

Wealthy Tudor women wore very light shoes made of silk or embroidered fabrics. The soles were made out of thin leather, lined with satin. Getting dressed in a lavish court gown could take up to an hour, as some gowns were very elaborate. Shoes, stockings and earrings would be put on first. Men wore similar highly decorated shoes, and leather boots for more rigorous pursuits.

Poorer families wore rough leather boots and shoes. Women's shoes were made out of thin leather. Pattens were ideal for protecting shoes in bad weather. Pattens date back to the 13th century, and were worn widely in Europe, and were known in France as galoches. They were worn up to the 19th century, a later version having an iron ring support. Pattens belong to a category of outdoor wooden footwear that includes chopines, clogs and cork platform shoes. Chopines are open backed wooden shoes that became very fashionable in 16th century Italy. They had a solid platform which positioned the wearer six inches or more above ground. Clogs, thought to have been introduced to England by Flemish weavers, are slip-on shoes with a wooden sole and a leather upper nailed to it. Cork was another material used for platform shoes from the 14th century onwards. Cork ran the whole length of the shoe, with the sole being covered in leather to stop it from wearing away. Cork was much lighter than wood.

Pattens were wooden shoes used over normal shoes to protect women's feet from the mud and refuse on the streets. Men wore thick leather boots. Pattens were removed before going indoors.

The wooden shoe, or patten, is made out of carved wood with two raised areas, one under the heel, and one under the ball of the foot. Nailed to the sole of the shoe are two semi circular pieces of leather. The wearer would place their foot on the wooden platform. The two pieces of leather meet over the top of the foot and are tied together by two laces threaded through two corresponding holes. This kept the patten attached to the foot.

The streets in our towns and cities are designed to allow people and vehicles to travel safely in separate sections; people on the pavements, cars on the road. Pavements are raised and paved with stone slabs, and roads are asphalted. Both are provided with drainage systems and are regularly maintained.

Tudor streets were very different. In the towns, people, horses and wagons jostled for position among overflowing gutters of refuse. In the country, roads were like farm tracks, muddy in the winter and dusty in the summer.