# Patterns of Village Settlement and the Organization of Lots

In many cases, whole villages were surrounded by a hedge or a ditch, to be entered at the end of the street. This was closed off at night by a gate leading to the fields called the crop-gate (vetéskapu), so that the stock could not get to the fields and do damage to the crops.

In the case of the double-inner holdings system, each farmyard with a stable in it (akloskert) was separated from the other by ditches, walls built out of manure, and banks packed of earth. Hedges of box-thorn were planted in this so-called garágya, “earthwork”. This prevented animals from straying even if their guards were absent. The roads from the ring of stable-yards widened outwards like a funnel towards the outskirts of the settlement broadening as the number of stock increased driven out to pasture in the morning. These roads were not closed off with gates, for the system of fields was such that the nearby pastures lay immediately outside the settlement, and these did not need to be protected from the animals.

Fig. 19. A small wooden gate with carvings.
Tiszakóród, former Szatmár County. Late 19th century

The Hungarian word falu, village, is Finno-Ugric in origin, which testifies to the fact that the ancient Hungarians were already familiar with some form of group settlement. These settlements assume a more definite shape in the laws of King Stephen I, which compelled every ten villages to build a church. This suggests not only the development of organized settlements, but also the existence of village organizations. At the same time, the inner holding (belső telek) began to evolve. This was a holding on which stood the house and the farm buildings including the yard that served as the place of work, and the smaller or larger garden. In the Middle Ages the lots were surrounded by fences over the majority of the country, and contemporary descriptions also mention, in almost every instance, a gate. At one time taxes were determined on the basis of the number of gates to a lot.

Fig. 20. A gate moving on the stock of a log.
Penyige, former Szatmár County. Early 20th century

Over the period that can be covered by ethnographical research, lots were separated by fences of various materials and shapes in most parts of the Hungarian linguistic territory, their form depending on the natural resources and on the customs of the regions. Thus in the Székelyland posts were dug into the ground and connected with three parallel laths, filling the space between with horizontal spars of pine two to three metres high. In the Great Plain, a wattle of willow was woven between {134.} the posts stuck in the ground. Poorer folk made their short-lived fences from reeds bound with rushes or from sunflower or corn stalks. Fences made of planks, lath, or even of rod iron have spread in recent times.

57. Székely double-gate
Máréfalva, former Udvarhely County

Fig. 21. A Székely gate.
Kisborosnyó, former Háromszék County

We find the most beautiful constructions of gates with bindings (kötött kapu) and with dove-cots (galambos kapu) in the Székelyland (cf. Plate I). These combine a double entrance, a small one for pedestrians and a large one for carts, into a single, mature structure, rich in tradition. Formerly, gates were only carved, and the first painted ones are known from the end of the 18th century. In Kalotaszeg the freestanding, roofed small gates were carved ornamentally, and similar occur in the region of Tiszahát and in the Little Plain as well. The single-leaved wicker gates that slide on sleigh runners and the crossbar gates of the Upper Tisza region (tőkés kapu), which survived until the most recent times, have a long past. In the latter case, a single log holds up a wide gate-board and {135.} a post serves as its axle. The crossbar reaches past the gate post and provides a counterbalance for lifting and turning the gate-board.

Fig. 22. The ground-plans of a farmyard with a group of buildings.
Kalotaszeg, former Kolozs County. Late 19th century.
1. Dwelling house. 2. Barn. 3. Granary. 4. Pigpen. 5. Manure heap. 6. Flower garden. 7. Vegetable garden. 8. Orchard. 9. Cellar. 10. Back house. 11. Fold for milking sheep

The shape of the lots and the location of the buildings essentially determine the order of the entire settlement. We can regard the irregular or square- and rectangular-shaped lots as the oldest, going back to the Middle Ages. At that time settlements with street lots (utcás-szalagtelkes falu) were prevalent over most of the Hungarian linguistic region. Later on, when the lots were further divided as the growing families raised houses or farm buildings next to or behind each other, houses became more crowded. The core of such agglomerated villages (halmazfalu) developed near the church, a settlement type of medieval origin that even later official organizing could not abolish completely.

Fig. 23. The ground-plan of a farmyard with buildings arranged on a row.
Karcag, Szolnok County.
A. Dwelling house. B. Stable and pantry C―D. Chicken- and pigpen. E. Manure heap. F. Well. G. I. K. Stacks of fodder. H. Back house

58. A single gate
Szombathely, Village Museum of Vas County

Fig. 24. The ground-plan of an agglomerated village.
Zselickislak, Somogy County. 19th century

The other form of settlement connected with the feudal organization of holdings is called the “ribbon lot” system (szalagtelkes). This type remained mostly in hilly regions. Houses stand with their gables towards the street, with one or two windows also facing the street. In front of each, and matching the width of the house, is the small garden, {136.} where only flowers are planted, the care of which is the job of the housewife or oldest daughter. Behind the dwelling house follow the buildings of the pantry, stable, and maybe the barn, which often closes off the yard crosswise, so that the stock cannot get into the vegetable garden that lies behind it.

Fig. 25. A village with the plots and houses arranged in rows along the streets.
Szada, Pest County. 1860

This form is especially typical of Eastern Europe, where the feudal order of settlement was achieved much more consistently and clearly than in Central or Western Europe. Within these main types numerous variations can be distinguished. Such, among others, are the holdings with a double courtyard (kettős udvarú telek). In these, a yard is kept up for the stock on the street side, so that they need not be driven through the entire lot. The house and living yard come next, followed by the barn, hay shed, and maybe a garden. We can find this form of settlement at some places in Transylvania, but versions of it also occur in the Great Plain and the Ormánság. Rows of ribbon lots form the so-called linear or street villages (soros falu, utcás falu), which form the bulk of the present settlements, especially as, from the 18th century on, the increasingly frequent reorganizations of the villages proceeded in this direction.

59. Settlement around a medieval fortress
Nagyvázsony, Veszprém County

60. Village with streets
Tab, Somogy County

61. Village with streets
Erdőbénye, Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén County

The houses of village leaders and the more prosperous villagers were located in the centre of the village, near the church, while the poor {138.} peasants and the rural workers had their living quarters at the edges of the settlement. Usually the gypsy colony came after these at a short distance, beyond the fringe of the village.