This chapter is based on the wage data presented in appendix 1. For each town the information is introduced by a discussion of the quality of the source material and any particular problems relating to the individual series. Unlike in the work of some earlier historians, the town series have been kept apart and not spliced together to form a regional picture. Moreover, each series has been compiled according to the same set of rules so that the rates paid in different towns can be compared. The rates presented were the daily rates paid to workers in the summer months without the provision of full diet, but with the addition of a daily drink allowance, or cash equivalent, when it was paid. Winter rates are not represented in the appendix, partly because the bulk of the work of building craftsmen and labourers was done in the warmer months, and also because seasonal differentials in wage rates were not paid in all places. The wage series relate to the main body of building craftsmen and labourers. The craftsmen included carpenters and joiners, bricklayers and pavers, wallers and masons, tilers and slaters, and they were usually paid at similar levels within the same town. In some cases the skilled men were paid at the same rate, although in other instances they were paid at varying levels determined by their skill, experience, and responsibility.