which the daily life of the farmhouse revolved. Here they ate, worked and, in the alcoves that were let into the intermediate walls between the rooms, they slept. From the 16th century the room was heated by a Bilegger (Bilæggerovn), an oven that was heated by the open hearth in the kitchen, the only other room in the house that was heated. In this way smoke could not enter the living room. For fuel, wood, peat or -especially on the Halligen which were chronically short of raw materials - dried cowpats known as Ditten. To begin with the Bileggers were made of brick, but from the 17th century they were superseded increasingly by cast iron models, that could have very practical decorations, such as several unscrewable brass knobs, on which hands could be warmed, or a brass hood under which food or tea could be kept warm. Alcoves The sleeping quarters were known as alcoves (German: Alkoven, Danish: Alkover) and were normally very compact: one metre wide, 2.50 m high and 1.70 m long. They could be screened with curtains or a wooden wall with a hatch which kept them warmer. On the other hand, they were difficult to ventilate and often damp. Often several people used one alcove. They could be heated with a bedwarmer filled with glowing coals or hot water. They slept in a sitting position, probably due to a superstition that death usually overtook a person when lying down. There were also alcoves in the working part of the houses, usually for the farmhands and servants. Pesel The Pesel (Danish: Pisel) was the "parlour" (Gute Stube) of the farmhouse, which was only used on special occasions. It could not be heated. Katschur The Katschur is a sloping section of the ceiling resulting from the design of the roof in post-and-beam buildings. The ceiling started at the point where the roof lay on the posts. Wall tiles In many Frisian houses the walls of the Pesel, Döns or cellar chamber (Kellerkammer) were covered with Lower Saxon wall tiles, or Delftware. They often had Biblical scenes, pictures of ships or rural scenes with blue or purple glazing in circular designs on a white background. The motives were not repeated. Several tiles could also be put together to produce a large picture in the form of a tableau. These often depicted ships or floral designs. Working area Whilst the