A ewery was the office in a wealthy

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

English household responsible for water and the vessels for drinking or washing of the person. The word derives from "ewer", a type of

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. This office was not responsible for laundry, which was handled by the offices of

laundry Laundry is the washing of clothing and other textiles, and, more broadly, their drying and ironing as well. Laundry has been part of history since humans began to wear clothes, so the methods by which different cultures have dealt with this u ...

and napery (table linen). The three offices did work closely together, however, and could be concurrent in smaller households.

References

Medieval occupations {{Europe-hist-stub