Yards and courts were in fact similar, if not identical. The term refers to a collection of primitive cottages built around a yard which was often accessed through a very narrow opening between the properties on the main street frontage. The yard houses were tiny and shared facilities such as water and toilets. They were usually built behind other houses and often adjacent to factories that supplied work to some of the yard dwellers. They lacked ventilation, light, space and the air was usually polluted by the smoke generated by the factories and the high density of houses all around. There would have been no drains and no rubbish collections. Often the properties were shared by families, particularly when some worked nights and others days.
