This article examines environment developments- housing, sanitation, water supply and public space in English towns from the 15th to the 17th centuries; until recently this has been a neglected subject. The article suggests that there were already significant advances by 1500 and that the environmental situation deteriorated in the 16th century as English towns experienced strong population growth, immigration, poverty, expanding trade, traffic and congestion. By the early 17th century there was a new sensitivity to dirt and other environmental problems, with innovations and ideas imported from abroad. This laid the foundations for large-scale urban improvement after the Revolution of 1688.