Interesting info about garderobes....This was in response to the entry "cloaca," from A Word A Day. The second citation is for it's definition of "a sewer":
Subject: cloaca
The second citation, ("Anne had balked at hanging her mistress's most beautiful clothes in the cloaca ... because of the smell.") brings to mind all the "garderobes" in English castles, especially those built by William the Conqueror. Clothes were hung near the cloaca, because the ammonia tended to repel moths. So those tell-tale loos hanging over the moat were often reached via the protective closets.... No wonder at nosegays!
Carol Cunningham, Tehachapi, California
Well, that's a good use of one's passing water. Repelling moths. Also explains the English term, "Water Closet." ;D