People did roughly know when a six was by the position of the sun. You could not expect great accuracy, and the technology level and lifestyle did not demand it.

Churches were ringing bells at certain times to call people for prayer, and that was important time mark (I need to fix the scythe before mass since I am busy after).

Need for more precise timekeeping was ramping up with more complex economy. When cities already had accurate-ish bell towers and clocks, isolated rural areas were often content with rough estimates based on light long into the industrial revolution.

The time as we know it started to be kept with the development of the steam engine and need for precise timetables.