diff --git a/src/element.rs b/src/element.rs
index 1a9aeb84..47e25d73 100644
--- a/src/element.rs
+++ b/src/element.rs
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ use std::io:: Write;
 use std::collections::{btree_map, BTreeMap};
 
 use std::str;
-use std::cell::RefCell;
 use std::rc::Rc;
 use std::borrow::Cow;
 
@@ -20,6 +19,7 @@ use std::str::FromStr;
 use std::slice;
 
 use convert::{IntoElements, IntoAttributeValue, ElementEmitter};
+use namespaces::NamespaceSet;
 
 /// Escape XML text
 pub fn write_escaped<W: Write>(writer: &mut W, input: &str) -> Result<()> {
@@ -97,103 +97,6 @@ impl Node {
     }
 }
 
-#[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
-struct NamespaceSet {
-    parent: RefCell<Option<Rc<NamespaceSet>>>,
-    namespaces: BTreeMap<Option<String>, String>,
-}
-
-impl Default for NamespaceSet {
-    fn default() -> Self {
-        NamespaceSet {
-            parent: RefCell::new(None),
-            namespaces: BTreeMap::new(),
-        }
-    }
-}
-
-impl NamespaceSet {
-    fn get(&self, prefix: &Option<String>) -> Option<String> {
-        match self.namespaces.get(prefix) {
-            Some(ns) => Some(ns.clone()),
-            None => match *self.parent.borrow() {
-                None => None,
-                Some(ref parent) => parent.get(prefix)
-            },
-        }
-    }
-
-    fn has<NS: AsRef<str>>(&self, prefix: &Option<String>, wanted_ns: NS) -> bool {
-        match self.namespaces.get(prefix) {
-            Some(ns) =>
-                ns == wanted_ns.as_ref(),
-            None => match *self.parent.borrow() {
-                None =>
-                    false,
-                Some(ref parent) =>
-                    parent.has(prefix, wanted_ns),
-            },
-        }
-    }
-
-    fn set_parent(&self, parent: Rc<NamespaceSet>) {
-        let mut parent_ns = self.parent.borrow_mut();
-        let new_set = parent;
-        *parent_ns = Some(new_set);
-    }
-
-}
-
-impl From<BTreeMap<Option<String>, String>> for NamespaceSet {
-    fn from(namespaces: BTreeMap<Option<String>, String>) -> Self {
-        NamespaceSet {
-            parent: RefCell::new(None),
-            namespaces: namespaces,
-        }
-    }
-}
-
-impl From<Option<String>> for NamespaceSet {
-    fn from(namespace: Option<String>) -> Self {
-        match namespace {
-            None => Self::default(),
-            Some(namespace) => Self::from(namespace),
-        }
-    }
-}
-
-impl From<String> for NamespaceSet {
-    fn from(namespace: String) -> Self {
-        let mut namespaces = BTreeMap::new();
-        namespaces.insert(None, namespace);
-
-        NamespaceSet {
-            parent: RefCell::new(None),
-            namespaces: namespaces,
-        }
-    }
-}
-
-impl From<(Option<String>, String)> for NamespaceSet {
-    fn from(prefix_namespace: (Option<String>, String)) -> Self {
-        let (prefix, namespace) = prefix_namespace;
-        let mut namespaces = BTreeMap::new();
-        namespaces.insert(prefix, namespace);
-
-        NamespaceSet {
-            parent: RefCell::new(None),
-            namespaces: namespaces,
-        }
-    }
-}
-
-impl From<(String, String)> for NamespaceSet {
-    fn from(prefix_namespace: (String, String)) -> Self {
-        let (prefix, namespace) = prefix_namespace;
-        Self::from((Some(prefix), namespace))
-    }
-}
-
 #[derive(Clone, PartialEq, Eq, Debug)]
 /// A struct representing a DOM Element.
 pub struct Element {
@@ -437,7 +340,7 @@ impl Element {
         };
         write!(writer, "<{}", name)?;
 
-        for (prefix, ns) in &self.namespaces.namespaces {
+        for (prefix, ns) in self.namespaces.declared_ns() {
             match prefix {
                 &None => {
                     write!(writer, " xmlns=\"")?;
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 2e00b9fd..eabd0e7c 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ extern crate quick_xml;
 pub mod error;
 pub mod element;
 pub mod convert;
+mod namespaces;
 
 #[cfg(test)] mod tests;
 
diff --git a/src/namespaces.rs b/src/namespaces.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..590d9cbb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/namespaces.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+use std::collections::BTreeMap;
+use std::cell::RefCell;
+use std::rc::Rc;
+
+
+#[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub struct NamespaceSet {
+    parent: RefCell<Option<Rc<NamespaceSet>>>,
+    namespaces: BTreeMap<Option<String>, String>,
+}
+
+impl Default for NamespaceSet {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        NamespaceSet {
+            parent: RefCell::new(None),
+            namespaces: BTreeMap::new(),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl NamespaceSet {
+    pub fn declared_ns(&self) -> &BTreeMap<Option<String>, String> {
+        &self.namespaces
+    }
+    
+    pub fn get(&self, prefix: &Option<String>) -> Option<String> {
+        match self.namespaces.get(prefix) {
+            Some(ns) => Some(ns.clone()),
+            None => match *self.parent.borrow() {
+                None => None,
+                Some(ref parent) => parent.get(prefix)
+            },
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn has<NS: AsRef<str>>(&self, prefix: &Option<String>, wanted_ns: NS) -> bool {
+        match self.namespaces.get(prefix) {
+            Some(ns) =>
+                ns == wanted_ns.as_ref(),
+            None => match *self.parent.borrow() {
+                None =>
+                    false,
+                Some(ref parent) =>
+                    parent.has(prefix, wanted_ns),
+            },
+        }
+    }
+
+    pub fn set_parent(&self, parent: Rc<NamespaceSet>) {
+        let mut parent_ns = self.parent.borrow_mut();
+        let new_set = parent;
+        *parent_ns = Some(new_set);
+    }
+
+}
+
+impl From<BTreeMap<Option<String>, String>> for NamespaceSet {
+    fn from(namespaces: BTreeMap<Option<String>, String>) -> Self {
+        NamespaceSet {
+            parent: RefCell::new(None),
+            namespaces: namespaces,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl From<Option<String>> for NamespaceSet {
+    fn from(namespace: Option<String>) -> Self {
+        match namespace {
+            None => Self::default(),
+            Some(namespace) => Self::from(namespace),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl From<String> for NamespaceSet {
+    fn from(namespace: String) -> Self {
+        let mut namespaces = BTreeMap::new();
+        namespaces.insert(None, namespace);
+
+        NamespaceSet {
+            parent: RefCell::new(None),
+            namespaces: namespaces,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl From<(Option<String>, String)> for NamespaceSet {
+    fn from(prefix_namespace: (Option<String>, String)) -> Self {
+        let (prefix, namespace) = prefix_namespace;
+        let mut namespaces = BTreeMap::new();
+        namespaces.insert(prefix, namespace);
+
+        NamespaceSet {
+            parent: RefCell::new(None),
+            namespaces: namespaces,
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl From<(String, String)> for NamespaceSet {
+    fn from(prefix_namespace: (String, String)) -> Self {
+        let (prefix, namespace) = prefix_namespace;
+        Self::from((Some(prefix), namespace))
+    }
+}