Awarded "Pick of the Best" (in the "Weird" category) by World.Net

A Glimpse Into London's Early Sewers

Reprinted from Cleaner magazine

PART I

BY MARY GAYMAN Sewer means "seaward" in Old English. London's sewers were open ditches sloped slightly to drain human wastes toward the River Thames, and ultimately into the sea. Sewer ditches quickly filled with garbage and human wastes, which overflowed onto streets, into houses and marketplaces throughout London. By the late 1500s, King Henry VIII wrote an edict which made each householder responsible for clearing the sewer passing by their dwelling. The King also created a special Commission of Sewers to enforce these rules. However, no money was provided to pay its members. Therefore, the Commission was not installed until 1622, when it was decided that fines for non-compliance could be used to fund its activities. The day-to-day activities are recorded by the Clerk. Every word uttered before the tribunal was precisely transcribed in the permanent records of the Commission. The transcript traces more than 250 years of human misery, due largely to ignorance of the hazards of poor sanitation. Citizens, physicians, politicians, inventors and police provided vivid horror stories of "miasmas, plagues and sudden death" in the homes of London. By the early 18th Century nearly every residence had a cesspit beneath the floors. In the best of homes the nauseating stench permeated the most elegant parlor. Indoor odors were often worse than of the garbage- and manure- filled streets. While noxious fumes were ignored by most people, it was fear of "night air" laden with coal smoke and sulfurous industrial fogs which alarmed the City dweller. Doors and windows of homes and factories were sealed shut at sunset to protect occupants form entry of the feared "night air." Entire families and crews of workers died of mysterious "asphyxiation" during the night. Doctors had no explanation for lingering illnesses and these sudden "miasmas" occurring in the City. Vivid descriptions of horrible deaths were routinely reported at Commission hearings and in the London tabloids. Most fatalities and injuries described were consistent with asphyxiation by hydrogen sulfide or oxygen deficiency or methane explosions. These conditions remain common in sewers, septic tanks and confined spaces today. When cesspits filled to overflow, they were built to drain to the street by means of a crudely built culvert to a partially open sewer trench in the center of the street. Cesspit wastes often soaked foundations, walls and floors of living quarters. The culvert was frequently blocked causing sewage to spread under buildings and contaminate shallow wells, cisterns and water ways from which drinking water was drawn. Many homeowners "stored" huge quantities of "night soil," which had a cash value as fertilizer for crops. Those who "harvested" cesspit and sewer wastes had to crawl on hands and knees through the mire and drag wastes to the surface. Children were often employed to reach the most difficult sections. Arguments before the commissioners defended the employment of even very small children for this work, as they were also employed as chimney sweeps. Cesspit and sewer cleaning not only lead to instant death, but also led to slow, lingering death. On January 12, 1849, this report of working conditions was presented to the Commissioners: "The smell was of the most horrible description, the air being so foul that explosions and choke damp were frequent. We were very nearly losing a whole party by choke damp, the last man being dragged out on his back through two feet of black fetid deposit in a state of insensibility." On February 21, 1849: "Explosions occurred in two separate locations where the men had the skin peeled off their faces and their hair singed. In advancing toward Southampton, the deposit deepens to 2 feet 9 inches, leaving only 1 foot 11 inches of space in the sewer. At about 400 feet from the entrance, the first lamp went out and, 100 feet further on, the second lamp created an explosion and burnt the hair and face of the person holding it." The Commission resolved that "It shall be laid down as a first principle that no common sewer should be so small that an ordinary sized man shall not be able to cleanse it." After hearing thousands of such reports, Commissioners hired a team of physicians to inspect work sites, measure sewer workers, and develop sketches showing what sewers sizes were needed to provide access for maintenance. They reviewed not only the actual size of work space needed for the passage of the worker, but also measured the depth of wastes accumulated in the sewers and drainage culverts. The recommendations and drawings submitted brought awareness of the plight of those engaged in sewer and cesspit cleaning.

Draining London's Sewage Swamp

Return to the Sewer History area of the SwopNet Engineering Databank

There you will find Parts 2 and 3 of the Sewers of London history, along with a link to the Thomas Crapper Page.

Joseph Bazalgette was the Father of London Sewers. You can read his story here.