
Dirty Old London: 30 Days of Filth: Day 23
‘Sewer workers were sent to unblock tunnels clogged with everything from ‘coals, cinders, bottles, broken pots’ to ‘old…
‘Sewer workers were sent to unblock tunnels clogged with everything from ‘coals, cinders, bottles, broken pots’ to ‘old…
‘As one contemporary put it, ‘People like to be buried in company, and in good company’.’ Throughout this…
‘Flanking one side of the yard were a score or so of upreared dustcarts, and on the other…
‘Fog also crept indoors. Court-rooms, museums, theatres and art galleries could become filled with a choking haze. Perhaps…
‘Respectable householders and shopkeepers regularly wrote letters to the parish authorities, describing disused doorways or entrances being used…
‘There was something of the fairground sideshow about this supposedly educational experience.’ Throughout this month, Lee Jackson reveals…
‘Chadwick had spent a decade campaigning for sanitary improvement to prevent disease. Now he had to prove himself,…
‘The disease was much feared. There was no known treatment; no obvious cause; symptoms were hideous; visitations sudden…
‘If one lives in dear, dirty old London, [washing] three times a day is none too often’ Throughout…
‘For many Victorians, the capital’s slums were not a source of misery but a profitable little investment.’ Throughout…
‘In 1849, the notion of modest females requiring such public conveniences was almost inconceivable; or perhaps Bazalgette merely thought such…
‘Few working men could afford the luxury of a bathing costume. Most (in)famously, the Serpentine was ‘obscene with…
‘The stench from poorly-managed grounds was revolting, and some considered this to be a species of dangerous ‘miasma’,…
‘Full of visionary enthusiasm, he also proposed to simultaneously beautify the city with various fountains, grottos and water…
‘The great cholera epidemic of 1831/32 would offer the first proof of the disastrous consequences of mixing water…