The Great Stink of London 1858

[Mr Cashie]

We’ve all heard of the Black Death, the great fire of London along with many other historical dates in the history of England but did you guys know that the big stink as a result of the Thames being a dumping and shitting ground exacerbated during the hot summer of 1858 was the catalyst for the invention of the sewerage systems that we today take for granted?

 

[tandino]

There's a great doco on Netflix about this, forgot the name but well worth the watch.

 

[Thegibbsgamble]

And they had the nerve to say the indigenous here were uncivilised.

Sacre bleu

 

[medusala]

We’ve all heard of the Black Death, the great fire of London along with many other historical dates in the history of England but did you guys know that the big stink as a result of the Thames being a dumping and shitting ground exacerbated during the hot summer of 1858 was the catalyst for the invention of the sewerage systems that we today take for granted?

raw sewage STILL goes in to the Thames.

https://www.tideway.london/news/media-centre/major-sewage-discharges-to-river-thames/

 

[Herne Hill Hammer]

There's a great doco on Netflix about this, forgot the name but well worth the watch.

Seven Wonders of the Industrial World. It's a great series.

iirc, the genisis for the sewerage system was a young doctor working out that cholera that was running pretty rampant at the time was traceable back to their communal fresh water hand pumps.

1. The Great Ship
2. The Brooklyn Bridge
3. Bell Rock Lighthouse
4. The Sewer King
5. The Panama Canal
6. The Line
7. The Hoover Dam

 

[Seeds]

And they had the nerve to say the indigenous here were uncivilised.

Sacre bleu

The indigineous didnt invent sewerage systems.

 

[Marcel Proust]

The indigineous didnt invent sewerage systems.

They didn't suffer from the great stink either

 

[Seeds]

They didn't suffer from the great stink either

Because they didnt even create agriculture so couldnt live in large numbers.

 

[Marcel Proust]

Because they didnt even create agriculture so couldnt live in large numbers.

Do you need agriculture if food is growing everywhere

 

[Leeda]

Legends in their own lifetime with the great Samuel Pepys... great writer... told it like it was..is.. no that is the fire..

Same diff.. different legend..

 

[Tockles]

When I saw this thread I was afraid that it was a reference to my farts ... Then I remembered the historical context.

It was a typically British case of years of neglect (as a result of which a lot of people got sick and died) followed by actions with a successful outcome - actions that should have been taken much earlier. Sort of reminds me of our chaotic handling of Covid (highest death rate in Europe) followed by the (so far) outstanding vaccine rollout.

 

[Wallaby]

The main reason something finally got done was that the pollution and stench from Thames was so bad, conditions in the Houses of Parliament (right on the waterfront) were so diabolical the pollies couldn't stand it - so they finally voted some money to fix it.

 

[Marcel Proust]

The main reason something finally got done was that the pollution and stench from Thames was so bad, conditions in the Houses of Parliament (right on the waterfront) were so diabolical the pollies couldn't stand it - so they finally voted some money to fix it.

I think the bloke that made it

Did it twice the size it was meant to be.

Hence can still be used today

 

[Seeds]

Do you need agriculture if food is growing everywhere

It wasn’t growing everywhere. If it was they would of been a large civilisation that settled down And created a big stink.

 

[Ben The Donkey]

It wasn’t growing everywhere. If it was they would of been a large civilisation that settled down And created a big stink.

There is a growing and palpable romanticism attached to Indigenous culture.
To hear some tell it these days, Australia was a utopia before the Brits arrived to screw it all up.

 

[Number37]

The main reason something finally got done was that the pollution and stench from Thames was so bad, conditions in the Houses of Parliament (right on the waterfront) were so diabolical the pollies couldn't stand it - so they finally voted some money to fix it.

Cholera is spread via faecal matter.
There was a massive Cholera outbreak in London in the 1850's

 

[Wallaby]

Cholera is spread via faecal matter.
There was a massive Cholera outbreak in London in the 1850's

TRue - in fact there had been cholera in London pretty much through the 1800s (and plenty before that - but it really was getting bad). However, most of the eminent physicians believed cholera was spread by airborne miasma - John Snow was the one who put forward the theory of infected water, basing it on tracking cholera outbreaks against maps of where people obtained their drinking water from. But it was not accepted until the 1860s - by which time the sewerage works had been approved and were underway.
It is interesting that the sewerage works were originally approved to remove the stink and 'bad air' - they actually did worked to limit cholera outbreaks, but not for the reason initially proposed.

 

[Number37]

TRue - in fact there had been cholera in London pretty much through the 1800s (and plenty before that - but it really was getting bad). However, most of the eminent physicians believed cholera was spread by airborne miasma - John Snow was the one who put forward the theory of infected water, basing it on tracking cholera outbreaks against maps of where people obtained their drinking water from. But it was not accepted until the 1860s - by which time the sewerage works had been approved and were underway.
It is interesting that the sewerage works were originally approved to remove the stink and 'bad air' - they actually did worked to limit cholera outbreaks, but not for the reason initially proposed.

The 1850's was a different strain of Cholera, the Asiatic strain.
It was coming in on ships and spreading like wildfire around the docks and into the general population.
They kinda of knew/suspected it was poor sanitation that was making the Cholera outbreak a huge problem...which I believe led to the construction of the entire London sewer system.