Dr. Cory's report to the local government board on a prevalence of diphtheria in Cranfield and other villages of the Ampthill district ; and on the sanitary circumstances of the villages.

Date:
1879
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dr. Cory's report to the local government board on a prevalence of diphtheria in Cranfield and other villages of the Ampthill district ; and on the sanitary circumstances of the villages. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

    1/6
    Dr. Cory’s Report to the Local Government Board on a Prevalence of Diphtheria in Cranfield and other Villages of the Ampthill District; and on the Sanitary Circum- stances of the Villages. Edward C. Seaton, M.D., Medical Department. July 19, 1879. The Ampthill Rural Sanitary District comprises three Registration sub- districts, viz., Cranfield, Ampthill, and Shitlington. The Cranfield sub-district embraces the parishes of Cranfield, Marston, and Lidlington, having in 1871 a population of 3,575. In the whole district during the year 1878 there were 12 deaths registered from diphtheria and four more in the first quarter of 1879. Of these 16 deaths 14 occurred in the Cranfield sub-district in the adjoining parishes of Cranfield and Marston. The ttvo others had taken place in the other two sub-districts, and, as I soon discovered, there was nothing to be gained from detailed inquiry concerning them. My inquiry was accordingly limited to Cranfield and Marston parishes. The village of Cranfield is situated higher than the surrounding neighbour- hood, being built on the surface of a small table-land, the ground sloping eastward towards Marston, which lies distant 2^ miles. Marston is situated at the bottom, in a basin, having Cranfield to the west and Ampthill to the south-east. Five furlongs north of Marston lies another small village called Marston Shelton, or Lower Shelton. In these three places all the cases of diphtheria occurred, except two which happened at the “ Sugar Loaf ” inn at Roxhill, on the road between Cranfield and Lower Shelton. Sanitary Arrangements. The cottages are mostly built on the “wastes” of the roadsides; they are of brick and wood, with tiled or thatched roofs, which are not spouted. The rooms are small, and in many cases the windows are not made to open. The women sit much at home making pillow-lace or sewing together plaited straw. Many of the houses have no gardens, but land allotments situate at considerable distances from the houses. Most of the property belongs to small owners, who are unwilling, perhaps unable, to spend much on sanitary improvements. The three tillages are all on the Oxford clay; the rain as it falls remains long in the ditches and pools, the latter being numerous, and called moats. These moats are in many cases contaminated by the leakage from badly- constructed cesspits, some receiving directly the small drains conveying the slops from the houses. Pigsties abound and add their share to the contents of the moats. As examples of the condition of these moats, I may mention three. (1.) The first is one situated at the south-west extremity of the village of Cranfield. It is the property of Mr. George Faulkner. This moat communicates with a ditch running at the back of the houses on the south-east side of the village. Along the side of this ditch many cesspits and pig- sties are placed, and it is much polluted by them. Slops also find their way into it. The smell arising from this ditch on my visit was very offensive. After running close to the back of the houses in which most of the diphtheria at Cranfield occurred, it runs into another moat called the Crow’s pond, and the overflow from this finds its way into a drain which discharges into an open streamlet running towards Marston. (2.) The second is one situated at the back of the National School at Cranfield. This moat receives the drainage from the waterclosets in the curate’s house, the drain from the school urinals and the drain conveying the slops from the school-house. There is an overflow pipe from this meat leading into what is called the sewer. The server runs some little distance along the road at a depth of 6 feet 5 inches and ultimately discharges into the streamlet before mentioned. The third moat (3) is at Lower Shelton, on the property of Mr. Gillett. It is in juxta- position with one of the houses in which diphtheria occurred. In rainy seasons this moat receives the floating contents of a cesspool about five yards distant, the cesspool and the moat at such times being one water. About six feet from the nr.oat is a shallow brick well Avhich supplies drinking water for the occupants of the four or five surrounding houses. M 243. Wt. 3003. A