Volume 2

First report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire whether any and what special means may be requisite for the improvement of the health of the metropolis, with minutes of evidence.

  • Great Britain. Metropolitan Sanitary Commission.
Date:
1848
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: First report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire whether any and what special means may be requisite for the improvement of the health of the metropolis, with minutes of evidence. 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.

    138/160 (page 126)
    No. 11. State of the Suburbs of the Metropolis. My Lord'and Gentlemen, Pursuant to your instructions I have perambulated, and taken an eye survey of the suburb and districts around the metropolis, and I beg to lay before you the following remarks thereon ; commencing at Fulham, and going round the northern side by Hampstead towards Hackney' and from Battersea to Lewisham and Deptford, and then over the marshes. . About Fulham, and up the river side towards Hammersmith, the land is mostly occupied as market-garden ground, and in a high slate of cultivation. The soil is a free loam; the subsoil gravelly, and charged with water, to within from 8 to 10 feet of the surface of the land. On inquiry I was told, that the London fogs do not often go so far up the river, but that there is sometimes light fog, which, appearing towards evening, is generally all gone off by next morning. The dis- trict lies very open, a few hedges for shelter and ornament would be an improvement. About Earl's-court, Walham-green, and Little Chelsea, the soil is of a more retentive nature, rather wet, and capable of improvement by better drainage, at a cost of about 41. per acre, which would effect an improvement in the annual value of the land of 25s. per acre. Liquid manure might then be applied to the land with advantage. Along the river side, to the distance of about half a mile from the river, the land, though very nearly of the same soil, is much drier than that farther from the river. Between Hammersmith and Shepherd's-bush, the surface of the land is very flat, and much in want of better drainage. Upon a number of fields the earth, to the depth of from 4 to 6 feet, has been removed for brickmaking ; and the ground being left in a rough and undrained state has become quite a swamp. Several acres of it have all the appearance of a bog, being covered with reeds, flags, and other aquatic plants common to such places. A great part of it has been converted into ozier-beds of 12 or 15 feet width, with trenches filled with water between. I estimate the whole extent of these artificial swamps at about 70 acres; about one-fifth of it being either so wet as to be worse than use- less, or entirely covered with water. The whole extent of it is very wet, producing a rank coarse vegetation; great quantities of which is allowed to rot where it grows, producing unwholesome exhalations, such as occasion ague and rheumatic affections; and along the south side of the Uxbridge-road, the process of excavation and brick-making is still in progress. It would be well, if the owners or persons con- ducting such works, could be called upon to provide sufficient drainage for such places to prevent their becoming a nuisance to the neighbour- hood. Cases of ague are of frequent occurrence in the district, and rheumatic complaints are very prevalent. By the roadsides, between Shepherd's-bush and Hammersmith, a number of houses have lately been built, and some are in course of