Report to the General Board of Health on a preliminary inquiry into the sewerage, drainage, and supply of water, and the sanitary condition of the inhabitants of the township of Bishop Auckland in the county of Durham / by Thomas Webster Rammell, Superintending Inspector.

  • Rammell, Thomas Webster.
Date:
1853
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report to the General Board of Health on a preliminary inquiry into the sewerage, drainage, and supply of water, and the sanitary condition of the inhabitants of the township of Bishop Auckland in the county of Durham / by Thomas Webster Rammell, Superintending Inspector. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    street. The nuisance is most offensive, and I can find no remedy, there being no Board to which I can apply for its abatement. Deficiency of Privy Accommodation.—It was stated that there are probably not more than a dozen waterclosets in the town. Where these lie conveniently to one of the public drains they communicate with them. Most of the respectable houses have privies communicating with covered cesspools. Amongst the inferior class of houses, the privy accommodation is scanty in amount, one or two privies being generally found allotted in common to all the houses in a court or alley. These privies have mostly open cesspits behind them, which, besides the privy-soil, receive all the house slops, and also ashes and vegetable refuse. Some- times it appears that these cesspits discharge part of their liquid contents by overflow into the drains, when these lie convenient. Numerous instances of deplorable deficiency in privy ac- commodation were brought under my notice. In the south end of Newgate-street is one privy serving for 40 persons ; in Etherly-lane another serving for 40 persons ; and these were not the only bad cases, nor the worst of them. In Back Bondgate there are 16 houses to one privy ; at Townhead there are at least 40 houses, 30 of which have no privy at all. There are but three or four privies in this part. Of course, the condition of the privies resorted to by so many persons is filthy in the extreme, the privy soil accumulating either on the ground or in the pit until it is carted away. One witness said, — The usual course of proceeding is to wheel the stuff out upon the surface of the street before it is put into the cart, and where- it frequently remains all day. From 2s. to 3s. 6d. per load is paid for the better sort of manure. Mr. Wm. Trotter says,— The practice of emptying privies in the day time at all hours is a great nuisance. I have known the contents brought into the street, and remain there the most part of the day before being earted away. Nuisancers.—Besides the nuisance produced by the col- lecting and removal of privy soil, there are various others. A great number of pigs are kept in this place, mostly in confined and close yards, where the filth and stench resulting are intolerably oppressive. A tan-yard, near Newgate-street, which drains into the town drain, emptying near the Wear, was complained of as frequently producing a most abominable stench.