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.

    17/29 (page 14)
    Water Supply insufficient The Rev. W Green complained of the last-mentioned nuisance, as well as of others of various kinds. He said,— ''There is an extensive tallow manufactory in Back Bondgate winch causes at all times a great nuisance: A tannery at the bottom of Wear Chare is a still greater nuisance. A north windi blows the stench all over the town. Slaughter-houses are numerous in the town, and without any provision for their registration or control. Each butcher kills on, nis own premises, and when and where he pleases. There are' about a dozen slaughter-houses, and most of them are in the centre of the town, and in very confined yards quite unsuited for the purpose. Many of the butchers kill in the shop adjoining the street. The offal is kept in the pits till they are full, and then, removed. A great nuisance arises from this. The blood is usually thrown on a dung heap. In one case it is washed into the sewer. Outlying Districts.—The outlying districts, Blue-row andi the cottages near Close-house, are in an equally filthy con- dition with the town itself, and a great deal of sickness prevails in them. Mr. W. Trotter stated that the Guardians had done what they could to improve the sanitary condition of the place, but that their powers were quite inadequate for the purpose! They had enforced the powers of the Nuisances Removal Act, and for a time some advantage was gained ; but the improvement was only temporary, there being no power to prevent the creation anew of a nuisance after it had been removed. Water Supply.—The town is supplied with water from wells on private premises, from a few natural springs, of which the principal one is at the end of Newgate-street, and also by means of a pipe, conveying the surplus water from a cistern in the Castle-yard to the Pant in the Market-place. Most of the better class of houses have private wells: these wells are genera1 y not more than 15 or 18 feet in depth, and none exceed 27 feet; they yield a hard water, and at times are known to fail in their supplies. It was stated by more than one witness, that during the drought of last autumn and the spring of the present year nearly all the wells were dry; and the town became dependent upon the supply from the Castle and upon the Newgate-street spring for drinking water, and upon the river Wear for water for other purposes. These supplies were brought to the houses in carts, the charge for the river water being Is. a load of 50 or 60 gallons, and that for spring water Gd. a load. Mr. R. Joplin states,— The Newgate-street spring never altogether fails, but its yield