Dr. S.W. Wheaton's report to the Local Government Board on the sanitary condition of Swanage, and on administration by Swanage urban district council / [S.W. Wheaton].

  • Wheaton, S. W.
Date:
1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Dr. S.W. Wheaton's report to the Local Government Board on the sanitary condition of Swanage, and on administration by Swanage urban district council / [S.W. Wheaton]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    1/6
    OFFICIAL COPY. Dr. S. W. Wheaton’s Report to the Local Government Board on the Sanitary Condition of Swanage, and on Administration by the Swanage Urban District Council. Richd. Thorne Thorne, Medical Officer, July 12th, 1897. The district under the control of the Swanage Urban District Council includes the town of Swanage, together with the village of Heston and a few small hamlets. The district has an area of 2,850 acres; the population of the district in 1891 consisted of 2,600 persons, living in 564 houses; at the present time the population is estimated at 3,300 persons, living in 702 houses. Of late Swanage has become a popular seaside resort, and during the summer months the population is increased by influx of visitors to the number of 1,500 to 2,000 persons. For several years the Board have received complaints of inefficient administration by the Local Sanitary Authority, especially complaint as to nuisance from the discharge of sewage on the foreshore of Swanage Bay, and as to pollution of streams by sewage. In 1886 a very serious outbreak of enteric fever occurred at Swanage, which was the subject of a report to the Local Government Board by Mr. W. Harvey, formerly one of their Medical Inspectors. Mr. Harvey’s report showed that there were many unwholesome conditions existing in the district calculated to foster the spread of any infectious illness that might occur there, and certain recommendations were made to the Swanage Local Board by the Local Government Board for the sanitary improvement of their district, as a consequence of Mr. Harvey’s report. In August 1893 Swanage was visited by Dr. Bulstrode, one of the Board’s Inspectors, in the course of the general cholera survey, and he in due course made certain recommendations to the Swanage Local Board for the sanitary improvement of their district. Although the before-mentioned recommendations have, from time to time, been pressed upon the Swanage Local Board, and upon the Urban District Council which succeeded them, information in the possession of the Board tended to show that very little had been done in remedying* the sanitary shortcomings of Swanage. Under these circumstances, I was~ instructed to visit the district, and to report upon its sanitary condition and upon the sanitary administration of the District Council. The greater number of the houses in the town of Swanage are situated upon the southern side of a valley which runs west and east, and opens out to Swanage Bay. The valley is bounded on the south by a range of high hills, formed by the Purbeck beds, from which the well-known Purbeck stone LONDON: PRINTED FOR HER MAJESTY’S STATIONERY- OFFICE, BY EYRE AND SPOTTISWOODE, PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN’S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY. And to be purchased, either directly or through any Bookseller, from ElrRE and SPOTTISWOODE, East Harding Street, Fleet Street, E.C.; or JOHN MENZIES & Co., 12, Hanover Street, Edinburgh, and 90, West Nile Street, Glasgow; or HODGES, FIGGIS, & Co., Limited, 104, Grafton Street, Dublin. ' 7 i No. 117. 1897. Price Tioopence.