London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
St Pancras 1896
Forty-first annual report of the Medical Officer of Health on the vital and sanitary condition of the Borough of Saint Pancras, London
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approximate area, and the authority under whioh they are maintained, are enumerated, as in previous years, in the following table:—
| Sub-Distriots. | Density of Persons per acre, Census 1891. | Garden or Open Space. | Area. | Maintaining Authority. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A. E. P. | ||||
| Kentish Town | 59 | Parliament Fields | 267 2 0 | London Countv Council |
| " | .. | Waterlow Park | 29 0 0 | 55 55 |
| " | .. | Ilighgate Cemetery | 38 0 0 | Cemetery Company |
| " | Pond Square, &c., Highgate | 0 3 28 | St. Pancras Vestry | |
| " | .. | South Grove, High-gate | 0 0 12 | " " |
| " | .. | Lismore Circus .. | 0 2 26 | " " |
| " | .. | College Garden . . | 0 0 17 | " " |
| Regent's Park | 87 | Primrose Hill Park Regent's Park | 400 00 | H.M. Government |
| Camden Town | 90 | St. Martin's Gardens | 1 3 0 | St. Pancras Vestry |
| " | .. | St. Pancras Gardens | 5 1 0 | " " |
| Somers Town | 181 | St. James Gardens | 2 2 31 | " " |
| Tottenham Court | 183 | Whitfield Burial Ground | ? | London County Council |
| Gray,8 Inn Lane | 178 | St.George's Gardens | 2 0 7 | St. Pancras Vestry |
| " | .. | St.Andrew'sGardens | 1 2 15 | " " |
Open Spaces about Buildings.—In February, 1897,1 submitted to your Health
Committee, by whom it was presented to your Vestry, a report upon the
diminution of open spaces about buildings; and as this matter is of such vital
importance the substance of the question there dealt with should be kept in
mind.
There is a prospect that in course of time the whole of the open spaces about
buildings may disappear. Plans are being submitted for the approval of the
drainage of premises proposed to be newly erected or re-erected. These plans
show the whole of the ground area of the premises entirely covered in, and
upon consulting legal references it appears that more recent changes in the
building laws permit this course to be adopted, a course, the ultimate result
of which will be a most serious matter for the health of London.
In the Metropolitan Building Act, 1855, by Section 29 it was provided that
every building used or intended to be used as a dwelling-house, unless all the
rooms can be lighted and ventilated from a street or alley adjoining, shall have
in the rear, or on the side thereof, an open space exclusively belonging thereto
of the extent, at least, of one hundred square feet.