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8
to judge from the numerous complaints on the subject, to the public;
and on that account has not been renewed, nor has any scavenger
been subsequently appointed.
The site of the offices, which by the Act the Board are required
to provide, was a question which at an early stage demanded their
attention; and after much consideration they decided upon the premises
in Grove Place, at present occupied by them, as being at
once the most centrally situated, the cheapest, and affording the best
accommodation of any that offered at the time ; and the Board succeeded
in obtaining a lease of them from the Leathersellers' Company
for 21 years, determinable at the end of the first 14 years, at
a rent of £30 per annum. The estimated expense of fully adapting
them to the purposes of the Board was £150; but it was found
necessary—for convenience, not ornament—to erect a porch, and
also build a shed and stables, which materially increased the original
estimate.
The design fixed upon for the Corporate Seal (which by the Act
the Board are required to have), was the "White Horse of Kent
surrounded by the corporate title, " The Board of "Works for the
Lewisham District."
Thus far of the steps taken by the Board in equipping themselves
for the performance of their functions. It will be convenient in the
Report of their further proceedings to follow the same division as
adopted in sketching out the subjects coming under their jurisdiction.
First therefore of
THE HIGHWAYS.
The Highways of Lewisham were under the control of a Board
appointed by the Vestry under the Highway Act from 1849 to 31st
December, 1855, when they were superseded by the Board of "Works,
to whom they submitted an account of receipts and expenditure
from the 26th March previous (1855), and also of their assets and
liabilities, from which Report the following is extracted:—