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chapel. The results of my inspections (of Whitechapel in 1894 and of Lambeth in 1895) show far more
overcrowding (in the sense indicated in the footnote to page 5) in the northern part of Lambeth than in
Whitechapel. These circumstances certainly suggest that the relative positions of Whitechapel and of
the northern part of Lambeth in respect of the excessive occupation of rooms have changed during recent
years. In this connection it may be noted that at the time of my inspection there were four inspectors
and an assistant inspector in Whitechapel, while the four inner sub-districts of Lambeth, with a
considerably larger population, only commanded the full attention of one inspector and part of the time
of a second inspector.
A condition frequently met with in Lambeth is the use as a sleeping apartment of an underground
room which does not comply with the requirements of sec. 96 of the Public Health (London)
Act. Such underground rooms are very common in the inner sub-districts of Lambeth, street after
street being met with, in every house of which they occur. Attempts appear to have been made from
time to time to prevent these places being used for human habitation, but these attempts have not been
attended with much success. Even if such a room is emptied for a while, it is soon occupied by new
tenants. In illustration of the difficulty experienced with tenants in regard to the use of these places I may
refer to the following instance. I made inquiry as to the use of a cellar which had quite recently been
emptied of its occupants by the action of the sanitary inspector. The incoming tenant stated that she
intended to sleep in the cellar, that she preferred to live underground and always had lived underground.
This singular preference was not the result of want of experience, for she added " I have been underground
in Peckham for seven years, the things under my bed there used to be all covered with blue
mould, and I used to wring the wet off the walls with my hands." A further difficulty in connection
with underground rooms was illustrated by this case. The woman proposed to rent other rooms in the
house and only to sleep in the cellar, and sec. 96 of the Public Health (London) Act merely deals with
" separate occupation " of an underground room. This need of proving " separate occupation " renders
the section inoperative in a very large number of cases.
In the course of my inspection of Lambeth, it became obvious that a large number of the
premises which I visited had not previously been brought under the notice of the inspector in whose
district they were situated ; the owners of such premises had never, therefore, had their attention
called by the sanitary inspector to the existence of defects. On the other hand, there were localities
in which there was evidence that visits had been made by the inspector, and in which the sanitary
condition of the premises was still very unsatisfactory. It is not possible to state with any degree of
exactness to what extent this condition of things may have been due to the insufficiency of the amount of
attention the inspector had been able to give to the localities in question, and to what extent it may
have been attributable either to neglect and unwillingness to carry out necessary improvements and
repairs, or to the fact that the tenants occupying the houses were especially difficult to deal with.
The following places may be referred to as being particularly conspicuous for the number of
defects noted—
Victoria-place, Broadwall.
Sidwell-place, Broadwall.
Princes-square, Commercial-road.
Bond-place, Bond-street.
Commercial-buildings, Waterloo-road.
Le Grand-place, Waterloo-road.
Cornwall-place, Cornwall-road.
Peers-cooperage, Cornwall-road.
Salutation-place, Cornwall-road.
Princes-buildings, York-road.
Gloucester-street.
Fountain-court, Lambeth-walk.
Paved-court, Lambeth-walk.
Francis-court, Lambeth-walk.
Coad-place, Union-street.
Rood-cottages and Garden-cottages, Opal-street.
Cottage-place, Lower Kennington-lane.
White Hart-square, White Hart-street.
Frank-street, Newburn-street.
Mary's-cottages, Newburn-street.
Salamanca-court, Salamanca-street.
Wake-street, Lambeth-walk.
Laud-street, Tyers-street.
Horace-street, Wilcox-road.
Simpson-street, Wilcox-road.
Pascal-street, Wandsworth-road.
Portland-cottages, Wandsworth-road.
Gladstone-place and Milton-place, Belmore-street.
Bedford-cottages, Bedford-street.
Chapel-street, Brixton-road.
Bromgrove-road, Stockwell-road.
R id gway-road, Lou ghborou gh-road.
Bloxham's-buildings, Denmark-hill.
The Retreat, Camberwell-road.
Hamilton-road, Railton-road.
Knight's-hill-square, Lower Norwood.
Victoria-place, Chapel-road, Lower Norwood.
Benton's-lane, Lower Norwood.
East-place, Lower Norwood.
In some of the above-named localities in addition to the existence of defects admitting of
comparatively easy remedy, there were other more radical defects of such a character as to raise
question whether it was possible to render the premises fit for habitation.
The following cases must be more particularly referred to in this connection:—
1. On the west side of Broadwall, and near the borders of Lambeth parish, are two confined and
ill-ventilated courts. Victoria-place, the more southerly of these, is about 12 feet across in its widest
part, and extends from Broadwall on the one hand to Eaton-street on the other. Out of the south side
of the court opens a cul de sac in which there are four houses, Nos. 7 to 10. The court is below the
level of the adjoining streets. The houses have yards at the rear, the ground floors are above the level
of the court adjoining, and ventilation beneath the floor boards has been provided. At the time of my
visit, work was in progress in many of the houses and some degree of improvement was being effected.
The worst house was No. 11 on the south side of the court; it adjoins the entrance to the cul de sac
already referred to, and obstructs the access of light and air to No. 7 on the other side of the cul de sac.
No. 11 was in the occupation of a dealer in tinware, and was in a very dirty condition. The rooms and
yard were so filled with rusty tins, baskets, iron hoops and rubbish that it was difficult to move about
the premises, and the surface of the yard was nowhere visible. It was said, however, that there were
openings which directly communicated with the drains, and that "the place swarmed with rats in consequence."