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London County Council.
THE SANITARY CONDITION OF CLERKENWELL.
Hepokt by the Medical Officer, submitting report by Dr. Young on the Sanitary
Condition and Administration of the Parish of Clerkenwell.
(Ordered by the Public Health Committee to be printed on 4th February, 1897.)
Public Health Department,
Spring Gardens, S.W.,
4th February, 1897.
In presenting Dr. Young's report on the sanitary condition and administration of Clerkenwell, I
would desire to point to his conclusion that the staff as it existed at the time of his inquiry was
inadequate for the proper performance of the duties devolving on the sanitary authority. He is,
however, not prepared to assert that the appointment of a clerk to the sanitary department which was
contemplated would not be found sufficient for immediate purposes, and it is right, therefore, that
further experience should be gained before the appointment of an additional sanitary inspector is
recommended by the Council. The attention of the sanitary authority will no doubt be directed to the
localities he has especially indicated, and to his recommendations of a house to house inspection of the
district and of the preparation of a complete register of workshops. It will be. observed that the vestrv
has provided a shelter, but the absence of a bath somewhat detracts from its usefulness. I would
desire to express the hope that the vestry, moreover, in their by-laws relating to houses let in lodgings,
will not require less cubic space per head than 400 cubic feet in bedrooms not used exclusively as
sleeping apartments. The necessity of an improved system of collection of house-refuse is already
under the consideration of the Council's Public Health Committee.
Shirley F. Murphy,
Medial Officer of Health.
Dr. Young's Report.
Clerkenwell is one of the central districts of the metropolis, and admins the following other
districts, namely, on the west St. Pancras and Islington, on the north Islington, on the east Islington
and St. Luke, and on the south Holborn and the Liberty of the Charterhouse. The district under the
jurisdiction of the Vestry of Clerkenwell also includes a small detached area of 6 H acres in extent,
situated without the metropolitan limits in the district of Hornsey.
The soil throughout the greater part of the district is clay, but a small part at the eastern end
is composed of gravel.
The total area, including the detached portion of the district, is 380 acres. In 1896, when the
last census was taken, the average number of persons per acre was 174.
The rateable value of the district in 1896 was £398,910. Under the Equalisation of Rates
Act, 1894, Clerkenwell received from the Equalisation Fund a grant in excess of its contribution to
the fund by £1,766 13s. Id. for the six months from April 1st to September 30th, 1896; this is equivalent
to a rate of rather more than twopence in the £ per annum on the rateable value.
For statistical purposes Clerkenwell forms part of the registration district of Holborn, the
following sub-districts of which constitute the area under the jurisdiction of the Clerkenwell Yestry—
namely, St. James, Amwell, Pentonville (which includes the detached portion), and Goswell-road.
The population at the census taken in March, 1896, consisted of 66,202 inhabitants. This
number is practically the same as that obtained at the previous census in 1891, the population then
being 66,216. Comparing these figures with the population in 1881, it is found that the number of
inhabitants has since then undergone a slight decrease of about 4 per cent., but compared with 1861
and 1871 the population is now somewhat larger than it was at those dates, owing to an increase
between 1871 and 1881 of 5'6 per cent.
If the figures relating to each sub-district during the interval since 1861 be considered, it is
found that the sub-district of St. James, which is situated nearest to the business portion of the
metropolis, has undergone a steady decrease in the number of its inhabitants, this being no doubt due
to the extension and substitution of commercial for residential premises and to the formation of
Clerkenwell-road, which passes through this part of Clerkenwell and which led to the demolition of
dwelling houses; the Pentonville or northern sub-district, on the other hand, which includes the
detached portion in Hornsey, has slowly increased. In the Amwell sub-district, or central part of
Clerkenwell, but little change in the number of inhabitants has taken place compared with the population
in 1861, although here there was a marked increase between 1871 and 1881, but this was followed
by an equal diminution between 1881 and 1891. This part of the district contains several streets
and houses of a good class, and was apparently within recent times entirely residential in character,
and it is possible that the increase in population between 1871 and 1881 was due to the fact that the
houses in this part of Clerkenwell, instead of being occupied by separate families as formerly, were
being let in tenements. The diminution which occurred between 1881 and 1891 was probably in
great measure due to the disuse as a prison of the House of Correction—the site of which is now
occupied by premises in connection with the General Post Office—and to the removal of premises
during the formation of Rosebery-avenue, which traverses this part of Clerkenwell from south-west to
north-east. In the Goswell-street sub-district there was a marked decrease in population between 1881
Nc. 339.—Price 2d. Sold by Edward Stanford, 26 and 27, Gockspur-slreet, Charing-crosi, S. W.
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