Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Whitechapel]
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9
ARTIZANS' AND LABOURERS' DWELLINGS
IMPROVEMENT ACT, 1875.
The Whitechapel District has already been greatly benefitted by'
the operations of the above Act, and should all the official representations
which have been made to the Metropolitan Board of Works,
of the several areas referred to in former Reports, be carried out, will
be still further benefitted.
The five areas of which the Medical Officer of Health has made
official representations, are—
1. The Royal Mint Street Scheme.
2. The Flower and Dean Street Scheme.
3. The Goulston Street Scheme.
4. The Great Pearl Street Scheme.
5. The Bell Lane Scheme.
The whole of these several areas, together, comprise near twenty
acres. At present, however, only three of these areas have been
purchased by the Metropolitan Board of Works, viz., the Royal
Mint Street, the Flower and Dean Street, and the Goulston Street
areas. All the houses, with the exception of the "Crown" public
house, in Butler's Buildings, and the Schools in Darby Street, within
No. 1 area, have been taken down, and blocks of Peabody Buildings
have been erected on part of the area. These buildings consist of
eleven blocks, and are built to accommodate 286 families. The
population in these buildings was, at the end of March last, 1207.
Some idea of the wretched condition of the Royal Mint Street
area may be formed, when I state that it consisted of about six acres,
and contained 450 houses, which were occupied by 3,750 persons,
thus allowing to each, on an average, a space of only 8.3 square
yards; but in a court called Crown Court, which formed part of
this area, and joined Blue Anchor Yard with Glass House Street,
there was only an average space of 3.4 square yards for each person.
All the particulars respecting the crowded condition and the un-