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141
ELSDALE STREET AREA.
Dwellings of varying types make up the area, six of which have basements.
Three of these latter dwellings are situate in a narrow cul-de-sac, and consist of three
rooms, one above the other, the basement room being wholly below ground level at
the front, and about 3 to 4 feet below the ground at the rear, where there is no
dry area, and where the rear air space is enclosed and shut in by adjacent buildings;
these dwellings have no through ventilation in the upper room; they are
aged, neglected, damp and totally unfit. The other three basement houses possess
in some respects worse sanitary defects than the foregoing, for apart from the
unfit basement room, these houses are shut in at the rear, have little or no means
of through ventilation, and the interiors are extremely badly arranged, being very
dark and practically airless; they are also aged, worn out and damp.
Of the remaining dwellings, four of these are two-roomed single-back cottages,
with wash-house accommodation, aged, damp and worn out, fronting a narrow
street. They have no forecourts,, and entry from the street is direct into the
living room, with the staircase directly connecting the lower and upper room; the
rooms are small, with low ceilings, there are no back windows, no through ventilation,
and the small back yards are shut in and overshadowed by the adjacent
high factory building. In the same street two adjoining cottages have additional
living accommodation providing three rooms and wash-house, and in these
instances internal ventilation is somewhat better, and there is no overshadowing
at the rear. The rooms, however, are low, and the third room over the washhouse
is very poorly lighted and ventilated, having a sloping ceiling to the rear,
no flue, and a window of inadequate size. These cottages are also aged, damp
and worn out.
Other dwellings in this area include a pair of aged, damp, four-roomed
cottages, built on a low site at the end of the cul-de-sao already mentioned, and
may be described briefly as aged, neglected and dilapidated, the rear windows are
inadequate as a means for proper ventilation of the interiors, and the structures
are damp and worn out.
The remaining houses have accommodation varying from three to five rooms,
with wash-house, and the types vary considerably. The internal arrangement also
varies, but all have the common feature of bad internal arrangement of the rear
part, all the back rooms are poorly lighted and inadequately ventilated; there is
no yard space at the rear, and the back windows are small, inadequate, and badly
overshadowed by the high factory building on the opposite side of the narrow culde-sac
upon which these dwellings back. The buildings on this area, apart from
bad planning and inadequate lighting and ventilation, are aged and damp.
Photograph No. 16 shows the dwellings in this area.
FULHAM PLACE AREA.
A terrace of small three-roomed cottages in a cul-de-sac. The dwellings are
badly situated, closely shut in at the rear where the tiny yards—3 feet 6 inches deep—
are completely overshadowed by a high wall, but the condition at the front is
better in this respect, the houses being approached from a narrow passage approximately
4 feet 6 inches in width giving access to the forecourts.
The cottages are extremely aged and badly arranged. The rear rooms receive
practically no natural light, so that artificial light is constantly necessary. The
street door opens direct from the forecourt into the front room, which room
directly communicates with the wash-house, and in most instances is used as a
living room, and from this room the staircase rises to the two small bedrooms above.