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146
These six cottages are of a similar plan; the street door opens direct into the living
room, the staircase runs between the main building and addition, is unlighted
and unventilated, and there is no through ventilation on the first floor level; the
front windows are overshadowed in some instances. The upper back room is
small and cramped, with a sloping ceiling, and the room has no flue. Most
of these cottages have no internal conveniences, four of them have back yards
with an area approximately 26 square feet, where the water closet and water
tap is accommodated, and the remaining two have no yard. The dust bins are
kept in the open court.
Photograph No. 26 provides some indication of the type and condition of
the dwellings which make up this area, and shows the small openings to the enclosed
court upon which some of these dwellings abut.
QUEENS COURT AREA.
This small area is composed of thirteen very old cottage-type two-roomed
dwellings, two of which are unoccupied, derelict and unfit, and most of those
occupied are of the back-to-back type.
Access to the dwellings is gained from narrow culs-de sac the widths of whicn
vary from 7 feet 7 inches to 12 feet in one instance, and from 9 feet 10 inches to
11 feet 6 inches in the other.
In die former—Priory Place—are situate five cottages with a communal washhouse
and two water-closets for the use of the five cottages. The common waterclosets
are not soreened in any way, and face the communal wash-house and the
front of No. 5 cottage. Privacy in matters of personal hygiene is almost impossible
under these conditions.
In the absence of any yard space attached to these dwellings, the court is used
as a drying ground for the family washing.
The cramped position and formation of the court, and the disposition and
internal arrangement of the dwellings afford little possibility of sunshine penetrating
the interiors, and _prevent adequate internal ventilation and air circulation
around the buildings.
Queen's Court is a narrow cul-de-sac emerging from an opening (4 feet
10 inches wide) out of the main thoroughfare. Here the majority of the cottages
are back-to-back with those in Priory Place, and generally have no through ventilation.
Here also a very low and demoralising standard of living is imposed
upon the occupants of the cottages, which similarly to those in Priory Place, have
no yards, and where sanitary conveniences are of a communal nature. A range
of five water-closets is provided in the far corner of the cul-de-sac, also a common
wash-copper (not utilized) and the common dust receptacle. These closets, used
by men, women and children, are not sufficiently screened from view, and can be
overlooked from the rear of the adjoining properties, the separate compartments
are so constructed as to be only partially partitioned from each other, and not the
least objectionable feature is that they ventilate into each other, and are situated
in a position where the free circulation of air is greatly impeded by high walls,
and where during humid weather the atmosphere must become very objectionable.
The same mentality appears to have operated when the wash-copper was constructed,
no attempt having been made to make it useful, or to afford protection
from inclement weather; in consequence the structure is a wreck and not put to
use; and, as in the adjoining court, family washing is done under most unsatisfactory
conditions inside the cottages, and the open court used, when possible, as
a drying ground.