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considered the dangerous passing of railway trucks and
trolleys to and fro across the street which it was designed to
close. It was a matter of observation and remarked upon at the
time that the Company showed an unwonted amount of activity
in so doing just when their Lordships came down to view the
site. The Board, however, obtained the insertion of a clause
in the Bill whereby a subway for foot passengers was provided,
and is maintained at the expense of the Company, so as to
connect the remaining part of Holland Street with the Blackfriars
Road, and also whereby Green Walk was widened from
45 feet to 50 feet, and paved with asphalte, at the expense of
the Company.
In 1865 the Board, finding the board-room and offices at
No. 3, Emerson Street inconvenient and inadequate for the
increasing business that had to be transacted, resolved to
improve and enlarge them. This was done by taking in and
appropriating the site of an infant school which divided the
board-room longitudinally in the rear and building a fresh
office, which has served for the clerk's office ever since,
although designed for a committee room. The cost of these
works and of refurnishing the premises was £2,832. In
1891, when the Board undertook the execution of paving and
jobbing work by a staff of its own it was found necessary to
acquire additional accommodation, and the adjoining premises,
No. 2, Emerson Street, were likewise rented of the Wardens
and fitted up and userl as offices.
Owing to the low level of Bankside and adjacent parts
of the district, the same were for many years subject to
inundation. In 1874 and 1875 very serious Hoods occurred,
and the Board resolved that measures were imperatively
necessary for the protection of the neighbourhood from such
disastrous visitations. The Metropolitan Board of Works
was approached and urged to construct an embankment of the
southern shore of the Thames, but declined on account of the
enormous expense involved. Ultimately, yielding to the
pressure brought to bear upon it by this and other local
authorities whose districts were likewise subject to inundation,
the Metropolitan Board introduced a measure in
Parliament known as the Thames River (Prevention of Floods)
Bill. This Bill received the Royal Assent on the 11th
August, 1879, and enabled the Metropolitan Board, afterwards
the London County Council, to serve notices and compel
owners and occupiers of premises abutting on the Thames to