London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Shoreditch 1885

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch, Parish of St. Leonard]

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81
the stack pipes into the bed rooms; and water for domestic use was
stored in cisterns placed over the closets; used both for drinking
purposes and for flushing the closet pans.
"Much work from time to time had been done in these premises
to make them more advantageous for health, but it had been badlyconceived
and executed, therefore with little beneficial result."
The Inspector sets forth in his report what alterations were
effected under his supervision to thoroughly remove the dangerous
conditions.
He also refers to the Caretaker's house on the premises of the
Board School in Hammond Square—and that matter it was necessary
for the Medical Officer to bring more especially under the notice of
your Sanitary Committee to receive instructions thereon. An outbreak
of fever in the house led to the examination of the premises.
The house had only been built about 8 or 9 years ago, on the site
of some old cottages. It might have been inferred that, at the
time of construction, ordinary precautionary measures would have
been adopted to keep the premises of the sohool from proximate
contact with noxious decaying accumulations; but instead of that large
accumulations of sewage matter had been allowed to remain buried
within the walls of the house and as the Inspector says, when the
ground under one room was opened to the depth of about three to
four feet, it was seen to be made up of old bricks and other rubbish and
under that was an old brick drain, further examination shewed that
the wall of the house had been built over this drain, the wall
being carried on a "relieving stone template" to avoid disturbing
or removing the old drain. In the removal of the made up ground
from within the walls of the house, by orders of your Sanitary
Committee, a large cesspool was found and five loads of sewage
accumulation had to be removed. These conditions had made
the walls of the house foully damp.
I am induced to call the attention of your Vestry to this
dangerous nuisance, for it is another example manifesting the need
for thorough inspection, by a responsible public Officer, of all
ground on which dwellings are to be erected. If it were sufficiently