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91
THE RENOVATED HOUSES OF NEW STREET,
SARAH STREET, ELIZA PLACE, AND
DRYSDALE STREET.
These cottages which have been extensively altered,
repaired and cleansed, have been provided with new floors, new
closets, and new drains, and the yards have been properly
paved, indeed, so much have these dwellings been altered that,
excepting the old bricks and woodwork, they may be said to
have been renewed.
Before these improvements were effected, the cottages were
so dilapidated, that it was necessary to call the owner's attention
to them, and urge him to make radical changes in their
condition, as they had become unfit for human habitation. He
had to determine whether he would demolish them all or partly
reconstruct them. At the same time, the owner was required by
order of the Vestry to close the 15 cottages of York Row, which
cottages abutted on the rear of the small dwellings on one side
of New Street, they also were unfit for habitation. These
cottages the owner decided to pull down. That has been done,
and the land remains vacant.
Small cottages, such as those referred to as having been renovated,
are much needed in Shoreditch; the parish being a large
industrial centre, workmen's dwellings are much in demand,
and especially dwellings that are suitable for one family; and,
from a sanitary point of view, such cottages present many
advantages in the simplicity which is secured in the sanitary
arrangements and conveniences. It may be noted that the
value of any structural convenience is in proportion to the simplicity
of its arrangement, for simplicity is the result of a clear
minded calculation of means to the end required. The calculation
not only sees how things can be put together for the end
in view, but kept continuously working together; and when
any part becomes disordered, it can be readily repaired without
dangerously interfering with the operations of the remaining
parts. There is independence with dependence. And as the