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The Management of Water in Eighteenth-Century London

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This electronic thesis or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ London’s Changing Waterscapes the management of water in eighteenth-century London Van Lieshout, Carry Awarding institution: King's College London The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENCE AGREEMENT Unless another licence is stated on the immediately following page this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ You are free to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 04. Oct. 2021 This electronic theses or dissertation has been downloaded from the King’s Research Portal at https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/ Title: London’s Changing Waterscapes: the management of water in eighteenth-century London Author: Carry van Lieshout The copyright of this thesis rests with the author and no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without proper acknowledgement. END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ You are free to: Share: to copy, distribute and transmit the work Under the following conditions: Attribution: You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work). Non Commercial: You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works - You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. Any of these conditions can be waived if you receive permission from the author. Your fair dealings and other rights are in no way affected by the above. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact [email protected] providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. London’s Changing Waterscapes — the management of water in eighteenth-century London. Submitted by Carry van Lieshout Department of Geography, King’s College London For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) of the University of London December 2012 Abstract This thesis explores the relationships between the natural environment, urbanisation, and the market economy, in the context of water supply and drainage in eighteenth-century London. It argues that, as a result of the expansion of the built-up area, the institutions that managed London’s water became increasingly vital as the main mediators of the growing distance between the city’s inhabitants and water. In particular, it focuses on the growth of a commercial water supply, and analyses how the allocation of a natural resource became increasingly refracted through the market. As such, the thesis addresses the emergence of a political economy of water and its social and economic ramifications. The thesis takes an interdisciplinary approach, integrating social and environmental history, and it argues that geography should be incorporated in the analysis of the institutions that controlled water. It considers London’s drainage system and its water supply together, as changes in the drainage of surface water played a crucial role in creating the conditions for the privatisation of London’s water supply. The expansion of the supply network, in turn, depended heavily on London’s social geography as well as its topography, as the difference in elevation between a water company’s intake and its customer base proved influential for its failure or success. The increased role of commercial water supply had important consequences as to how eighteenth-century Londoners accessed water. A new analysis of the water companies' level of market penetration adds context to contemporary debates surrounding the way the water market was structured. Finally, an investigation of the provision of free water in emergencies explores the role of private companies in the provision of public goods. The thesis adds to our knowledge about the growing role for institutions in an expanding city. More specifically, it explores how the market mediated relationships between society and nature. 2 Table of contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 2 Table of contents ....................................................................................................................... 3 List of figures .............................................................................................................................. 5 List of tables ............................................................................................................................... 7 Style and abbreviations.............................................................................................................. 8 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 1. London‘s waterscape. ........................................................................................... 11 1.1. The study of cities, resources, and the natural environment. ...................................... 14 1.2. The eighteenth century: socio-economic transformations. ......................................... 18 1.3. Administration and records. ......................................................................................... 27 1.4. Understanding London’s waterscape. .......................................................................... 28 Chapter 2. Mapping London’s waterscape. ........................................................................... 33 2.1. Shaping London’s waterscape: topography and urbanisation. .................................... 34 2.2. Mapping London’s water features. ............................................................................... 43 2.3. London’s changing waterscape. .................................................................................... 51 2.4. Implications. .................................................................................................................. 63 Chapter 3. The institutional framework: water companies and sewer commissions. ......... 65 3.1. The water companies: historical background. .............................................................. 67 3.2. The water companies: enlarging scale and raising capital. .......................................... 75 3.3. The commissioners of sewers: historical background. ................................................. 85 3.4. The commissioners of sewers: administration and enlarging scale. ............................ 92 3.5. Conclusion. .................................................................................................................... 98 Chapter 4. Drainage, floods, and the expansion of the sewer network. ............................ 100 4.1. Draining Pimlico. ......................................................................................................... 101 4.2. Expanding the network: private interest and public needs ........................................ 106 4.3. Floods and flood control. ............................................................................................ 110 4.4. Maintenance and costs. .............................................................................................. 114 4.5. Implications. ................................................................................................................ 120 3 Chapter 5. Expanding the supply network: geography, technology, and water management. .................................................................................................................... 122 5.1. Water infrastructure. .................................................................................................. 123 5.2. Geographical and environmental constraints. ............................................................ 129 5.3. Supplying the West End: canals versus engines. ........................................................ 135 5.4. Raising water: technological solutions and improvement. ......................................... 147 5.5. Managing water: distribution, pricing, and balancing demands. ............................... 157 5.6. Extending the network. ............................................................................................... 167 5.7. Conclusion. .................................................................................................................. 170 Chapter 6. The water market: expansion,
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