2 80 March 14, 1865. JOIIN ROBINSON “CLEAN, President, in the Chair. No. 1,125.--“ Onthe Main Drainage of London, andthe Interception of theSewage from theRiver Thames.” By JOSEPH WILLIAMBAZALGETTF,, M. Inst. C.E. Tw majority of the inhabitants of cities and towns are frequently unconscious of the magnitude, intricacy, and extent of the under- ground works, which have been designed and constructed at great cost, and are necessary for the maintenance of their health and comfort. It is, however,impossible for large numbyrs of the human species to congregate and live upon a limited space, without provision being made for the rapid removal of the refuse thereby produced. This rlecessity is erhaps most forcibly illustrated, by thefearful destruction of lib from malaria,produced amongst troops suddenly encamped upon ground not prevlously so prepared for human habitation. The ravages of disease, thus engendered, hccame a subject of serious alarm amongst theallied troops in the Crimea ; andthere are many instances of themortality in armiesarising from this cause, having far exceeded thedeaths from actual warfare. Various methods have been, and still are, adopted in different parts of the globe, for obviating thedangers which thus force themselves upon the attention of mankind. The Jews, it is known, kept a furnace called‘‘ Gehenna,” or “ Hell-fire,” constantly .burning in the Valley of Hinnom, into which the refuse of the city of Jeru- salem was daily cast, as well as the dead bodies of crinlinals; and even the most savage nations are unable entirely to neglect these considerations. The Chinese, sacrificing to a largeextent the delicacy and comfort so highly prized by more civdized nations, but with a sound appreciation of the value of’ town refuse, apply it in the most direct and rude manner to the reproduction of their growing crops. The solid refuse of Parishas aleo, formany years, been separated and removed for agricultural manure ; but the drainage of that city, and of most of the continental towns, has, until of late years, to a large extent flowed over the surface of . ___ 1 The discuesiuu up011 this and the pircccding I’apcr occupiecl portimii; of four evdngir, but an abhxl of the w!de is given consecutively. THE MAIN DRAINAGE OF LONDON. 28 1 the streets. Thedrainage of English towns hasin thisrespect been mostly in advance of those of other countries ; ani: Ilondon, even prior to the introduction of the improved system, was probably the best-drained city of the present age. One important feature, which it is not the object of this communication to dwell upon, has however, up to the present time, been altogether neglected-the Utilisation of Sewage for agricultural purposes. This subject is now occupying much of the consideration of scientific men, and of the public generally, and is deserving of special consideration in a separate Paper. Before proceeding to describe the modernworks for the improved drainage of London, a glance at the early history of its sewerage may not be uninteresting. The Minutes of Proceedings of some of the earlier Commissions of Sewers contain many curious entries, showing that the subject of sewerage received the attention of the Legislature from a very earlydate. Amongstothers, a proposal by Sir Christopher Wren for improved drainage, nearly two hun- dred years ago, is preserved in MS. in the records of the ancient Westminster Commission. '' Saturday, ye 13th April, 1678. '' Proposalls delivered by S? Christopher Wren touching thenew street in St. Margaret's, vi&.- 1 '' It is proposed, 'Chat whereas y new sewer in Westminster, nom pro- posed to be carryed through Gedrge yard to Stories corner, aud thence through Long ditch to Sre Rob Pyes sluice, by an uniforme riseing frome ye Thames to the sayd sluice, so as to receive a flush of water from the Mill ditch, by meanes of the sayd sluice, for the scouring and cleansing of the sayd sewer. Now, if the sayd sewer which is already brought to Stories corner by a riseing levell, should be carried with a fall ye otherway through Long ditch, and so through Deane's yard, and all along by the Mill ditch, and then be vented into ye Thames, neare ye sluice of the Mill. And if a small branch with a sluice should be brought from the King's canall with His Majesty's allowances. It is conceived this way would be far more advantageous to cleane ye sewer, than ye antient ways of receiv- ing a flush from the Mill pools, and may be done at any ebbe, and the charge will be lesse than ye scouring and wharfeingthe Mill poole, because ten times the quantity of water may be afforded from the canall without drawing downe canall above 4 inches, which will be immediately supplyecl again at flood, and ye water taking the sewer in the middle and driveing downe two waies to each end of the sewer will more effectually cleanse it. " That a Draught of a Decree be made according to ye proposalls afore- sayd." " Saturday ye 30th of Nov., 1678. " Upon readeing a paper intituled, An Estimate of y" Charge of several Works to be done in relation to ye Back Waters in St. hlargarett's, \Vest- minster. It is ordered, That tlle worlre thereinmentioned, to bedone in Brasbyes alley in Gardener's lane, be forthwith done and performed. And that the other particulars in the sayd paper mentioned, be referwd to Sir Christopher Wren, who is desired to colluider the same aud make report what is fitt to bc clone therein." 282 THE MAIN DRAlNAGE OF LONDON. Commissioners of Sewers were inthose days persons of con- siderable importance,for on the4th February, 1663, it was ordered ‘‘ that ye kinges Majestie (Charles 11.) beare one halfe of ye charge of ye carrying away of ye rubbish at the sluice by his said Majesties bouling green,”and on the17th April, 1669, “That Francis Crassett, clerk tothis Commission, doo attend his Majesties officers concerning the Kinges arreares which are in arreare upon his said Majestie for casting ye comon sewers synce ye thyme of his Majesties happy restauration,”and again in 1768, His Majesty George 111. was permitted by an order of Court of the West- minster Commissioners of Sewers, at his own cost, to alter the line of the King’s Scholars’ Pond Sewer from under Her Majesty the Queen’s palace in St. James’s Park, and it was- “ Ordered that His Majestymay remove the sewer from under IIer Majesty’s the Queen’s Palace in St. James’s Park, by making a new sewer from the north side of this said Yalace to the road leading from Bucking- ham Gate towards i’imlico, at His Majesty’s expense if His Majesty so plcascs.” Up to about the year 1815, it was penal to discharge sewage, or other offensive matters, into the sewers; cesspoolswere regarded as the proper receptaclesfor house drainage,and sewers as the leghimate channels for carrying off the surface waters only. Afterwards it became permissive, and in the year 1847 the first Act was obtained makingit compulsory, to drain houses into ccwers. The Fleet Sewer, formerly known as the River of Wells, or the Old .Bourne (now calledHolborn), was. fed by several springs, from which originated the names of many of the populous districts of London, such as Sadler’s Well,Bagnigge \Vell, Lamb’s Conduit, Chad’s Well,and Clerk‘s Well or Clerkenwell, which latter derived its name from the parish clerks of the City of London, who used to meet there annually to represent certain parts of Scripture in a theatrical manner, and thither the nobility, tlle lord mayor and citizens repaired to see the performances. In 1218, theFleet supplied the people residing west of Chancery Lane,then called ‘‘ Foreigners,” with water ; and ill 1307, a mill, the property of‘ the Templars, was removed on the Uround that it disturbed tlle water. The Fleet Sewer was at that time9 navigated up to Holborn Bridge, and it was not until 1732 that it was, by Act of Parliament, covered in between Holborn Bridge and Fleet Bridge. The waters from a spring at TyeBourne andfrom the Bayswatcr Brook (now called theRanelagh Sewer) were also conveyed, in &inch leaden pipes, into tllc neighbouring dwellings and, in 1730, Queen Caroline fed the Serpcntn~cin Hyde Park wlth watcr from THE DRAINAGEMAIN OF LONDON. 283 the Ranelagh. Of late years, however, the water so polluted the lake that it hasbeen diverted by a new sewer through the Park. TheRanelagh and the King’s Scholars’ Pond Sewers, the Fleet Ditch, and other main valley lines were at this time, and for many subsequent years, open brooks, ponded up at various points along their route, so as to form ornamental waters in the pleasure-grounds of the gentry, who lived in what still continued to be the suburbs of the metropolis. Plate 15 Fig. 2, represents the condition andappearance of theRanelagh sewer, astaken from actual surveys in 1809. The Commissioners of Sewers of those days were wont to make an annual personal inspection of’ the sewers under their charge, a duty which has of late years been discontinued. As the population of London increased, ’the subsoil became thickly studded with cesspoo1s, improved household appliances were introduced, overflow drains from the cesspools to the sewers were constructed,thus the sewers became polluted, and covered brickchannels were necessarily substituted for existing open streams. Prior to the year 1847, the sewers were under the management of eight distinct Commissions, viz., the City, Westminster, Holborn and Finsbury, Tower Hamlets, Poplar and Blackwall, Surrey and Kent, Greenwich, andSt.