NationMaster - Encyclopedia: The Great Stink

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Encyclopedia > The Great Stink

Michael Faraday giving his card to Father Thames, caricature commenting on a letter of Faraday's on the state of the river in the Times in Summer 1855

The Great Stink or The Big Stink was a time in the summer of 1858 during which the smell of untreated sewage almost overwhelmed people in central London, England. Image File history File linksMetadata FaradayFatherThames. ... Image File history File linksMetadata FaradayFatherThames. ... Michael Faraday, FRS (September 22, 1791 â€“ August 25, 1867) was an English chemist and physicist (or natural philosopher, in the terminology of that time) who contributed significantly to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom since 1785, and under its current name since 1788. ... 1858 (MDCCCLVIII) is a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Sunday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... Sewage is the liquid water produced by human society which typically contains washing water, laundry waste, faeces, urine and other liquid or semi-liquid wastes. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London (de facto) Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification - by Athelstan AD 927 Area - Total 130,395 kmÂ² (1st in UK) 50,346 sq mi Population - 2006 est. ...

Part of the problem was due to the introduction of more modern flush toilets. While these were a step forward on the chamber-pots that most Londoners used, they dramatically increased the volume of water and waste that was now poured into existing cesspits. These often overflowed into street drains originally designed to cope with rainwater, but now also used to carry outfalls from factories, slaughterhouses and other activities, contaminating the city before emptying into the River Thames. Close coupled cistern type flush toilet. ... A cesspit, or cesspool, is a pit, conservancy tank, or covered cistern, to which can be used for sewage or refuse. ... The Thames (pronounced //) is a river flowing through southern England, in its lower reaches flowing through London into the sea. ...

Cholera became widespread during the 1840s (not least because many people believed the disease was due to air-borne "miasma"; no one then realised that the disease was water-borne — that discovery was not made until 1854 by London physician Dr John Snow after an epidemic centred in Soho), and sanitation reform soon became a high priority. Bringing together several separate local bodies concerned with sewers, the consolidated Metropolitan Commission of Sewers was established in 1848; it surveyed London's antiquated sewerage system and set about ridding the capital of an estimated 200,000 cesspits — an objective later accelerated by the "Great Stink". Cholera is a water-borne disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which is typically ingested by drinking contaminated water, or by eating improperly cooked fish, especially shellfish. ... The miasmatic theory of disease held that diseases such as cholera or the Black Plague were caused by a miasma (Greek language: pollution), a noxious form of bad air. Miasma is considered to be a poisonous vapor or mist that is filled with particles from decomposed matter (miasmata) that could... Dr. John Snow John Snow (1813 - 1858) was a British physician and a leader in the adoption of anaesthesia and medical hygiene, and is often considered one of the fathers of epidemiology for his work in tracing the source of a cholera outbreak in Soho, Westminster, England in 1854. ... Soho is an area of central Londons West End, in the borough of the City of Westminster. ... The Metropolitan Commission of Sewers was one of Londons first steps towards bringing its sewer and drainage infrastructure under the control of a single public body. ...

In 1858, the summer was unusually hot. The Thames and many of its urban tributaries were overflowing with sewage; the warm weather encouraged bacteria to thrive and the resulting smell was so overwhelming that it affected the work of the House of Commons (countermeasures included draping curtains soaked in chloride of lime, while members considered relocating upstream to Hampton Court) and the law courts (plans were made to evacuate to Oxford and St Albans). Heavy rain finally broke the hot and humid summer and the immediate crisis ended. However, a House of Commons select committee was appointed to report on the Stink and recommend how to put an end to the problem. The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... The clock tower straddles the entrance between the inner and outer courts Hampton Court Palace is a former royal place on the north bank of the River Thames in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames about 12 miles (19 km) southwest and upstream of Central London, nowadays open to... Oxford is a city and local government district in Oxfordshire, England, with a population of 134,248 (2001 census). ... St Albans is the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans in southern Hertfordshire, England, around 22 miles (35. ...

By this time, the consolidated Commission had been superseded (at the end of 1855) by the Metropolitan Board of Works, and despite numerous different schemes for "merciful abatement of the epidemic that ravaged the Metropolis", the MBW finally accepted a scheme proposed in 1859 by its own chief engineer, Joseph Bazalgette. Over the next six years, the key elements of the London Sewerage System were created and the "Great Stink" became a distant memory. The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the principal instrument of London-wide government from 1855 until the establishment of the London County Council in 1889. ... Memorial to Sir Joseph Bazalgette on Victoria Embankment Sir Joseph William Bazalgette (28 March 1819 â€“ 15 March 1891) was one of the great Victorian civil engineers. ... The new Abbey Mills Pumping Station The original Abbey Mills pumping station The London sewerage system is part of the water infrastructure serving London. ...

John Martin, the painter, was also occupied with schemes for the improvement of London, and published various pamphlets and plans dealing with the metropolitan water supply, sewerage, dock and railway systems (his 1834 plans for London's sewerage system anticipated by some 25 years the 1859 proposals of Joseph Bazalgette to create interceptory sewers complete with walkways along both banks of the River Thames). 1834 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The word sewerage means the provision of pipes etc to collect and dispose of sewage. ... Bazalgette is a surname, and may refer to Edward Bazalgette, lead guitarist in the 1980s rock group the Vapors and now a BBC producer. ...

External links

The Great Stink at Crossness.org.uk
The Great Stink in Victorian fiction (audio link!)

References

Trench, R. and Hillman, E. (1984) London Under London: A subterranean guide (London: John Murray).
Halliday, S. (1999) The Great Stink of London: Sir Joseph Bazalgette and the Cleansing of the Victorian Metropolis

v • d • e Part of a series of articles on the History of London

Evolution	Londinium · Lundenwic · City of London · City of Westminster · County of London · Greater London London has a recorded history that goes back over 2,000 years. ... London has a recorded history that goes back over 2,000 years. ... London has a recorded history that goes back over 2,000 years. ... The City of London is a geographically-small City within Greater London, England. ... The City of Westminster is a London borough with city status, situated to the west of the City of London and north of the River Thames. ... The County of London (in red), super imposed upon todays Greater London area, to show the difference in size with post-1965 Borough boundaries The County of London was an administrative county of England from 1888 to 1965. ... Greater London is the top level administrative subdivision covering London, England. ...

Government	Metropolitan Board of Works · London County Council · Greater London Council · Greater London Authority · London Assembly · Mayor of London The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the principal instrument of London-wide government from 1855 until the establishment of the London County Council in 1889. ... London County Council emblem is still seen today on buildings, especially housing, from that era London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London from 1889 until 1965, when it was replaced by the Greater London Council. ... Arms of the Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. ... The Greater London Authority (GLA) administers the 1579 kmÂ² (610 sq. ... The London Assembly is an elected body that supervises the Greater London Authority and the Mayor of London. ... Ken Livingstone, the current Mayor of London The Mayor of London is an elected politician in London, United Kingdom. ...

Events	Peasants' Revolt · Black Death · Great Plague · Great Fire of London · The Great Stink · The Great Exhibition · The Blitz ·Swinging London · The London Plan · 7/7 bombings · Olympic Games 1908 · 1948 · 2012 The end of the revolt: Wat Tyler killed by Walworth while Richard II watches, and a second image of Richard addressing the crowd The Peasants Revolt, Tylerâ€™s Rebellion, or the Great Rising of 1381 was one of a number of popular revolts in late medieval Europe and is a... Illustration of the Black Death from the Toggenburg Bible (1411). ... A Table of the Funerals in the Several Parishes within the Bills of Mortality of the City of London, 1665 A bill of mortality for the plague year of 1665. ... Great Fire redirects here. ... The Great Exhibition in Hyde Park 1851. ... Heinkel He 111 German bomber over the Surrey Docks, Southwark, London (German propaganda photomontage) The Blitz was the sustained bombing of the United Kingdom by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 16 May 1941. ... Gerald Harper and Juliet Harmer (top left) in Adam Adamant Lives! (cover of VHS video, 1991) Swinging London is a catchall term applied to a variety of dynamic cultural trends in the United Kingdom (centred in London) in the second half of the 1960s. ... Ken Livingstone, the current Mayor of London The Mayor of London is an elected politician in London, United Kingdom. ... The 7 July 2005 London bombings were a series of coordinated terrorist bomb blasts that hit Londons public transport system during the morning rush hour. ... The 1908 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the IV Olympiad, were held in 1908 in London, England. ... The Games of the XIV Olympiad were held in 1948 at Wembley Stadium in London, England. ... The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad, will be held in London, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012. ...

Structures	St. Paul's Cathedral · Tower of London · Baynard's Castle · Westminster Hall · London Bridge · Westminster Abbey · The Monument St Pauls Cathedral is a cathedral on Ludgate Hill, in the City of London in London, and the seat of the Bishop of London. ... Her Majestys Royal Palace and Fortress The Tower of London, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic monument in central London on the north bank of the River Thames. ... Baynards Castle was at various times a castle, house and palace that existed on the same site, in the south west corner of the City of London, for 600 years from the time of the Norman Conquest until the Great Fire of London. ... Clock Tower and New Palace Yard from the west The Palace of Westminster, on the banks of the River Thames in Westminster, London, is the home of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, which form the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... For other uses, see London Bridge (disambiguation). ... The Abbeys western faÃ§ade The Collegiate Church of St Peter, Westminster, which is almost always referred to by its original name of Westminster Abbey, is a mainly Gothic church, on the scale of a cathedral (and indeed often mistaken for one), in Westminster, London, just to the west... The Monument seen from the ground The Monument to the Great Fire of London, more commonly known as The Monument is a 61-metre (202-foot) tall stone Roman doric column in the City of London, near to the northern end of London Bridge. ...

City of London	Corporation of London · Lord Mayor of London · Guildhall · Livery Companies · Lord Mayor's Show · Bank of England Coat of arms of the City of London as shown on Blackfriars station. ... Current Lord Mayor of London John Stuttard during the parade on November 11th, 2006 Michael Berry Savory, Previous Lord Mayor (2004â€“2005) The Right Honourable Lord Mayor of London is the Mayor of the City of London and head of the Corporation of London. ... The Guildhall The Guildhall complex in c. ... Livery Companies are trade associations based in the City of London. ... In 1747, the Lord Mayor went to the City of Westminster on a barge via the River Thames. ... Headquarters London Governor Mervyn King Central Bank of United Kingdom Currency Pound Sterling ISO 4217 Code GBP Base borrowing rate 5. ...

Services	Bow Street Runners · Metropolitan Police Service · London sewerage system The Bow Street Runners have been called Londons first professional constables. ... The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) is the Home Office police force responsible for Greater London, with the exception of the square mile of the City of London. ... The new Abbey Mills Pumping Station The original Abbey Mills pumping station The London sewerage system is part of the water infrastructure serving London. ...

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