| British Trivia |
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| ::darkshadows:: (bat@cave.org) |
2009/04/26 19:41 |
British Trivia
What event inspired the English to widely install public lavatories in
Victorian London?
The success of public lavatories used at the Great Exhibition, held at
Hyde Park in 1851, led to the widespread installation of public
toilets in London.
The Great Exhibition comprised works of industry from all nations and
was the first international exhibition of manufactured goods. It was
modelled on successful French national exhibitions, but it was the
first to open its doors to the world.
In 1851 Great Britain was widely recognised as the leader of the
industrial revolution. The exhibition in London was conceived to
symbolise their industrial, military and economic superiority.
George Jennings, an engineer, was given responsibility for providing
public conveniences at the exhibition. Over 827,000 people paid to use
public lavatories for the first time. When you consider that over 6.2
million people visited the exhibition it was clear the 'necessaries'
were highly popular.
The popularity for public conveniences was one aspect of the general
desire to improve general hygiene levels in the mid 19th century.
Words can hardly describe how bad sanitary conditions were in London
during this time. Without a sewer network, the waste for some 3
million Londoners was channelled into rivers that flowed into the
River Thames.
Indeed, on many occasions the rivers were so clogged with waste that
the rivers did not flow at all. On particularly hot days the rivers
appeared to be boiling, and the smell was so bad that shuttered
windows plastered in lime could not prevent the odour from
overpowering everything.
In 1848, Britain passed the Public Health Act, which would become a
model plumbing code for the world to follow. It mandated some kind of
sanitary arrangement in every house, whether a flushing toilet, or a
sanitary research and engineering. The construction of a sewer system
also began.
Following the success of the Great Exhibition, Jennings began to
design and construct what became known as the quintessential Victorian
public convenience. They typically consisted of distinctive tiled
underground chambers marked by iron railings or arches at street
level.
Eventually a new phrase entered the English language; 'I'm just going
to spend a penny', which is still in common use today to describe our
'necessary' functions.
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