The Metropolitan Commission of Sewers was one of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

's first steps towards bringing its sewer and

drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils can prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditions that harm root gro ...

infrastructure under the control of a single public body. It was absorbed by the

Metropolitan Board of Works The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the upper tier of local government for London between 1856 and 1889, primarily responsible for upgrading infrastructure. It also had a parks and open spaces committee which set aside and opened up severa ...

on 1 January 1856.

Formation

The commission was formed by the ( 11 & 12 Vict. c. 112), partly in response to public health concerns following serious outbreaks of

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

. The commission's mandate was renewed and amended with supplementary acts: * Metropolitan Sewers Act 1851 ( 14 & 15 Vict. c. 75) * ( 15 & 16 Vict. c. 64) * ( 16 & 17 Vict. c. 125) * ( 17 & 18 Vict. c. 111) * ( 18 & 19 Vict. c. 30) Commissioners included Sir

Edwin Chadwick Sir Edwin Chadwick Order of the Bath, KCB (24 January 18006 July 1890) was an English social reformer who is noted for his leadership in reforming the Poor Laws in England and instituting major reforms in urban sanitation and public health. A ...

Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson , (honoris causa, Hon. causa) (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of hi ...

and Thomas Field Gibson. The new body combined eight local boards of commissioners that had been established by earlier acts of Parliament: * Tower Hamlets Commission of Sewers * St Katherine's Commission of Sewers * Poplar and Blackwall Commission of Sewers * Holborn and Finsbury Commission of Sewers * Westminster and Middlesex Commission of Sewers * Surrey and Kent Commission of Sewers * Greenwich Commission of Sewers * Commissioners of the Regent's Park Sewers The area covered by the Metropolitan Commission was defined as the

City and Liberties of Westminster A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

, the borough of

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

, the areas of the previous commissioners and "any such other place in the Counties of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

and

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

or any of them, being not more than twelve miles distant in a straight line from St. Paul's Cathedral, but not being in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

or the liberties thereof". No area was to be exempt from the commission's jurisdiction by virtue of being extra-parochial or beyond the ebb or flow of the tide. The headquarters of the commission were at 1 Greek Street,

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

. The

was excluded as it had its own Commission of Sewers dating back to 1669.

Activities

The commission surveyed London's antiquated sewerage system and set about ridding the capital of an estimated 200,000

cesspit Cesspit, cesspool and soak pit in some contexts are terms with various meanings: they are used to describe either an underground holding tank (sealed at the bottom) or a Dry well, soak pit (not sealed at the bottom). A cesspit can be used for ...

s, insisting that all cesspits should be closed and that house drains should connect to sewers and empty into the Thames (ultimately, a major contributing factor to " The Great Stink" of 1858). The commission was notable in that it employed

Joseph Bazalgette Sir Joseph William Bazalgette (; 28 March 1819 – 15 March 1891) was an English civil engineering, civil engineer. As Chief Engineer of London's Metropolitan Board of Works, his major achievement was the creation of the London Main Drainage, t ...

, first as assistant surveyor (from 1849), taking over as engineer in 1852 after his predecessor died of "harassing fatigues and anxieties". Bazalgette was then appointed chief engineer of the commission's successor, the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1856, and by the end of the decade after "The Great Stink" – his proposals to modernise the

London sewerage system The London sewer system is part of the water infrastructure serving London, England. The modern system was developed during the late 19th century, and as London has grown the system has been expanded. It is currently owned and operated by Thame ...

were being implemented.

Chairmen

* Viscount Ebrington (1 January 1849 – 6 October 1851) * Edward Lawes (6 October 1851 – 24 July 1852) * Richard Jebb (24 July 1852 – 1 January 1856)

References

{{Thames Water History of local government in London (pre-1855) Water supply and sanitation in London Former water company predecessors of Thames Water 1848 in London

Formation

Activities

Chairmen

Archives

See also

References