Privy Midden
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The privy midden (also midden closet) was a
toilet A toilet is a piece of sanitary hardware that collects human waste (urine and feces) and sometimes toilet paper, usually for disposal. Flush toilets use water, while dry or non-flush toilets do not. They can be designed for a sitting p ...
system that consisted of a privy (
outhouse An outhouse — known variously across the English-speaking world otherwise as bog, dunny, long-drop, or privy — is a small structure, separate from a main building, which covers a toilet. This is typically either a pit latrine or a bucket ...
) associated with a
midden A midden is an old dump for domestic waste. It may consist of animal bones, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofacts associated with past human oc ...
(or middenstead, i.e. a dump for waste). They were widely used in rapidly expanding industrial cities such as
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
in England, but were difficult to empty and clean. A typical comment was that they were of "most objectionable construction" and "usually wet and very foul". They were replaced eventually by pail closets and flush toilets. Similar systems still exist in some developing countries, but the term "privy midden" is now an
archaism In language, an archaism is a word, a sense of a word, or a style of speech or writing that belongs to a historical epoch beyond living memory, but that has survived in a few practical settings or affairs. lexicon, Lexical archaisms are single a ...
.


Development and improvement

The midden closet was a development of the privy, which had evolved from the primitive "fosse" ditch. The early version was essentially an outhouse for public use, located over a hole in the ground at a public dump. In a speech given to the
Institution of Civil Engineers The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a Charitable organization, charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters ar ...
in 1876 a Mr Redgrave described the midden closet as representing "the standard of all that is utterly wrong, constructed as it is of porous materials, and permitting free soakage of filth into the surrounding soil, capable of containing the entire dejections from a house, or from a block of houses, for months and even years". Later improvements, such as a midden closet built in
Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...
, used a brick-raised seat above a concave receptacle to direct excreta toward the centre of the pit—which was lined with cement to prevent leakage into the surrounding soil. This closet was also designed with a special opening through which deodorising material could be scattered over the top of the pit. A ventilation shaft was also installed. The design offered a significant improvement over the less advanced midden-privy, but the problems of emptying and cleaning such pits remained and thus the pail system, with its easily removable container, became more popular.


Problems with middens

By 1869
Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
had a population of about 354,000 people served by about 38,000 middensteads and 10,000  water closets. An investigation of the condition of the city's sewer network revealed that it was "choked up with an accumulation of solid filth, caused by overflow from the middens". Such problems forced the city authorities to consider other methods of human waste disposal. The water closet was used in wealthy homes, but concerns over river pollution, costs and available water supplies meant that most towns and cities chose more labour-intensive dry conservancy systems. Manchester was one such city and by 1877 its authorities had replaced about 40,000 middens with pail and midden closets, rising to 60,000 by 1881. The soil surrounding the old middens was cleared out, connections with drains and sewers removed and dry closets erected over each site. A contemporary estimate stated that the installation of about 25,000 pail closets removed as much as of
urine Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and many other animals. In placental mammals, urine flows from the Kidney (vertebrates), kidneys through the ureters to the urinary bladder and exits the urethra through the penile meatus (mal ...
and accompanying faeces from the city's drains, sewers and rivers. The 1868 Rivers Pollution Commission reported two years later: "privies and ashpits are continually to be seen full to overflowing and as filthy as can be ... These middens are cleaned out whenever notice is given that they need it, probably once half-yearly on an average, by a staff of nightmen with their attendant carts." (See
Night soil Night soil is a historical euphemism for Human waste, human excreta collected from cesspit, cesspools, privies, pail closets, pit latrines, privy middens, septic tanks, etc. This material was removed from the immediate area, usually at night, by ...
.)


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* * * {{Toilets , state=expanded Toilet types