Dr. F. St. George Mivart's report to the Local Government Board on the general sanitary circumstances and administration of the Borough, and the Rural District, of Bridgnorth.
- Mivart, F. St. George.
- Date:
- 1910
Licence: In copyright
Credit: Dr. F. St. George Mivart's report to the Local Government Board on the general sanitary circumstances and administration of the Borough, and the Rural District, of Bridgnorth. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.
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![24 hours, including 115,000 gallons from the dye house and con- densers at the carpet works. The river is undoubtedly contaminated for miles below these two outfalls. As Dr. Wheatley remarks in his report for the second quarter of 1907, the discharge of so large a volume of untreated sewage into the Severn should not be allowed to continue. I under- stand that the town council have under consideration a scheme for the disposal of the sewage. Excrement disposal.—According to information given to me by the inspector of nuisances, the populous part of the borough is almost completely furnished with water-closets draining to the sewers. He knows of only 11 water-closets] draining to cesspools ; 3 water- closets draining directly into the river ; 23 cesspit privies; and two houses possessing earth closets. In houses of the poorer class the water-closets are commonly of the short hopper type. Flushing is generally good. Nuisances in connection with water-closets are not conspicuous, but hardship is caused by the insufficient number of closets, as also by their being placed at points inconvenient of access. It is a common thing to find only a single water-closet for the use of three cottages. At certain back-to-back houses on Bernard Hill the passage leading to the water-closet (for the use of three dwellings) is barely 12 inches wide. In some parts of the borough below the levels of the sewers, vault privies are in use and certain filth nuisances were found. The worst conditions of excrement disposal wrere met with in Foundry Yard. Here two privies are only 22 inches wide and open at the back. The privy vault is uncovered, and there is danger of children falling into it. The insanitary condition of Foundry Yard has repeatedly been the subject of remark by the medical officer of health in his annual reports. Privy vaults are emptied by cottagers as they best can arrange. Removal and disposal of house refuse.—I am informed that the use of large ash-pits is discouraged, and portable ash-bins recommended. Apparently, however, efforts in this direction have not been very successful. In various parts of the borough I saw a number of large open refuse pits, many of them full or nearly so,, The ground around these receptacles is unpaved, and thus becomes seriously fouled. In not a few cases, too, refuse was found deposited in heaps in corners of yards. Removal of refuse is carried out weekly by the town council, whose carts daily perambulate sections of the toAvn, which are thus dealt with in turn. The large refuse pits are usually attended to on request. The refuse of the High Town is tipped at a spot close to the sewage works, as already mentioned. The refuse of Low Town is deposited in an old gravel pit beyond the town. Nuisances.—A good deal of nuisance is caused, from time to time, in various parts of the town by the accumulation and storage of manure. But the most serious nuisance in the borough is that caused by the keeping of pigs, a practice which some time since became very considerable. In many instances the inspector of nuisances has been successful in prohibiting pig-keeping, but very much remains to be done, and I heard numerous complaints of the](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21361563_0011.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
