Report to the General Board of Health on a preliminary inquiry into the sewerage, drainage, and supply of water, and the sanitary condition of the inhabitants of the town and parish of Brixham, in the county of Devon / by Alfred L. Dickens, Superintending Inspector.

  • Dickens, Alfred L.
Date:
1854
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report to the General Board of Health on a preliminary inquiry into the sewerage, drainage, and supply of water, and the sanitary condition of the inhabitants of the town and parish of Brixham, in the county of Devon / by Alfred L. Dickens, Superintending Inspector. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    releases the water again; but I am of opinion that with Bhixiiam. ^twenty times the quantity of water borrowed by this *~- k gentleman for the purposes of his business, added to the I ordinary flow of the stream, the ditch in its present irre- ; gular and filthy state would not be cleansed of its impu- | rities. When I saw it, which I did several times during . my visits to Brixham, it was choked at intervals with animal and vegetable matters in various stages of decompo- sition. Old rags, broken crockeryware, boughs of trees, and a variety of other substances formed dams here and there that would require a very much larger quantity of ? water to remove them than the stream would appear to contain at any ordinary times. When the mill is not at . work there is little or no water flowing, consequently a J nass of impurities are left exposed to the action of the sun md allowed to rot as they lie. :b Mr. Webber further states,— ?: There is only one sewer or public drain in Upper Brixham. -!| '.t runs from somewhere near the old workhouse down to a place f :alled ' the horse pool.' This is a square covered drain, and takes ■ he contents of the privies from the old workhouse and the surface lrainage below it. If Mr. Thomas Lakeman states,— ] Between the new road and Cumber's-road, and from Cumber's- ji ane, there is a square house drain falling into the open ditch, vhich runs from the government reservoir to the harbour, and lelps to pollute the water therein. There is no other covered Irain, surface, or otherwise, either north or south of the new road. The drains of a number of houses empty themselves into the north 0 tream, which stream is the supposed source of supply of ' pure ' vater to the government reservoir. In the ' back lane' there is , i drain, the outlet of which is smaller than the drain itself. The ',. >arties using this drain have contracted the inlet to the size of | he outlet, leaving the intermediate portion as it was. Some time igo complaints were made by the inhabitants about the state of the lake ;' it was in a very filthy condition, and required :leansing. Part of the stream runs through private property, md part alongside the highway. Application was made without :ftect to the surveyors of the highways, then to other authorities, )ut with no better result than a recommendation that the sur- «reyors should take powers from the vestry to expend the funds 1 lecessary for its cleansing, or that the inhabitants should obtain p local improvement Act. Ultimately, the guardians cleansed . he stream, and continue to do so at intervals to the present time, . Older the powers of the Nuisance Removal and Diseases Preven- . ion Act. •; Mr. Caymbe complains that the surveyors of highways I lave frequently objected to cleanse some stagnant drains. [25.] B 2