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 township of Bishop Auckland in the county of Durham / by Thomas Webster Rammell, Superintending Inspector.

  • Rammell, Thomas Webster
Date:
1853
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 township of Bishop Auckland in the county of Durham / by Thomas Webster Rammell, Superintending Inspector. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    5. That there is a great deficiency of privy accommoda- tion, and that where privies exist they are generally in connexion with open cesspools, the condition of which is filthy in the extreme, whilst the mode of emptying them entails a nuisance upon the surrounding neighbourhood. 6. That there is much overcrowding in the dwellings of the working classes, and excessive overcrowding in the common lodging-houses within the town. 7. That there are many nuisances resulting from the carrying on of offensive trades in the town. 8. That there is a great deficiency of water, at times amounting to absolute scarcity, there being no public pro- vision for the purpose; and that the quality of the water usually obtained from wells is hard, and impure in other respects. 9. That the sanitary condition of the inhabitants is bad, typhus fever and other epidemic, endemic, and contagious diseases frequently prevailing, and the average deaths from these causes being more than 20 yearly out of a population of between 4,000 and 5,000. That the gross mortality during the seven years 184-6-51 was after the rate of 28 6 in 1,000. 10. That the burial accommodation for the inhabitants of this township is sufficient for some years to come. 11. That there is no Local Act in force within the town- ship, nor any powers to deal with the various evils above detailed, and to provide for the amelioration of the sanitary condition of the inhabitants. 12. That the comfort and health of the inhabitants would be promoted, and their condition improved by— a. Drainage of the substratum of parts of the town. b. An efficient system of surface and refuse drainage. c. A plentiful supply of pure water. d. Adequate privy accommodation, in connexion with efficient drainage and water supply. e. The improvement of the roadways, and removal of many offensive nuisances. / Improvement in the dwellings of the working classes, and regulations for preventing overcrowding therein and in common lodging-houses. [88] c