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 parish of Ashton Keynes, in the county of Wilts / by Thomas Webster Rammell, Superintending Inspector.

  • Rammell, Thomas Webster
Date:
1852
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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 parish of Ashton Keynes, in the county of Wilts / by Thomas Webster Rammell, Superintending Inspector. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Open Drains, inducing Low Fever. H passes into them. The smell was so bad last year that I had lime thrown into the ditches near me last year. . I have had fever in my house. One of my children was ill in summer with an inflammatory attack; and there was after- wards so much illness in the village that I sent my family away. I have no doubt that the bad state of the drainage had much effect in producing it. Awn Gardner stated,— I live in that part of the village called the Row. I complain of an open drain at the back of my house, which receives the slops of three houses above mine, and takes them into the brook. They throw all sorts of matter into it; it is very bad indeed, I do assure you. It smells very bad indeed; it is never swept out, never below me. There is a privy stands at the back, and not half a yard from me. The runnings of the privy come through my wall into the house, and marked the paper. Our convenience is inside the house, and drains into the brook. The brook now smells very bad : there is too much water in it. I have a well in the garden. I have a little window to give air, but I cannot open it on account of the smell. A great many people in the village drink the water trom the brook; the blacksmith's wife always fills her kettle from it. Mr. Charles Brooks, surgeon, and medical officer of the district, states,— There is not much illness now in the parish. Fever prevailed a good deal during the last year ;—typhus and low fever. [It will be seen by the return, page 9, that there were eleven deaths from epidemic diseases in 1848 ; being nearly 1 per cent, ot the population.] I had not had a case of typhus for three years pre- viously I had cases of low fever and inflammatory fever. Measles have prevailed a good deal. In May last they were a good deal about Since some of the ditches have been cleaned out I have had less illness certainly. There is no doubt that the stagnant water is most prejudicial to health. The ditches were cleaned out in September last ; they were cleaned out and the mud thrown on the side ; in some of them lime was thrown I consider this place naturally a healthy one on the whole. I have no doubt if the stagnant ditches were removed the place would be more healthy than it is. I have noticed that the cases of fever have chiefly occurred in the neighbourhood of these dirty stagnant ditches I have had more cases of fever in Fore-street and Eentwood than in any other part of the town. I think that the drainage of this part is the worst, but it is all very bad.' Mr. Burnall stated that in the previous year when the ditches were cleaned out, he had spent on behalf of the Commissioners 51. or 61. upon them. Mr. Gleed states that cases of ague are now rare ; but that formerly they were very prevalent.