Great Stink

"The Silent Highwayman" (1858). Death rows on the Thames, claiming the lives of victims who have not paid to have the river cleaned up

The Great Stink was in central London in July and August 1858. During hot weather the smell of untreated faeces was overpowering.

It was caused by untreated human waste in the River Thames, and on its banks. An ageing and inadequate sewer system emptied directly into the Thames.

The bad air was thought to transmit contagious diseases. There were three outbreaks of cholera before the Great Stink was blamed on the problems with the river. A proposal from the civil engineer Joseph Bazalgette for sewage treatment was finally accepted.^[1]

Great Stink Media

Joseph Bazalgette in the 1870s
Construction of the sewers in 1859, near Old Ford, Bow in East London
Map of London showing the main, intercepting, storm relief and outfall sewers. The route of Bazalgette's sewers is shown in heavy black.^[2]^[3]
Bazalgette as the "Sewer Snake", Punch, 1883

↑ Halliday, Stephen 2013. The Great Stink of London: Sir Joseph Bazalgette and the cleansing of the Victorian metropolis. Stroud: History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-2580-8
↑ Halliday 2013, pp. 80–81.
↑ Trench & Hillman 1989, p. 71.

This short article about history can be made longer. You can help Wikipedia by adding to it.