of Sewers," whose members were nominated by the Government, and during the nine succeeding years six new and differently-constituted commissions were successively appointed; but throughout this period they appear to have been unable to mature and carry out works of any magnitude with the view of remedying the evils arising from the sewage flowing into the Thames. In 1854, Mr. Bazalgette, the chief engineer to the Commissioners of Sewers, was directed to prepare a scheme of intercepting sewers, intended to effect the main drainage of London, and Mr. Haywood was associated with him for the northern portion. These plans remained under consideration until the formation of the Metropolitan Board of Works, two years later, when fresh plans for the drainage of the metropolis were drawn up by Mr. (afterwards Sir Joseph) Bazalgette. After some further delay, these plans were eventually adopted, and the works were commenced in 1859. The chief object sought to be attained by the main drainage works was the interception of the sewage, so as to divert it from the river near London. New lines of sewers were accordingly constructed, laid at right angles to those already existing, and a little below their levels, so as to intercept their contents and convey them to outfalls about fourteen miles below London Bridge. These outfalls are situated at Barking Creek, in Essex, and at Crossness Point, in Erith Marshes. As large a proportion of the sewage as practicable is by this means carried away by gravitation into the salt water, and for the remainder a constant discharge is effected by pumping with powerful engines and machinery. At the outlets the sewage is received into reservoirs, situate on the banks of the Thames, and placed at such a level as will enable them to discharge into the river at or about the time of high water. By this arrangement the sewage is not only at once diluted by the large volume of salt water in the Thames at high water, but is also carried by the ebb tide to a point in the river some twenty-six miles below London Bridge, and the possibility of its return by the following tide within the metropolitan area is by this means effectually prevented. Hyde Park, passes along Oxford Street, High Holborn, and by the railway-station in Farringdon Road, and Old Street Road, and joins the High Level sewer at Old Ford; whilst the Low Level sewer, with its branches, extends from Chiswick and Acton to Abbey Mills, passing on its way by Chelsea and Pimlico, where we have already noticed the large pumping-station,* and so on by the Houses of Parliament, and along the Victoria Embankment. From the pumping-station at Abbey Mills the drainage is conveyed across Plaistow Marshes by the outfall sewer to the reservoir at Barking Creek. On the south side of the Thames the intercepting sewers extend from Upper Norwood, Clapham, and Putney, in three main lines, to Deptford, where they unite, and thence pass on through Charlton and Woolwich, and across Plumstead Marsh to the pumping-house and reservoir at Crossness Point. It need hardly be mentioned that during the formation of this vast net-work of sewers-comprising, as it does on the whole, something over 1,300 miles-a large number of ancient remains of animals, coins, and curiosities, were found; they consisted chiefly of the bones of elephants, whales, and horns of deer and oxen, with some flint implements of war, and human skulls, stone and leaden coffins, and a number of Roman coins. It must not, however, be supposed that the various railway tunnels are all, or nearly all, the wonders of subterranean London, for the arrangements for supplying the metropolis with gas and water, and for carrying off the drainage from the streets and dwellings of the entire metropolis, are equally wonderful; and as these present a terra incognita to most readers of the educated classes, they may well claim a brief notice here. Any one who has seen London at night from some elevation in the neighbourhood—say Hampstead Heath, or Sydenham Hill-will readily understand how minute, as well as extensive, must be the network of pipes overspreading its soil a few feet below the surface, to afford an unfailing supply of gas to illuminate such a vast space as is spread out before him. Thirty years after the general introduction of gas for the lighting of the no less than eighteen public gas-works in London and its immediate vicinity, and twelve public gasworks companies; the capital employed in works, pipes, tanks, gas-holders, apparatus, &c., amounted to the sum of £2,800,000, and the yearly revenue derived represented nearly £500,000. 180,000 The drainage of London on the north side of metropolis-which took place in 1814-there were the Thames is effected by three lines of sewers, the High Level, the Middle Level, and the Low Level. The first of these commences by a junction with the old Fleet sewer, at the foot of Hampstead Hill, and passes through Upper Holloway, Stoke Newington, and Hackney Wick, to Abbey Mills pumping-station, near Plaistow ; the second commences at Bayswater, and skirting * See P. 41, ante. Underground London.] THE GAS AND WATER SUPPLIES. tons of coal were annually used in the making of gas; 1,460,000,000 cubic feet of gas were made in the year; 134,300 private burners were supplied to about 400,000 customers; there were 30,400 public or street consumers-about 2,650 of these were in the City of London; 380 lamp-lighters were employed; 176 gas-holders, several of which were double ones, capable of storing 5,500,000 cubic feet; 890 tons of coal were used in the retorts in the shortest day, in twenty-four hours; 7,120,000 cubic feet of gas were used in the longest night (say 24th of December); and about 2,500 persons were employed in the metropolis alone in this branch of manufacture. Between the years 1822 and 1827 the consumption of gas was nearly doubled; and within the next ten years it was again nearly doubled; and since 1837 these figures must be trebled. Since 1841, when the above statistics were taken, many of the gas companies have amalgamated; and in 1872 their number was reduced to nine, a number which has since been slightly increased. One advantage of the amalgamation of the different companies is that the consumer's interests are more effectually provided for, and that the gas is supplied at a lower price and better in quality. In a previous chapter we have spoken of the pipes that were laid from the conduit at Bayswater* in order to supply the City with water. We learn from Stow that this arrangement dated from the time of Henry III., when-" the river of the Wells, the running water of Walbrook, the bourns, and other the fresh water that were in and about the City, being in process of time, by encroachment for buildings, and otherwise heightening of grounds, utterly decayed, and the number of the citizens. mightily increased, they were forced to seek sweet waters abroad "—at the request of the king, powers were "granted to the citizens and to their successors by one Gilbert Sanford, to convey water from the town of Tyburn, by pipes of lead, into the City." Besides the conduits which were set up in Cheapside, Leadenhall, Fleet Street, and other public places, "bosses" of water were also provided in different parts, which, like the conduits, in some places drew their supply from the Thames. The conduits and water-heads, as we have already had occasion to show, used to be regularly visited in former times by the Lord Mayor "and many worshipful persons, and divers of the masters and wardens of the twelve companies." During these early days the water had to be brought from the conduits to the dwellings of the inhabitants in See p. 183, ante. 237 pitchers or other vessels. It was not until 1582 that any great mechanical power or skill was applied in providing London with water; in that year, however, Peter Morris, a Dutchman, made at London Bridge a "most artificial forcier," by which water was conveyed into the houses. We are told how that, on the Lord Mayor and Aldermen going to view the works in operation, Morris, to show the efficiency of his machine, caused the water to be thrown over St. Magnus' Church. The water-works at the bridge were famous for a long time as one of the sights of London. In 1594 water-works of a similar kind were erected near Broken Wharf, which supplied the houses in West Cheap and around St. Paul's, as far as Fleet Street. This was all that was accomplished in the way of supplying London with water up to the appearance of Hugh Middleton, "citizen and goldsmith," upon the scene, early in the reign of James I. It seems that power had been granted by Elizabeth for cutting and conveying a river from any part of Middlesex or Hertfordshire to the City of London, with a limitation of ten years' time for the accomplishment of the work; but the man to accomplish it was not forthcoming. James I. confirmed the grant; and then it was that Middleton came forward with the offer of his wealth, skill, and energy. After long search and deliberation two springs rising in Hertfordshire were fixed upon, and in 1608 the work was actually commenced. Of the difficulties and obstacles with which the worthy "citizen and goldsmith" met in the accomplishment of his self-imposed task, and also of the "New River," which he formed, we have spoken in our account of Islington.* When London, however, mustered beyond a million of inhabitants, even the "New River" failed to give an adequate supply of water to the mouths and the houses which required it, and other companies were formed for the purpose of supplying different parts of the great metropolis, and the Chelsea and other water-works were started by various companies in succession. Of some of these we have already made mention. In 1833-4, the quantity of water daily supplied by the eight different water companies of London was upwards of 21,000,000 imperial gallons. By far the greatest portion of this was drawn from the Thames, a small quantity from the springs and ponds of Highgate and Hampstead, and the rest from the River Lea and the New River. The capital expended on the works of these companies then amounted to more than £3,000,000, and their * See Vol. II., p. 266. gross rental to nearly £300,000. The number of Thames, compared with that delivered in August houses or buildings supplied by them was nearly and September, showed a marked deterioration 200,000, each of which had an average supply of in quality, the proportion of contamination with about 180 gallons, at a cost, also, on the average, of organic matter in solution having increased. The about 30s. yearly. It is not easy to ascertain the West Middlesex Company delivered the best of capital now sunk in the water-supply of the metro- the Thames waters. The sample of the Southpolis. But in 1876 the average daily supply of the wark Company's water was "slightly turbid from following eight companies-Chelsea, East London, insufficient filtration, and contained moving organGrand Junction, Kent, Lambeth, New River, South-isms." The other samples of Thames water were, wark and Lambeth, and West Middlesex-was however, clear and transparent. The water suprather more than 120,000,000 gallons, upwards of 60,000,000 being taken from the Thames, and the rest from other sources. The Thames supply is drawn from various points, extending up the river as far as Hampton and Ditton; the rest comes to Londoners from the River Lea, and from the chalk-wells in the neighbourhood of Crayford, Chislehurst, Bromley, and Dartford, in Kent. The net-work of pipes underground to convey the water to almost every house in London, must indeed be something surprising; and it presents a striking contrast to the state of things which must have existed when the ancient conduits were the only sources of supply. From the Report of the Examiner appointed by Government to test the purity of our water, as published by him in September, 1876, it appears that the number of miles of streets which contain mains constantly charged, and upon which hydrants for fire purposes could at once be fixed, is 667. The total number of hydrants erected at the above date was 4,211, of which 2,695 were for private purposes, 541 for street watering, 500 for public use, and 475 for Government establishments. the average daily supply of water in the metropolis one-fifth was delivered for other than domestic purposes. There are 398 acres of reservoirs with available capacity for the subsidence and storage of 1,041,550,000 gallons of unfiltered water, and covered reservoirs capable of storing 106,187,000 gallons of filtered water within the radius prescribed. plied by the New River and the East London Companies was much superior in quality to that drawn from the Thames; indeed, the New River water, in chemical purity, is said to surpass even the deep well water delivered by the Kent Company, which rises in the chalk hills about Crayford. Previous to the completion of the Main Drainage works, the system of drainage that had been adopted in London for several years gave an amount of sewerage almost equal in extent to the length of every street, lane, and alley in the metropolis. On the north side of the Thames there were about fifty main sewers, measuring upwards of a hundred miles; about twenty of equal magnitude, extending some sixty miles, were on the south side of the river. Add to these the private sewers, turnings, alleys, subways, &c., the mileage of sewerage might have been found of sufficient length to reach from London to Constantinople. Through these secret channels rolled the refuse of London, in a black, murky flood, here and there changing its temperature and its colour, as chemical dye-works, sugarbakers, tallow-melters, and slaughterers added their Of tributary streams to the pestiferous rolling river. About 31,650,000,000 gallons of this liquid was poured yearly into the Thames, in its course through London, and even this enormous quantity has only partially drained the great city, leaving some parts of it totally undrained for eight hours out of every twelve. The river of filth struggling through its dark channel sometimes rose to a height of five feet, but generally from two to three. The system of "flushing" the sewers, which we have already described, tends greatly to purify them; and by means of the artificial waterfalls thus secured much of the filth is swept away which would otherwise never be removed; and then, again, the sewers are better ventilated by the introduction of iron gratings, down which the daylight faintly struggles. Consequently, those whose business leads them to descend into the sewers are not now, as they formerly were, exposed to great risk of health and life. From an analytical report, made by Dr. Frankland, of the state of the Thames water supplied to the metropolis during the month of October, 1876, we learn that, taking unity to represent the amount of organic impurity (on this occasion) in a given volume of the Kent Company's, water, the proportional amount in an equal volume of water supplied by each of the other metropolitan companies was as follows:-New River, o'9; East London, 24; West Middlesex, 28; Grand Junction, 33; Lambeth, 4'1; Chelsea, 4'2; and Southwark, 45. The water delivered by the five companies drawing their supply exclusively from the Another important feature of "Underground London" is its "subways." These are among the latest advances which have been made in engineer Underground London.] THE SUBWAYS. 239 ing skill, and have resulted from the peculiar arches, similar to those employed in railway formation of some of the new streets, where, the viaducts; each arch is twenty-one feet in span, and roadway being of a higher level than formerly, forty-five feet in width, and the series is interrupted owing to its construction upon arches, an oppor- only by the three bridges which had to be erected tunity has been seized upon for their erection. on the line of the Viaduct-namely, one over Shoe Mr. Haywood, in his Report on the Holborn Lane, another over Farringdon Street, and a third Valley Improvement (1869), says: "The public over the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway. advantage resulting from the construction of sub- A line of carriage-way, upwards of ten feet in width, ways has long been acknowledged; but, at the is left throughout the whole length of these vaults, same time, it is well known that the Gas and and entrances to them are provided from FarringWater Companies showed at first considerable don Street and Shoe Lane. The vaults, which hesitation in using subways; and in the case of are immediately adjacent to Farringdon Street and those of Southwark Street, constructed under the Shoe Lane, are lighted by windows looking on to direction of the Metropolitan Board of Works, those streets, and can be used for office purposes it was not until the Board succeeded in obtaining by those having possession of them; arrangements an Act of Parliament that the respective companies are also made by which access can be given to placed their pipes in such subways." each separate compartment, arch, or vault, by forming a passage-way, beneath the subways and over the sewers, from the houses on either side of the Viaduct, so that the vaults can either be let singly or in a group, as may be expedient. Each vault is ventilated on to the surface of the roadway by iron gratings, and in the spandrils are lines of pipes, through which the water is conveyed into the sewers below. In a previous volume* we have given a general account of Holborn Viaduct, and of the improvement effected in the surrounding locality by the wholesale demolition of small and crowded houses, and the formation of new, broad, open streets; but we may here say something on a part of that mighty undertaking, which, from its being below the surface of the roadway, is passed over unseen and unthought-of by the majority of individuals who cross over the Viaduct. The work of construction extended from Fetter Lane to Newgate Street, between which points the new surfaces of the Viaduct and roads, as compared with the former lines of thoroughfare, may be thus summarised :At Hatton Garden, and in front of the tower of St. Sepulchre's Church, the street surface is now three feet higher than formerly; at Shoe Lane it is upwards of twenty-four feet; and at Farringdon Street Bridge there is a difference of more than thirty-two feet. From Fetter Lane to the Viaduct Circus, the width of Holborn varies from 86 feet to 107 feet; the Viaduct, from the Circus at its western end to Giltspur Street at its eastern end, is 1,285 feet long and 80 feet wide, the carriage-way being 50 feet and the two footpaths each 15 feet in width. The centre of the Viaduct is formed of a series of large arches, and on both sides are subways for gas, water, and telegraph pipes, and vaults for the use of the houses. At the western end, between Fetter Lane and the Circus, and at the eastern end, from Snow Hill to Giltspur Street, the new levels were made by filling up the ground removed from the excavations for the foundations of the Viaduct. Between Snow Hill and the Circus, the central portions of the Viaduct are formed of a series of • See Vol. II., pp. 501-2. The "subways" extend along the Viaduct beneath the pavement on either side, and between the larger vaults above described, and the vaults of the houses on the outer sides of the Viaduct. They are for the most part seven feet wide, and rather more than eleven feet high, and their coverings are formed of semi-circular arches in brickwork. The internal faces of the subways are of white brick, and the floors are of Yorkshire stone landings, built into the walls on each side, and laid with inclinations nearly the same as those of the surface of the Viaduct. On the sides next to the central vaults are channels cut in the landings, and at intervals of twenty-four feet are openings, covered with bell-traps, which communicate with the sewers beneath. Immediately above these trapped openings to the sewers are iron pipes, which connect with the drain-pipes in the spandrils of the central vaults, and convey the water which may leak through from the street surface into the sewer; by means of these trapped openings, the rain water which falls into the subways through the ventilators in the footways, and the water used in washing the subways, escapes into the sewers. Owing to the difference between the old and new levels, and to the three bridges on the line of the Viaduct, the subways necessarily vary in design at about every eighty feet of their length; they are carried over the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway by an iron construction; on both sides. |