killed over 10,000 Londoners in 1853. During the summer of that year, local residents couldnt even walk outside without gagging. During the reign of Edward VI many free grammar schools were set up to take in non-fee paying students. Some preparatory schools were free - although there was a small fee for materials, candles, fuel, etc. The English Reformation ensured the separation of the Church from education but children still learnt prayers and the catechism, and religious texts were often used to teach reading. By further contaminating London's water supply, the risk of cholera was greatly increased. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. Wealthy Tudor homes needed many rooms, where a large number of guests and servants could be accommodated, fed and entertained. The Victorian brick-lined tunnels are still the basis of London's sewer system even today, thanks to Joseph Bazalgette's foresight. Sewers are a triumph of Victorian engineering. The English defenses, on the other hand, were thin and outdated; England had too few soldiers and they were at best only partially trained. During the 20th century, major improvements were made to the sewerage system and to the sewage treatment provision to substantially reduce pollution of the Thames Estuary and the North Sea. Another complication was the letters i and j were considered the same (j often being used as the capital), as were u and v (the latter often being used only at the beginning of words). Bazalgette also personally visited every interchange between the old drains and his new sewers to check that no waste was escaping. . A basic degree course typically lasted four years (a Master's degree was up to seven years), and subjects focussed on the well-established seven liberal arts (grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music). The new 'Thames Tideway' scheme includes a wide diameter storage-and-transfer tunnel (internal diameters of 7.2 m and 9 m have been suggested), 22 miles (35km) long, underneath the riverbed of the Thames between Hammersmith in the west and Beckton/Crossness in the east. The Elizabethan era saw the birth of plays that were far more morally complex, vital and diverse. Photograph John Eastcott. Finally, when the smell and disease got really bad, the British government decided to step in to eradicate the problem. Shelton) in a rowboat along the length of the ditch: [60], At a somewhat higher social level families ate an enormous variety of meats, who could choose among venison, beef, mutton, veal, pork, lamb, fowl, salmon, eel, and shellfish. No sewage systems. [49] Wealthy families hired a tutor to teach the boys at home. During the Black Death, infected houses were quarantinedand strangers banned from entering towns, but at the same time,fires were used to destroy infected materials and people wore masks and nosegays to purify the air they breathed. When Henry VIII shut the monasteries he closed their schools. - but most preparatory schools charged a fixed quarterly price. There were some institutions in the Elizabethan era that took in girls only, but these were akin to babysitting services where the adult guardian was often illiterate themselves. At this time, London was the heart of England, reflecting all the vibrant qualities of the Elizabethan Age. Here are 10 things you didnt know about the infamous London Sewerage System. Unfortunately, his limited improvements to the chaotic sewage and drainage systems led to a greater flow of raw sewage into the River Thamesthe main source of drinking water for London. There was, however, no compulsory national system of education, no fixed curriculum, and still only a small number of children were sent to schools, but it was a progression from the situation in the Middle Ages. . Shakespeare's overcrowded, rat-infested, sexually promiscuous London, with raw sewage flowing in the Thames, was the hub for the nastiest diseases known to mankind. Wealth was demonstrated by the extensive use of glass. Inflation was rapid and the wealth gap was wide. This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. Cartwright, Mark. point. There was no running water, you did not have indoor toilets, and there was no toilet paper. The late 16th century, when William Shakespeare and his contemporaries lived and worked in London, was one of the most notable periods in the city's cultural history. After several plots to overthrow her, Catholic clergy were mostly considered to be traitors, and were pursued aggressively in England. Signed by Joseph Bazalgette. The wealthy wore furs and jewels, and the cloth of their garments featured extravagant embroidery. Their skin was also known to turn blue and feel cool to the touch. The ideas of Humanism which had become popular during the Renaissance greatly influenced the curriculum with the idea that, once armed with a knowledge of Latin and Greek, students could learn from classical texts the civic values which would allow them to best serve their careers and the state. The Annual Summer Fair and other seasonal fairs such as May Day were often bawdy affairs. Their homes were, as in earlier centuries, thatched huts with one or two rooms, although later on during this period, roofs were also tiled. Yet even before Elizabeth had begun to reign, the number of cards had been standardized to 52 cards per deck. The Times newspaper said that Members of Parliament had been "forced by sheer stench" to solve the sewer issue. Called the Great Stink of 1858, the stench became so insufferable during a particularly bad heat wave that it prompted the government to take action. In Sketch by John Martin. In larger towns and cities, such as London, common diseases arising from lack of sanitation included smallpox, measles, malaria, typhus, diphtheria, scarlet fever, and chickenpox. World History Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in Canada. As Ranker explains, raw waste from the people of London flowed directly to the River Thames. Stale bread could be used to make bread puddings, and bread crumbs served to thicken soups, stews, and sauces. The combination of scary symptoms and fear of the unknown seized the publics imagination and chlolera was characterised as a foreign epidemic (it was commonly known as Asiatic cholera), which was 'invading'the nation. Map of proposed Metropolitan Drainage system, 1858. It was a brief period of internal peace between the Wars of the Roses in the previous century, the English Reformation, and the religious battles between Protestants and Catholics prior to Elizabeth's reign, and then the later conflict of the English Civil War and the ongoing political battles between parliament and the monarchy that engulfed the remainder of the seventeenth century. Died on March 24, 1603 Buried on April 28, 1603 Her full name was Elizabeth Tudor. This page has been archived and is no longer updated. [11] Whereas before warships had tried to grapple with each other so that soldiers could board the enemy ship, now they stood off and fired broadsides that would sink the enemy vessel. During the Elizabethan era, English folks used chamber pots and dumped their waste onto the streets of London. Lashed by their consciences, to die, affeard. -Chief Engineer: Joseph Bazalgette. Boys were allowed to go to school and began at the age of 4, they then moved to grammar school when they were 7 years old. The more prosperous enjoyed a wide variety of food and drink, including exotic new drinks such as tea, coffee, and chocolate. London's sewage network Suggestions for further research In 1831 a terrifying new epidemic arrived in London, bringing with it fear and panicand a sense of urgency about the city's sanitation problems. [38], Although home to only a small part of the population the Tudor municipalities were overcrowded and unhygienic. It shouldnt be too difficult to imagine, then, the stench in London during the time that the Thames was used as a sewer. People did not take the time to pick up their city of take the time to care for . These fires were also the only way of cooking food. voyage."*. Rapid industrialisation and urbanisation had created many poor, filthy and foul-smelling city neighbourhoods that tended to be the focal points of disease and epidemics. performed by burying a glass jar in horse dung. Plans for the drainage of the Isle of Dogs, 1867. There were a number of small preparatory schools (aka ABC, alphabet or 'petty' schools) for young children, and these offered a rudimentary education, focussing on the alphabet, communal reading, and simple arithmetic (writing was not seen as absolutely necessary at this stage). Web. Set to open in 2023, the tunnel runs for 16 miles under the tidal section of the famous river. [24] In 1600, the queen chartered the East India Company in an attempt to break the Spanish and Portuguese monopoly of far Eastern trade. He eventually convinced local officials to remove the handle of the pump, although by that time the worst of the epidemic had actually passed. [19][20], From 1577 to 1580, Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe. The Curtain was built some 200 yards south of London's first playhouse, The Theatre, which had opened a year before, in 1576. Pg 285, Young, Bruce W. 2008. It also physically changed the appearance of riverside London and the River Thames. Scheidies . Historian's refer to the era as "the golden age" but at the time, the city of London was anything but. [82], It has often been said that the Renaissance came late to England, in contrast to Italy and the other states of continental Europe; the fine arts in England during the Tudor and Stuart eras were dominated by foreign and imported talentfrom Hans Holbein the Younger under Henry VIII to Anthony van Dyck under Charles I. Only the most wealthy people allowed their daughters to be taught, and only at home. Can you help us find iconic pieces of fashion history? The card suits tended to change over time. Some boys went to university at the age of about 14. Over the decades the pattern was set that anybody who became anybody in England attended Oxford or Cambridge. Sign up for our free weekly email newsletter! The astronomers Thomas Digges and Thomas Harriot made important contributions; William Gilbert published his seminal study of magnetism, De Magnete, in 1600. As a result cholera was rife, and one of the worst epidemics
People who publicly supported Catholicism were excluded from the professions; sometimes fined or imprisoned. And what if they escaped? [35] She spent the rest of her reign ferociously fending off radical reformers and Roman Catholics who wanted to modify the Settlement of Church affairs: The Church of England was Protestant, "with its peculiar arrested development in Protestant terms, and the ghost which it harboured of an older world of Catholic traditions and devotional practice".[36]. [66] Elizabeth made a virtue of her virginity: in 1559, she told the Commons, "And, in the end, this shall be for me sufficient, that a marble stone shall declare that a queen, having reigned such a time, lived and died a virgin". By the time Bazalgette died in 1891, there were 5.5 million people living and defecating in inner London, over double the number when he first designed the sewers in the 1850s. The term Elizabethan era was already well-established in English and British historical consciousness, long before the accession of Queen Elizabeth II, and generally refers solely to the time of the earlier Queen of this name. [79], Elizabethan literature is considered one of the "most splendid" in the history of English literature. Inadequate hygiene standards added to the problem and spread of the disease In 1570, Pope Pius V declared Elizabeth a heretic who was not the legitimate queen and that her subjects no longer owed her obedience. Many other weapons other than crossbow from the medieval age were replaced by modern Elizabethan weapons. Yep. Grammar school teachers were as keen on discipline as in the preparatory schools so the birch cane (or a bundle of them) would have been painfully remembered by most pupils. Cartwright, M. (2020, August 05). Members of Parliament, who worked right by the Thames, bore the brunt of the smell and found their daily work intolerable. Curiously, by the Elizabethan period, the Inns of Court also attracted young men who had not the slightest intention of becoming lawyers. As Chief Engineer on London's Metropolitan Board of Works, Joseph Bazalgette was primarily responsible for the creation of the new system. The idea prevailed that education was a luxury and designed to prepare children for the working life they would assume when adults. During the Elizabethan era, people looked forward to holidays because opportunities for leisure were limited, with time away from hard work being restricted to periods after church on Sundays. Parliament initially offered 2.5 million, somewhere between 240 million and over a billion pounds in today's values. The poorer among the population consumed a diet largely of bread, cheese, milk, and beer, with small portions of meat, fish and vegetables, and occasionally some fruit. The Queen's hostility to strict Calvinistic doctrines blocked the Radicals. They derived from the old custom of mystery plays, in which stories and fables were enacted to teach lessons or educate about life in general. Disease spread easily. There were also the Inns of Chancery, which offered studies in Parliamentary Proceedings and a more basic introduction to legal matters. Originally carrying waste directly to the River Thames, these sewers resulted in thousands of Londoners falling ill, losing their lives, or having to live amongst one of the most putrid smells imaginable. The day was shortened by an hour at either end in the winter months, and pupils were usually left free on Thursday and Saturday afternoons. [48] Those that did go were mainly the sons of wealthy or ambitious fathers who could afford to pay the attendance fee. infested by rats--a certain source of infection for the The whole project was colossal in scope: it required 318 million bricks and 670,000 cubic metres of concrete. In 1831 a terrifying new epidemic arrived in London, bringing with it fear and panicand a sense of urgency about the city's sanitation problems. For the most part, leisure and festivities took place on a public church holy day. Museum of London registered charity number 1139250, Follow us on Twitter for news, views and conversation about London, Join us on Facebook and share your views on current London issues, Browse our YouTube videos of teaching resources, London history, fashion and more, See objects from our collection, snapshots of events and share your visits with us on Instagram. Instead, it was contributing to waves of cholera outbreaks and other public health crises. How Bazalgette built London's first super-sewer 28 March is the birth anniversary of Joseph Bazalgette, the Victorian engineer who masterminded London's modern sewer system. Spain was well established in the Americas, while Portugal, in union with Spain from 1580, had an ambitious global empire in Africa, Asia and South America. Just an hour before the disaster, they had pumped 75 million gallons of raw sewage into the river, making the water black and poisonous. Schools were harsh and teachers were very strict, often beating pupils who misbehaved. The
In miasma theory, it was believed that diseases were caused by the presence in the air of a miasma, a poisonous vapour in which were suspended particles of decaying matter that was characterised by its foul smell. [28] Mary had tried her hand at an aggressive anti-Protestant Inquisition and was hated for it; it was not to be repeated. In 1800s England, the miasma theory made sense to the sanitary reformers. In addition to drama and the theatre, it saw a flowering of poetry, with new forms like the sonnet, the Spenserian stanza, and dramatic blank verse, as well as prose, including historical chronicles, pamphlets, and the first English novels. "On the famous Much of this scientific and technological progress related to the practical skill of navigation. 28 March is the birth anniversary of Joseph Bazalgette, the Victorian engineer who masterminded London's modern sewer system. In the 1700s, Great Britain began transforming into an industrialised nation. 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