Metropolitan Commission of Sewers

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Metropolitan Commission of Sewers
AbbreviationMCS
PredecessorSewer commissions of:
Successor Metropolitan Board of Works
Formation1 January 1849 (1849-01-01)
Dissolved1 January 1856 (1856-01-01)
TypeAd hoc board
Legal status Statutory authority
PurposePublic health, sewerage, drainage
Headquarters 1 Greek Street
Location
  • London, United Kingdom
Coordinates 51°30′54″N0°07′53″W / 51.5149°N 0.1313°W / 51.5149; -0.1313
OriginsMetropolitan Commission of Sewers Act 1848
Region served
Inner London
Membership (1854–1856)
21
Chairman
Richard Jebb
Engineer
Joseph Bazalgette
Commissioners
Parent organization
Government of the United Kingdom

The Metropolitan Commission of Sewers was one of London's first steps towards bringing its sewer and drainage infrastructure under the control of a single public body. It was absorbed by the Metropolitan Board of Works on 1 January 1856.

Contents

Formation

Metropolitan Commission of Sewers Act 1848
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (1837).svg
Long title An Act to consolidate, and continue in force for Two Years and to the End of the then next Session of Parliament, the Metropolitan Commissions of Sewers.
Citation 11 & 12 Vict. c. 112
Dates
Royal assent 4 September 1848
Other legislation
Repeals/revokes
Text of statute as originally enacted
Metropolitan Sewers Act 1852
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (1837).svg
Long title An Act to continue and amend the Metropolitan Sewers Act.
Citation 15 & 16 Vict. c. 64
Dates
Royal assent 30 June 1852
Metropolitan Sewers Act 1853
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (1837).svg
Long title An Act to continue and amend the Metropolitan Sewers Acts.
Citation 16 & 17 Vict. c. 125
Dates
Royal assent 20 August 1853
Other legislation
Repealed by Statute Law Revision Act 1861
Status: Repealed
Metropolitan Sewers Act 1854
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (1837).svg
Long title An Act to continue and amend the Metropolitan Sewers Acts.
Citation 17 & 18 Vict. c. 111
Dates
Royal assent 11 August 1854
Metropolitan Sewers Act 1855
Act of Parliament
Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (1837).svg
Long title An Act to empower the Commissioners of Sewers to expend on House Drainage a certain Sum out of the Monies borrowed by them on Security of the Rates, and also to give to the said Commissioners certain other Powers for the same Purpose.
Citation 18 & 19 Vict. c. 30
Dates
Royal assent 15 June 1855

The commission was formed by the Metropolitan Commission of Sewers Act 1848 (11 & 12 Vict. c. 112), partly in response to public health concerns following serious outbreaks of cholera. The commission's mandate was renewed and amended with supplementary acts:

Commissioners included Sir Edwin Chadwick, Robert Stephenson and Thomas Field Gibson.

The new body combined eight local boards of commissioners that had been established by earlier acts of Parliament:

The area covered by the Metropolitan Commission was defined as the City and Liberties of Westminster, the borough of Southwark, the areas of the previous commissioners and "any such other place in the Counties of Middlesex, Surrey, Essex and Kent or any of them, being not more than twelve miles distant in a straight line from St. Paul's Cathedral, but not being in the City of London or the liberties thereof". No area was to be exempt from the commission's jurisdiction by virtue of being extra-parochial or beyond the ebb or flow of the tide. The headquarters of the commission were at 1 Greek Street, Soho.

The City of London was excluded as it had its own Commission of Sewers dating back to 1669.

Activities

The commission surveyed London's antiquated sewerage system and set about ridding the capital of an estimated 200,000 cesspits, insisting that all cesspits should be closed and that house drains should connect to sewers and empty into the Thames (ultimately, a major contributing factor to "The Great Stink" of 1858).

The commission was notable in that it employed Joseph Bazalgette, first as assistant surveyor (from 1849), taking over as engineer in 1852 after his predecessor died of "harassing fatigues and anxieties". Bazalgette was then appointed chief engineer of the commission's successor, the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1856, and by the end of the decade after "The Great Stink" – his proposals to modernise the London sewerage system were being implemented.

Chairmen

Archives

The Archives are held at the [[London Metropolitan Archives [1]

See also

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References