When Were The First Sewers In London?

In the 19th century, Britain's longest river, the Thames was practically one of the largest open sewers in the country. The occurrence of a series of deadly epidemics such as cholera gripped the nation, which forced the British parliament to take necessary steps to create a modern and effective drainage system in 1858.

Joseph Bazalgette, the chief engineer of the Metropolitan Board of Works at the time, designed an underground sewerage system that comprised a network of six main interceptory sewers that diverted waste to the Thames Estuary. These sewers were nearly 160 kilometres long. Three of these sewers were located at the north of the river. The southernmost one of them, located at the lowest level, was incorporated into the Thames Embankment. While the estuary was located downstream from the main centre of population, the embankment allowed the civil engineers to plan the construction of new roads, which would reduce the vehicular congestion.

Besides this, the embankment also facilitated the construction of new public gardens and the Circle Line of the London Underground, the tube railway system.

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