What was the Great Stink of London in 1858?

The Great Stink was an event in central London during July and August 1858, when hot weather intensified the smell of untreated human waste and industrial effluent on the banks of the River Thames. The problem had built up over several years, with an ageing and inadequate sewer system that emptied directly into the river. The smell became so bad that it prompted national and local authorities to act on a large new sewer scheme. [1] [2]

London's population doubled between 1800 and the 1850s, and by the time of the stink it exceeded 2.5 million, making it the largest city in the world. Waste of many kinds ended up in the Thames: human waste, dead animals, food, industrial waste and the bodies of people who drowned. Night-soil collectors took away some waste, but much reached the streets or watercourses. Flush toilets, increasingly popular, moved the problem from homes into the old sewers and on to the river. [2] [3]

The weather then made matters worse. Wikipedia reports June 1858 shade temperatures averaging 34 to 36 °C, while the London Museum gives about 30 degrees for weeks. Either way, the dry heat lowered the river, leaving raw sewage on the banks to bake. [1] [2] [4]

At the time, many people believed that disease spread through foul air, a idea called miasma. Cholera outbreaks had struck London from 1831, and the smell of the Thames was widely blamed. In reality cholera is a waterborne disease, carried in sewage that polluted the city's water and was swallowed by people drinking it. Londoners were still using the Thames for drinking and washing, and the museum notes that cholera and typhoid spread quickly that summer. [3] [2] [1]

Those who could afford it left the city, while others stayed indoors. The curtains on the river side of the Houses of Parliament were soaked in chloride of lime to fight the smell, and there was talk of moving Parliament away from Westminster. Wikipedia also reports that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert cut short a Thames pleasure cruise because of the odour. [2] [1] [3]

Benjamin Disraeli tabled a bill on 15 July to amend the 1855 Act governing London's administration. It passed on 2 August, and the BBC and London Museum describe it as becoming law in 18 days. [1] [5] [2]

The Metropolitan Board of Works hired the engineer Joseph Bazalgette. His plan carried sewage eastwards through interconnecting high-, mid- and low-level sewers to outfalls beyond the metropolitan area, with pumping stations lifting it into higher pipes. Work began in early 1859 and finished in 1875. The scheme also included the Thames embankments. BBC Bitesize says it ended significant cholera outbreaks in London, and the brick-lined tunnels still form the basis of London's sewers today. [1] [2] [4] [5]