Sewer History: Photos and Graphics

Dark Ages to Industrial Age (300 CE - early 19th century)
(Click on thumbnails to enlarge image)

The Roman Empire fell in early CE along with the concepts of baths, basic sanitation, aqueducts, engineered water, and sewage systems. Sanitation reverted back to the basics (at best). A creed evolved that uncleanliness was next to godliness, and bathing/sanitation became quite uncommon, while homes, towns, and streams became filthy. Diseases were commonplace; epidemics decimated towns and villages. Twenty-five percent (or more) of the European population died of disease (cholera, plague, etc.). The major transmitter of the plague was rats (actually bacteria conveyed from rats to people via flea bites). The rat population thrived amongst the mess and stench commonplace in medieval times.

Recovery from the sanitation disaster of the Middle Ages did not really start until the nineteenth century.

See Tracking Down the Roots of Our Sanitary Sewers for more information.

For Reference	For extensive information about Victorian London, see the comprehensive website at www.victorianlondon.org. There is a large section about Sewers and Sanitation under "Health and Hygiene," and materials can be found under "Diseases" (cholera and typhus) and by searching "sewer". This website provides a graphic look, in the words and pictures of the time, into the horrible conditions that preceded modern sanitation. A huge thanks goes to Lee Jackson, the creator of the website, for this impressive collection of original materials. Water-related Infrastructure in Medieval London, WaterHistory.org Ernest L. Sabine, Latrines and Cesspools of Mediaeval London (pdf). Article in Slate online magazine about the sewers of London. "...Joseph Bazalgette is still the emperor of London's sewers, even though 150 years have passed since he was tasked with revolutionizing them, thus ridding the city of cholera and foul smells..." ( html version avail if article is offline) The Life Magazine online image archive has a large collection of epidemic illustrations. To access, go to Google Images and search for "cholera source:life" and "plague source:life" etc. Some can be seen on our Disease and Sanitation page. National Library of Medicine Cholera Online exhibit
Medieval latrines and toilets
	See Toilets and Latrines for a view into the sanitary conditions in medieval castles.
Baths and bathing
	Medieval illustration of a large stew, the communal bath which featured feasting and prostitution. Source: unknown.
	Medieval illustration of a bath and food board; Tristan, Paris, 1494-95. Source: unknown.
Sanitary conditions in the Middle Ages
	Medieval illustration of the kitchen cat chasing rats. Source: unknown.
Epidemics
	See Diseases and Sanitation - Plague for a large collection of graphics about plague in Europe.