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| Victorian engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette inspects his handiwork A POINT OF VIEW By David Cannadine Sewers and water mains are as vital to the lives of cities as arteries and veins are to the lives of individuals. | Victorian engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette inspects his handiwork A POINT OF VIEW By David Cannadine Sewers and water mains are as vital to the lives of cities as arteries and veins are to the lives of individuals. |
| A few weeks ago, I received an estimate from a plumber which I duly accepted, and he recently completed the work to our mutual satisfaction. But this might never have happened, because the estimate arrived in an envelope that was incorrectly addressed to me at Sewage Street in London. | A few weeks ago, I received an estimate from a plumber which I duly accepted, and he recently completed the work to our mutual satisfaction. But this might never have happened, because the estimate arrived in an envelope that was incorrectly addressed to me at Sewage Street in London. |
| It's true that the name of the thoroughfare on which I reside begins with an S, and it also includes the letters e, w and a in that order; so this is the sort of Freudian slip that I suppose a plumber of all professions might be forgiven for making. | It's true that the name of the thoroughfare on which I reside begins with an S, and it also includes the letters e, w and a in that order; so this is the sort of Freudian slip that I suppose a plumber of all professions might be forgiven for making. |
| Replacing ageing water mainsBut it was only thanks to the lateral thinking of someone in our local sorting office that I ever received this communication. Yet the address on the envelope also reminded me that what goes on beneath the roads and pavements of our towns and cities is in many ways at least as important as what goes on above ground. | |
| At present, there can be scarcely anyone in London who needs telling this because so many of our streets are being dug up. As I walk to work, from my non-Sewage St address, I've been passing just such a scene of urban excavation. | At present, there can be scarcely anyone in London who needs telling this because so many of our streets are being dug up. As I walk to work, from my non-Sewage St address, I've been passing just such a scene of urban excavation. |
| A billboard informed pedestrians that the men digging and drilling down there in the trenches are "replacing London's Victorian water mains", because at least half of the pipes were more than 100 years old. | A billboard informed pedestrians that the men digging and drilling down there in the trenches are "replacing London's Victorian water mains", because at least half of the pipes were more than 100 years old. |
| I could never make up my mind what the word "Victorian" was intended to mean in this particular context. It might have been put in as a shorthand expression for the 19th Century, in the same way that Asa Briggs used it in his celebrated book, Victorian Cities. | I could never make up my mind what the word "Victorian" was intended to mean in this particular context. It might have been put in as a shorthand expression for the 19th Century, in the same way that Asa Briggs used it in his celebrated book, Victorian Cities. |
| Or it could have been intended more critically which was how Lytton Strachey deployed it when he entitled his most iconoclastic book Eminent Victorians, but this time implying that 19th Century sewers were structurally defective, badly built, and didn't last as long as they should have done. | Or it could have been intended more critically which was how Lytton Strachey deployed it when he entitled his most iconoclastic book Eminent Victorians, but this time implying that 19th Century sewers were structurally defective, badly built, and didn't last as long as they should have done. |
| Or it could have been inserted as a term of praise, as when Margaret Thatcher celebrated those "Victorian values" of self-help and self-denial, by reminding us just how long these 100-year-old water mains have lasted, so it's scarcely surprising, and absolutely no criticism, that they need replacing now. | Or it could have been inserted as a term of praise, as when Margaret Thatcher celebrated those "Victorian values" of self-help and self-denial, by reminding us just how long these 100-year-old water mains have lasted, so it's scarcely surprising, and absolutely no criticism, that they need replacing now. |
| Sewer king | Sewer king |
| Whichever way the word Victorian was being used, it's undeniable that sewage systems and water mains were one of the great achievements of the 19th Century; and in Britain, the most famous civil engineer associated with such works is a remarkable figure, who rejoiced in the splendid name of Sir Joseph William Bazalgette. | Whichever way the word Victorian was being used, it's undeniable that sewage systems and water mains were one of the great achievements of the 19th Century; and in Britain, the most famous civil engineer associated with such works is a remarkable figure, who rejoiced in the splendid name of Sir Joseph William Bazalgette. |
| In recent years tours of sewers have become quite the fashion in many of Europe's great cities Hear Radio 4's A Point of View This suggests his family were of French origin, and Bazalgette's grandfather, Jean Louis, arrived in England in 1784. Joseph William Bazalgette was born in Enfield in 1819, he trained and practised as a civil engineer, and in 1856 was appointed chief engineer to the Metropolitan Board of Works, which had recently been established to oversee the provision and regulation of what we would now call London's urban infrastructure, and which was the forerunner of the London County Council, which later became the greater London Council, until Margaret Thatcher abolished it in 1986. | |
| Bazalgette wasn't particularly tall, and he was slight and spare of physique; but in every other way he was a big and masterful man, and his face, with its keen grey eyes and its grey whiskers gave all those who met him the impression he was a man "of exceptional power". | Bazalgette wasn't particularly tall, and he was slight and spare of physique; but in every other way he was a big and masterful man, and his face, with its keen grey eyes and its grey whiskers gave all those who met him the impression he was a man "of exceptional power". |
| It was Bazalgette who directed the construction of 1,000 miles of sewers, which made London a more sanitary and better smelling city than it had ever been before. He also superintended the building of the Victoria, the Albert and the Chelsea Embankments along the Thames, and he was responsible for creating such major thoroughfares as Northumberland and Shaftesbury Avenues. | It was Bazalgette who directed the construction of 1,000 miles of sewers, which made London a more sanitary and better smelling city than it had ever been before. He also superintended the building of the Victoria, the Albert and the Chelsea Embankments along the Thames, and he was responsible for creating such major thoroughfares as Northumberland and Shaftesbury Avenues. |
| Inspecting London's sewers in 1950London's water, by contrast, was supplied by private companies, and it was they who put in many of the mains that are now being replaced. But as the chief engineer of the metropolitan Board of Works, it was once again Bazalgette who was the man who oversaw these important installations. | Inspecting London's sewers in 1950London's water, by contrast, was supplied by private companies, and it was they who put in many of the mains that are now being replaced. But as the chief engineer of the metropolitan Board of Works, it was once again Bazalgette who was the man who oversaw these important installations. |
| Many of Bazalgette's greatest engineering achievements were either hidden from public view, or were just taken for granted. But among those in the know, his reputation as a public health engineer was unrivalled, he advised on many sewage systems, drainage schemes and water supplies in Britain and overseas, and he was knighted in 1874. | Many of Bazalgette's greatest engineering achievements were either hidden from public view, or were just taken for granted. But among those in the know, his reputation as a public health engineer was unrivalled, he advised on many sewage systems, drainage schemes and water supplies in Britain and overseas, and he was knighted in 1874. |
| He took justifiable pride in what he described as "those engineering works which promote the health and comfort of the inhabitants of large cities, and by which human life may be preserved and prolonged". Bazalgette retired from his labours in 1889, after more than 40 years service, when the Metropolitan Board of Works was superseded by the London County Council. He lived the rest of his life in Wimbledon, and on his death in 1891 he was interred in a splendid neoclassical tomb at St Mary's Church, which survives to this day; and there's also a bust of him at the far west end of the Victoria Embankment. | He took justifiable pride in what he described as "those engineering works which promote the health and comfort of the inhabitants of large cities, and by which human life may be preserved and prolonged". Bazalgette retired from his labours in 1889, after more than 40 years service, when the Metropolitan Board of Works was superseded by the London County Council. He lived the rest of his life in Wimbledon, and on his death in 1891 he was interred in a splendid neoclassical tomb at St Mary's Church, which survives to this day; and there's also a bust of him at the far west end of the Victoria Embankment. |
| Escape route | Escape route |
| And he was not the only Briton whose 19th Century construction works were primarily subterranean. For during his own lifetime, there were two engineers, who happened to be a father and a son, whose international reputation was even greater, and a book has recently been published about them, in Polish, which rather bears this out. | And he was not the only Briton whose 19th Century construction works were primarily subterranean. For during his own lifetime, there were two engineers, who happened to be a father and a son, whose international reputation was even greater, and a book has recently been published about them, in Polish, which rather bears this out. |
| Harry Lime takes refuge in Vienna's sewers in The Third ManThe senior figure was Bazalgette's near-contemporary William Lindley, who made his reputation as engineer in chief to the city of Hamburg, where he superintended the construction of its sewage system and water supply during the 1840s; and in later years he offered advice in Dusseldorf, St Petersburg and Warsaw. His son, Sir William Heerlin Lindley, was even more eminent, and did similar work for the cities of Moscow, Bucharest, Prague, Trieste and Vienna. | Harry Lime takes refuge in Vienna's sewers in The Third ManThe senior figure was Bazalgette's near-contemporary William Lindley, who made his reputation as engineer in chief to the city of Hamburg, where he superintended the construction of its sewage system and water supply during the 1840s; and in later years he offered advice in Dusseldorf, St Petersburg and Warsaw. His son, Sir William Heerlin Lindley, was even more eminent, and did similar work for the cities of Moscow, Bucharest, Prague, Trieste and Vienna. |
| It's not often realised how many central European sewage systems and water mains were built during the second half of the 19th Century with British advice and assistance. | It's not often realised how many central European sewage systems and water mains were built during the second half of the 19th Century with British advice and assistance. |
| But if you were to play a game of free association with the words "sewers" and "Vienna", it wouldn't be long before you came up with a very different sort of British connection, namely Graham Greene's "third man" Harry Lime. A selfish corrupt racketeer, who made his money from selling watered-down penicillin on the black market in the aftermath of World War II. The Third Man was filmed about 60 years ago and the climax is the underground chase in the sewers of Vienna, where Lime is finally cornered and shot, as he makes one last despairing effort to escape to the streets above. | But if you were to play a game of free association with the words "sewers" and "Vienna", it wouldn't be long before you came up with a very different sort of British connection, namely Graham Greene's "third man" Harry Lime. A selfish corrupt racketeer, who made his money from selling watered-down penicillin on the black market in the aftermath of World War II. The Third Man was filmed about 60 years ago and the climax is the underground chase in the sewers of Vienna, where Lime is finally cornered and shot, as he makes one last despairing effort to escape to the streets above. |
| Almost 10 years later, in 1957, it was the turn of the sewers of Warsaw to be depicted on the big screen in Kanaly, directed by Andrzej Wajda, which once again was powerfully shot in black and white. But unlike The Third Man, Kanaly was based on real events during the Warsaw uprising of 1944 and it depicts a band of Polish resistance fighters, who escaped from the Nazis by retreating through the sewers as they made their way to freedom through the maze of dank brick tunnels. | Almost 10 years later, in 1957, it was the turn of the sewers of Warsaw to be depicted on the big screen in Kanaly, directed by Andrzej Wajda, which once again was powerfully shot in black and white. But unlike The Third Man, Kanaly was based on real events during the Warsaw uprising of 1944 and it depicts a band of Polish resistance fighters, who escaped from the Nazis by retreating through the sewers as they made their way to freedom through the maze of dank brick tunnels. |
| Insurgents escaped via Warsaw's sewers in 1944Today, sections of both the Vienna and the Warsaw sewers are open to visitors, and in recent years such tours of sewers have become quite the fashion in many of Europe's great cities, though they remain something of a specialised recreational pursuit. | Insurgents escaped via Warsaw's sewers in 1944Today, sections of both the Vienna and the Warsaw sewers are open to visitors, and in recent years such tours of sewers have become quite the fashion in many of Europe's great cities, though they remain something of a specialised recreational pursuit. |
| It's highly unlikely that Bazalgette or the Lindleys would ever have imagined that their great subterranean works might become the backdrops to films, or tourist attractions in their own right. | It's highly unlikely that Bazalgette or the Lindleys would ever have imagined that their great subterranean works might become the backdrops to films, or tourist attractions in their own right. |
| And these are not the only surprises that history has had in store for these great British burrowers and builders beneath the streets and cities of Europe. The Lindleys would probably have been amazed, flattered and disappointed that they've been more written about in Polish than in English. | And these are not the only surprises that history has had in store for these great British burrowers and builders beneath the streets and cities of Europe. The Lindleys would probably have been amazed, flattered and disappointed that they've been more written about in Polish than in English. |
| As for the great Sir Joseph: one of his descendants, Edward Bazalgette, made a documentary for the BBC in 2003 entitled The Sewer King, which described the life and achievements of his illustrious forebear; but another relative, who also works in television, produces programmes of a rather different kind. His name is Peter Bazalgette, and he's best known for bringing reality TV to Britain in the form of Big Brother. What, I wonder, would his great Victorian great grandfather have thought of that? | As for the great Sir Joseph: one of his descendants, Edward Bazalgette, made a documentary for the BBC in 2003 entitled The Sewer King, which described the life and achievements of his illustrious forebear; but another relative, who also works in television, produces programmes of a rather different kind. His name is Peter Bazalgette, and he's best known for bringing reality TV to Britain in the form of Big Brother. What, I wonder, would his great Victorian great grandfather have thought of that? |
| Add your comments on this story, using the form below. | Add your comments on this story, using the form below. |