The summer London smelled so strongly of poo people thought they would die

The Great Stink of 1858 prompted massive investment in the sewer network. What was it and why is it still relevant?

This notorious pollution episode may not be as far away as we like to think Less than 200 years ago, London reeked so badly it got a nickname we remember even now: the Great Stink. There was no sewage network in 1858, so excrement from everyone living there was washed into the Thames , either directly or via cesspits and smaller urban tributaries.

The foul miasma was the subject of despairing cartoons and news reports, with those who could afford it fleeing for the countryside where the air was fresh, and those left behind soaking their curtains in chlorinated lime bleaching powder. MPs at work could turn a blind eye, but they couldn’t shut off their sense of smell, so legislation was swiftly passed to construct a vast underground pipe network which is still in use today.

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