The Great Stink of 1858

Another great Stuff You Missed in History Class podcast, this time on the Great Stink of 1858, the year that Londoners realized they couldn’t continue dumping sewage into the Thames—or least not right under their noses. Because in the summer of that year, the heat made the smell unbearable. Lawmakers in the Houses of Parliament (the Palace of Westminster), which are on the Thames, had an up close whiff of the stink and eventually voted to approve a major renovation of the metropolis’ ad hoc sewer system.

They appointed Joseph Bazalgette as the engineer who redesigned the sewer system. Despite the modern design, however, sewage was still being dumped into the Thames, but outside the environs of the city.

Sarah Dowdey and Deblina Chakraborty, the hosts of SYMIHC, relate all this and more and credit Lucy Worsley’s book If Walls Could Talk for much of the information. Yeah Lucy! Having watched several documentaries about the engineering feats of the Victorians and having read Lucy’s book, I was familiar with almost everything in the podcast, but it’s still fun to listen to these two smart, likable women talk about history. Unfortunately it was announced Deblina is leaving the podcast and some of Sarah’s comments make it sound as if the future of the podcast is in doubt, so head over to their facebook page and show your support.

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