London's first sewers were open ditches sloped slightly to drain human wastes toward the River Thames, and ultimately into the sea. Sewer ditches quickly filled with garbage and human wastes, which overflowed onto streets, into houses and marketplaces throughout London.

By the late 1500s, King Henry VIII wrote an edict which made each householder responsible for clearing the sewer passing by their dwelling. The King also created a special Commission of Sewers to enforce these rules. However, no money was provided to pay its members. Therefore, the Commission was not installed until 1622, when it was decided that fines for non-compliance could be used to fund its activities.

By the early 18^th Century, nearly every residence had a cesspit beneath the floors. In the best of homes the nauseating stench permeated the most elegant parlor. Indoor odors were often worse than of the garbage - and manure - filled streets. While noxious fumes were ignored by most people, it was fear of "night air" laden with coal smoke and sulfurous industrial fogs which alarmed the City dweller.

Doors and windows of homes and factories were sealed shut at sunset to protect occupants form entry of the feared "night air." Entire families and crews of workers died of mysterious "asphyxiation" during the night. Doctors had no explanation for lingering illnesses and these sudden "miasmas" occurring in the City. Vivid descriptions of horrible deaths were routinely reported at Commission hearings and in the London tabloids.

When cesspits filled to overflow, they were built to drain to the street by means of a crudely built culvert to a partially open sewer trench in the center of the street. Cesspit wastes often soaked foundations, walls and floors of living quarters. The culvert was frequently blocked causing sewage to spread under buildings and contaminate shallow wells, cisterns and water ways from which drinking water was drawn. Cesspit and sewer cleaning not only lead to instant death, but also led to slow, lingering death.

On January 12, 1849, this report of working conditions was presented to the Commissioners: "The smell was of the most horrible description, the air being so foul that explosions and choke damp were frequent. We were very nearly losing a whole party by choke damp, the last man being dragged out on his back through two feet of black fetid deposit in a state of insensibility."

On February 21, 1849: "Explosions occurred in two separate locations where the men had the skin peeled off their faces and their hair singed. In advancing toward Southampton, the deposit deepens to 2 feet 9 inches, leaving only 1 foot 11 inches of space in the sewer. At about 400 feet from the entrance, the first lamp went out and, 100 feet further on, the second lamp created an explosion and burnt the hair and face of the person holding it."

The Commission resolved that "It shall be laid down as a first principle that no common sewer should be so small that an ordinary sized man shall not be able to cleanse it." And thus, even the smallest sewer holes in our fair city are large enough to allow a fully grown man passage.

The streets of London lie 30 feet below the surface of the Thames at high tide. The city housed more than two million people in crowded conditions and the situation was deteriorating daily. Epidemics of cholera, typhus, "consumption" and other undefined maladies plagued the City over at least four centuries.

Edwin Chadwick, a sanitary reformer of the era, explored sewers, questioned slum dwellers, and turned out hundreds of reports. He experimented with the benefits of obtaining pure water from lakes and reservoirs, rather than the fetid Thames. His Public Health Act ultimately reversed the tide of death.

The construction of large central covered sewers had already begun in 1844, even though no plan had yet been drawn to replace cesspits. However, due to the uneconomic and dangerous practices in cleaning them, the Commission proposed temporary use of "moveable recepticals" such as were being used in Paris.

Meanwhile, engineers were hard at work devising a system of drainage which would carry the wastes of 2 million people out of the area. Commissioners allowed experimentation with the "soil-pan or watercloset principle" and the "tubular mode of drainage" in cities and hamlets throughout England.

Though Sir Thomas Crapper had not perfected his invention, the Commission had received hundreds of less functional designs for its consideration. The "water closet" concept was, as yet, unwieldy. A complete system of "tubular drains" were yet to be constructed to "carry immediately away solid or semi-solid matter," as the Commissioned envisioned.

In 1858 "The Great Stink,"¹ from the backed up Thames, caused thousands to flee the City, while Parliament remained in session. Windows of the parliament building were draped with curtains soaked in chloride of lime, to prevent closing of the Government. Upper class residents fled the city or drenched sheets with perfumes to mask the odor from the outside. This was the turning point in sewer progress.

Sir Marc Isambard Brunel, together with his son Isambard Kingdom Brunel, submitted a plan to drain London to the lower side of the river by building a 1,600 foot tunnel under the Thames. Their audacious plan relied on constructing a 25 foot diameter shield behind which 9 men, donkeys and carts would work to remove earth and transport soil to the surface. The huge 25 foot diameter bore sloped from 35 feet under the river bed to 121 feet on the far side. Desperate for any solution, the Commissioners sanctioned the project. Work proceeded rapidly², with minimal loss of life.

When the King and Queen learned of the success, they were so enthralled with the idea of traveling beneath the Thames that they ordered a small scale rail with open cars be constructed so that the entire Parliament could accompany the Queen at the dedication journey through the tunnel.

The public followed their Monarchs' enthusiasm. By popular demand, the sewer tunnel was transformed into a fashionable promenade for Londoners. Victoria's railway, as it was christened, became a tourist attraction. Gaslights and walkways were installed and small stalls lined the tunnel to provide souvenirs for visitors who paid a small toll to walk under the mighty river.

Today, the tunnel is part of London's famous underground system. The "railroading" of Brunel's triumph drew even greater awareness and support to the need for better living conditions as London's population swelled to nearly 3 million. The light at the end of the tunnel grew gradually larger. The "hydrolic benefits of tubular drains" and central sewers were promoted by the Commission to Parliament. Special reservoirs of water constructed to "cleanse" existing sewers helped, but it became more and more evident that smooth interior surfaces and adequate slope were needed to provide smooth movement of wastes through the system.

The London Underground is one of the marvels of modern times. Even today, you can travel from the Baywater Station near Hyde Park to the Mark Line Station near the Tower. Take a quick trip above ground and return to the Fenchurch Street Station and ride in style on the Blackwell Line to Bishopsgate and then to points north.

A number of other train routes and stations are being developed even as this brochure is being written. Your government assures you that within ten years, Londoners will be able to travel to all parts of London underground in style and comfort. Some lines already connect to the country, for vacationing city dwellers who wish a change of pace.

Unfortunately, while there are many maps of the underground, there is no publicly available map of the sewers and other passageways that run beneath our homes, workplaces, and landmarks bringing in fresh water and expelling our waste. Part of the reason for this is that the sewers are a dangerous and disgusting place³. All good Londoners are warned to never enter the sewers and to keep their children from playing there. There are trained professionals whose job it is to clean the sewers so you don't have to.

¹ In real life, the Big Stink happened in 1859. We moved it back a year for highly secretive reasons.

² In real life, the project was completed with no loss of life. In Brassy's, this was not the case.

³ Some of the creatures rumoured to live in the sewers include giant rats, hydra-like snakes, poison bats and more. These is also a rumour of an underground race of sewer dwelling proto-humans who prey on unwary adventurers. The Brassy's Men GMs will neither confirm nor deny the existence of these things at this time.

Thanks to Swopnet.com for sewer information.

We are using the map at: Clive's Web Site as the current Underground Map for Brassy's Men.