clause prohibiting the use of straw and similar vegetable substances
for roofing; and it appears to me to be desirable that some provision
should be made for the rural districts, by which the thatch of
cottages, when in a decomposed state, might be required to be removed.
In the parishes of Binton, Dorsington, and Long Marston, in the
neighbourhood of Stratford-on-Avon, simple continued fever, described
to be similar in character to the form of fever which frequently
occurs in the autumn and beginning of winter throughout England,
prevailed very extensively in the winter of 1839. Of 31 patients
attacked by it, seven died. Dr. Thompson of Stratford-on-Avon, the
physician who visited all the cases by the desire of the Board of
Guardians of the Stratford-on-Avon union, observes:—‘As almost all the
cottages in which there has been fever are thatched, and the thatch in
many of them is in a very rotten and insufficient condition, it is not
improbable that slow decomposition in the thatch, from the unusual
quantities of rain which has fallen, may have been going on, and
contributed to the production and continuance of fever. It has been
observed by others, I believe, that it is more difficult to get rid of
fever in thatched than in slated cottages.’ Dr. Thompson also remarks,
that in thatched cottages it is not usual to ceil or plaster the
inside of the roof; and he recommends that this should be done, and
that the plaster should be lime-washed once a-year.”
In the course of some observations made on the construction of the
cottages of the labouring classes in France, it is observed that—
“It is in vain that the workman breathes a pure air out of doors, if
on his return to his home he finds an infected atmosphere. Air, which
is so necessary to life and health, and which it is of the last
importance to renew often, especially in small rooms, remains thick
and loaded in the abode of the workman, because no currents can exist
in consequence of the window being almost always placed alongside the
door. The form of the chimney is another great evil in the
construction of country cottages. With a shaft very short and very
large, it is impossible for the room to get warm, and the heat
produced is almost entirely lost. This form of the chimneys is only
explicable by the ignorance of the constructors. However large a fire
may be required by the diverse needs of the family, it does not
involve the necessity to make the chimney shaft of a corresponding
size; on the contrary, the facility with which the smoke ascends is
altogether proportioned to the smallness of the latter, as may be seen
in the chimneys of stoves, which are always extremely narrow.”
The _Rev. C. Walkey_, of Collumpton, gives instances of the want of
provision for ventilation in the cottages of the labouring classes:—
“Cottages for the most part are without sufficient ventilation,
particularly in the up-stairs apartment, this being almost invariably
without a chimney, with a low window, commonly about two feet from the
floor, and having no ceiling, therefore the thatched roof, lofty in
itself, and full of cobwebs, contains the foul air; and in several
instances I have been the means of restoring health apparently by
blowing gunpowder in cases where fever has raged for months, the
ground-floors being often damp—very seldom above the level of the
land.”
The proceedings of the Highland Society for the improvement of the
material condition of the labourer, especially on the subject of cottage
economy, appear to be extremely well directed. They have sought to make
improvements in detail, which are thus described in one of the reports
of a committee appointed to inquire into the subject:—
“Medals have been offered by the society to proprietors for building
cottages of a good construction; and these medals are already in
demand. The subject was again brought forward by the Marquis of
Tweeddale, who filled the chair at the last general meeting; and
throughout the whole of Scotland it is attracting increasing
attention. The style of such buildings is everywhere improving, and
the measures of the society will make the country acquainted with the
best models. Still, without a considerable diminution of the expense,
the rapid introduction of a better system is hardly to be expected. To
that point, accordingly, the directors have turned their serious
attention.
“Their first object has been the improvement of the windows, which
always form one of the principal items of charge, and have been
generally one of the worst constructed parts of the building. In many
districts of the Highlands the huts of the peasantry have nothing of
the kind, nor are there tradesmen within reach from whom they can be
obtained; and even in many of the more improved parts of the country
the cottage windows are seldom large enough to admit a sufficiency of
light; they are almost never provided with the means of ventilation;
and in a few instances can they be repaired without applying to a
tradesman. This is always attended with considerable expense; and, in
remote situations, skilful workmen are hardly to be obtained on any
terms. Accordingly, when glass is broken, recourse is had to the most
unseemly substitutes. These may annoy the inmate at first, but he soon
becomes habituated to them; one eyesore prepares him for another, and
in a short time the same slovenliness and disorder spread over the
whole establishment.
“It appeared to the directors that much of this would be avoided if
the public could be made acquainted with the best description of a
cottage window. The demand would necessarily lead to their being
extensively manufactured, and consequently supplied at a moderate
price; and, what is of still more consequence, the general adoption of
such windows would lead to glass of the proper size being kept in
every village, and labourers would then be enabled to repair their own
windows. A premium was accordingly offered last year for the best
cottage window, not so much in the expectation of bringing forward
anything altogether new, as of enabling the directors to select the
best of the forms now in use.
“Various specimens were sent in. Some were made of zinc; but these
were rejected, on the advice of tradesmen, as being too weak to admit
of repair by an unpractised hand. Wood and lead are, for the same
reason, equally unsuitable. One was constructed with astragals of
malleable iron, so thin as very little to impede the light, and
consequently admitting of glass of a very small size; but the
astragals not being provided with flanges for the glass to rest upon,
the repair must necessarily be a work of some difficulty; and these
also were consequently deemed unfit for the purpose. Cast-iron appears
to be the material least liable to objection; but astragals of
cast-metal must be of considerable thickness; and such frames,
therefore, could not be adapted to a very small size of glass without
materially obscuring the light. It was made by Messrs. Moses M’Culloch
and Co., Gallowgate, Glasgow; and, without the wooden frame, it costs
5_s._ Glass for such a window may be purchased at 2¾_d._ per square.
These windows would appear adapted for farm-houses and workshops as
well as for cottages. They admit of being made of every variety of
size, and, in most cases, they may thus be fitted with ease to houses
already built. In many situations, it will thus deserve consideration
whether it may be better to repair the glass of old frames, or to
adopt windows of this construction, which may be purchased and kept up
at so very moderate an expense. It is understood that Messrs.
M’Cullock intend to establish agencies in all parts of the country,
and light and pure air will thus be supplied to the humbler classes
everywhere at a much cheaper rate than they have hitherto been
obtained.”
The directors have next turned their attention to the means of
economizing fuel; and a premium for the best mode of accomplishing
this will be found in the list of this year. It will be observed, that
the object of the premium is not to obtain plans merely from Scottish
tradesmen, but to ascertain the devices which are practised in foreign
countries. In America, and several of the continental states, it is
understood that stoves are generally used for this purpose, and some
of these are said to be so perfect that no one who has been accustomed
to them would tolerate the fire-places of the Scottish cottages. There
may be a difficulty in introducing a novelty of this kind here; but if
it should promise to be beneficial, it would be at least deserving of
a trial; and if it should be generally adopted, this also would become
the subject of an extensive manufacture, and be obtained at a cheap
rate.
“It appears to the committee, that still further facilities would be
afforded, both for the construction of new cottages and the
improvement of those already built, were doors, shelving, and the
other wooden work of the building manufactured in the same way as the
windows. The committee do not at present see any means of contributing
to the establishment of such works by the offer of premiums; but it
occurs to them that extensive proprietors might find it worth their
while to try the experiment, as an addition to the work of saw-mills.
If it should succeed with them, it could not fail in the hands of
tradesmen devoting their whole attention to the subject; and there
would be no want of men ready to embark in such undertakings. Should
an experiment of this kind be made, the committee hope that the
directors will be made acquainted with the result.
“Such a supply of the leading materials would not only greatly
facilitate the work of proprietors both in the erection of new
cottages and the improvement of old ones, but labourers who have the
prospect of being permanent tenants would likewise be induced, at
their own expense, to make improvements, which they would at present
find quite impracticable. As the reduction of the price of every
article of dress now enables the humblest labourer to appear
respectably clothed, so the reduction of the expense of so many of the
essentials in the construction of a house would bring comfortable
lodging equally within his reach.”
To the above-recited measures of the Highland Society, which are so well
directed to the improvement of the structure of cottages in the
important points of economy as well as of efficiency, they have added
prizes for the best-kept cottages and the best cottage gardens, which
have everywhere excited competition, and have been attended with
beneficial results.
I have as yet met with no similar instance of attention given by large
and influential public bodies, to the improvement of the residences of
the working-classes in towns. I have, however, been favoured with one
communication from _Mr. Sydney Smirke_, the architect, who has had
experience in planning and superintending the erection of residences for
the men of the coast-guard service, and who, in some suggestions for the
improvement of the metropolis, has endeavoured to direct public
attention to the improvement of the structure of the residences of the
labouring classes. He states that—
“The course that has been adopted by great manufacturers and others in
some rural districts, of erecting ranges of distinct cottages for
their labourers, is plainly inapplicable to large towns. If there were
no other obstacle to this arrangement, the value of land would alone
be fatal to it in such places; but my belief is that, without ultimate
pecuniary loss, and with the utmost direct and indirect benefit,
buildings, placed under some public control, might be erected for the
joint occupation of many families or individuals, and so arranged that
each tenant might feel that he had the exclusive enjoyment of a home
in the room or rooms which he occupied, and yet might partake, in
common with his neighbours, of many important comforts and advantages
now utterly unknown to him.
“I propose that there should be erected buildings, in various parts of
the suburbs, consisting of perhaps 50 or 60 rooms, high, airy, dry,
well ventilated, light and warm, comfortably filled up, fire-proof,
abundantly supplied with water and thoroughly drained; such
regulations might be laid down for the conduct of the inmates as may
be necessary for the common good, without undue rigour or interference
with natural and proper feelings of independence.
“Another class of structures should be raised, perhaps rather as
dormitories than for permanent residence, from which families would be
excluded; these should be arranged like some of the wards of Chelsea
Hospital, with separate compartments appropriated to each tenant.
Unlike the frail and worthless tenements that rise in great profusion
around London, these buildings should be studiously planned and
strongly constructed; all that the builder’s art can contribute
towards the safety, health, and comfort of each individual, should
here be found. In the former class of buildings, a room or rooms
should be let at a low weekly rent to any decent family that should
apply: in the latter, each compartment should be let by the night.
“The exterior of these locanda, or public lodging-houses, should have
a cheerful, inviting appearance, not entirely without architectural
character, although free, of course, from the mere ornament and
frippery of architecture.
“In throwing out these suggestions for such consideration as they may
deserve, it seems superfluous at present to trouble you with
explanatory plans and other details; it may be enough for me to assure
you that buildings can be erected, affording all the accommodations
above described, and offering to their inmates the luxury of a decent,
cleanly, and healthy abode, at a cost less than is usually required by
them for the purchase of the squalid resting-places they now resort
to, and yet enough to repay a fair interest on the original expense of
the new building.
“It may be said that in providing these commodious dwellings for their
needy inmates, we shall be furnishing them with that which they do not
desire; that habitual and long acquaintance with privation has taught
them to regard and to endure, without any lively distaste, much of
that misery from which others, more delicately educated, would shrink
with disgust; but I consider this objection quite unfounded. A tainted
atmosphere cannot be less injurious because by long habit it is
breathed without nausea. If these deplorable habits have really
acquired so much force, it should be our part to make corresponding
efforts to teach the victims of them to become more sensible of their
misery, not indeed by inculcating lessons of discontent, but by
affording to them facilities for providing themselves with healthier
and happier abodes.
“It is the true saying of an eloquent writer, that ‘les esclaves
perdent tout dans leur esclavage, jusqu’au désir d’en sortir;’ yet
surely no benevolent person would think himself idly or unprofitably
employed in loosing from bondage those whom long endurance has caused
to forget the blessings of freedom. I am, however, unwilling to
believe, even now, that the classes of whom I am speaking are
insensible to the comforts of cleanliness, or unable to appreciate the
benefit to be derived from improved habitations.
“I confess I cannot discover any objection to the adoption of such a
plan for ameliorating the dwellings of the poorest classes of our
fellow creatures that would not be counter-balanced by many direct and
indirect advantages.”
I beg leave to submit this communication and the plans with which Mr.
Smirke has favoured me, that it may be made known and considered. Much
importance will be attached to the testimony received from him as well
as from other professional men, that it is possible to afford to the
labouring classes the luxury of “a decent, cleanly, and healthy abode at
a cost less than is usually required from them for the squalid
resting-places they now resort to, and yet enough to repay a fair
interest on the original expense of the new building.”
I see no reason to doubt the applicability of Mr. Smirke’s plan to such
places as those where ranges of buildings are now required as lodgings
for workmen, and, without questioning the applicability of the
proposition last cited, to all classes of residences. It is proper to
mention, that in the course of this inquiry frequent instances have
arisen of much social disorder arising from the too close contiguity of
residences, or from the want of some control over the inmates. In the
instances noticed of lodging-houses, or of one building, inhabited by
different families, living as in the apartments of the same dwelling,
the conclusion afforded by experience seems to be, that a power and
discipline almost as strong as that of a man-of-war, is requisite to
preserve order in such communities; and that until a degree of education
of the lower classes is attained, which is hopeless for the present,
generation at least, it is desirable to avoid any arrangement which
brings _families_ into close contact with each other. A large proportion
of the cases of assault and brawls which occupy the attention of the
petty sessions and sessions in towns, arise from contentions amongst the
inhabitants of courts and alleys, which are clearly ascribable to too
close contiguity; and these effects have frequently given rise to the
suggestion that if a city were rebuilt, the preservation of peace would
be much easier if such places were entirely removed and the inhabitants
separated. A common pump has gone far to furnish practice to a petty
attorney. All the females wanted to use it at the same time, and
perpetual quarrels and frequent assaults arose to get the first
supplies. Several attempts have been made by benevolent landlords to get
their labourers to make use of common bakehouses, common wash-houses, to
join for one common brewing, and have offered them the use of utensils;
but they never could be got to agree upon it, and I have met with no
instance in which such plans have succeeded. Unless the walls of
contiguous cottages are very thick, detached cottages have social
comforts and moral advantages superior to those houses built in rows;
and persons even of the middle class pay a higher rent for detached
tenements for the sake of the comparative freedom which they allow from
disturbance by their neighbours. The information I received in Scotland
respecting the assemblages of single men, farm-servants, in houses
called boothies, showed that the effect was also extremely unfavourable
to their moral habits.
SKETCH OF A PLAN FOR A
PUBLIC LODGING HOUSE
[Illustration]
In some of the new towns in Germany it is considered advantageous, for
the sake of the circulation of air as well as for comfort and for
security against fire, to have each house detached by a small space from
its neighbours.
_Effects of Public Walks and Gardens on the Health and Morals of the
Lower Classes of the Population._
Whilst separation rather than aggregation, more especially for families,
is the course of policy suggested by experience for the places of
residence of the working-classes, accommodation is called for from every
part of the country for public walks or places of recreation. The
committee of physicians and surgeons of Birmingham state, in the course
of their report on the sanitary condition of the population of that,
town:—
“The want of some place of recreation for the mechanic is an evil
which presses very heavily upon these people, and to which many of
their bad habits may be traced. There are no public walks in or near
this town; no places where the working-people can resort for
recreation. The consequence is that they frequent the ale-houses and
skittle-alleys for amusement. Within the last half century the town
was surrounded by land which was divided into gardens, which were
rented by the mechanic at one guinea or half a guinea per annum. Here
the mechanic was generally seen after his day’s labour spending his
evening in a healthy and simple occupation, in which he took great
delight. This ground is now for the most part built over, and the
mechanics of the town are gradually losing this source of useful and
healthy recreation.”
_Mr. Mott_, in his report on the condition of the labouring population
of his district, observes, in respect to that in Manchester—
“There are circumstances attending the local position of Manchester
which might be urged in palliation of some of the habits of the
working classes.
“There are no public walks or places of recreation by which the
thousands of labourers or families can relieve the tedium of their
monotonous employment. Pent up in a close, dusty atmosphere from
half-past five or six o’clock in the morning till seven or eight
o’clock at night, from week to week, without change, without
intermission, it is not to be wondered at that they fly to the spirit
and beer-shops, and the dancing-houses, on the Saturday nights to seek
those, to them, pleasures and comforts which their own destitute and
comfortless homes deny.
“Manchester is singularly destitute of those resources which conduce
at once to health and recreation. With a teeming population, literally
overflowing her boundaries, she has no public walks or resorts, either
for the youthful or the adult portion of the community to snatch an
hour’s enjoyment.
“The prospect of obtaining any wide area to be appropriated as a
public walk or otherwise for the use of the labouring classes, becomes
more remote each year, as the value of the land within and in the
neighbourhood of the town increases.”
Mr. Joseph Strutt, of Derby, has presented to that town a public garden
of eleven acres, which has been so laid out by Mr. Loudon as to give the
advantages of a walk of two miles, and the interest afforded by an
arboretum, displaying the specimens of 1000 shrubs and plants. The plan
of laying out this public ground so as to make the most of the space,
appears to be one deserving of peculiar attention; and I have appended
to this report a copy with which I have been favoured. I am informed
that his Grace the Duke of Norfolk has expressed an intention, as soon
as some leases are out, to bestow 50 acres for the use of Sheffield as a
public garden.
Much evidence might be adduced from the experience of the effects of the
parks and other places of public resort in the metropolis, to prove the
importance of such provision for recreation, not less for the pleasure
they afford in themselves, than for their rivalry to pleasures that are
expensive, demoralizing, and injurious to the health. A benevolent
gentleman near Cambridge, who wished to arrest the debauchery and
demoralization promoted by a fair, and, if possible, to put an end to
the fair itself, instituted on the days when it was held, and at a
distance from it, a grand ploughing match, at which all persons of
respectability were invited to attend. This brought from the fair all
the young men whom it was desired to lead from it to a regulated and a
rational and beneficial entertainment, and thus, without force and at a
very trivial expense, the fair was suppressed by the quiet mode of
drawing away its profit.
On the holiday given at Manchester in celebration of Her Majesty’s
marriage, extensive arrangements were made for holding a chartist
meeting, and for getting up what was called a demonstration of the
working classes, which greatly alarmed the municipal magistrates. Sir
Charles Shaw, the Chief Commissioner of Police, induced the mayor to get
the Botanical Gardens, Zoological Gardens, and Museum of that town, and
other institutions thrown open to the working classes at the hour they
were urgently invited to attend the chartist meeting. The mayor
undertook to be personally answerable for any damage that occurred from
throwing open the gardens and institutions to the classes who had never
before entered them. The effect, was that not more than 200 or 300
people attended the political meeting, which entirely failed, and
scarcely 5_s._ worth of damage was done in the gardens or in the public
institutions by the workpeople, who were highly pleased. A further
effect produced was, that the charges before the police of drunkenness
and riot were on that day less than the average of cases on ordinary
days.
I have been informed of other instances of similar effects produced by
the spread of temperate pleasures on ordinary occasions, and their
rivalry to habits of drunkenness and gross excitement, whether mental or
sensual.