The Stench is Unbearable | Clark's Inspection of Bridgend.

A view of Bridgend. 

On the 4th of June 1849, two petitions were sent to the General Board of Health on behalf of the inhabitants of the hamlets of lower Coity and lower Newcastle – what we now know as Bridgend Town Centre. These petitions requested advice and instructions on to deal with the dangerous sanitary conditions of the town and the growing fear of Cholera.

As a result of these petitions, George T Clark of Talygarn was commissioned to carry out an inquiry into the sanitary conditions of Bridgend. This inquiry took place between the 8th and 11th of August 1849.

His report led to the formation of the Bridgend Local Board of Health. The Bridgend Local Board of Health (The Local Board) had its first meeting in September 1851. It assumed the responsibilities of Bridgend's first local government. As a result of its formation, Newcastle officially became part of Bridgend. For the first time, the town was regarded as one entity instead of two separate hamlets.

George T Clark's report gives us a glimpse into the grim reality of life during the 1840s. Many of us look back with rose-tinted glasses and imagine Bridgend as the picturesque town that is presented to us in Francis Frith photographs.

An extract from the report.

Evidence from the Sanitary Committee

As part of the report, evidence was submitted to Clark in the form of an earlier report written by the Local Sanitary Committee. The earlier report contains statements from Dr Abraham Verity, Captain Napier and Superintendent Sadler. 

Dr Abraham Verity described Phillips Court in his statement: “Fever in this court is often prevalent and extends from house to house, and, in many cases, has proved fatal.”

“No 1 consists of two bedrooms. Five persons sleep in two small beds. The walls are black with filth; the ground-floor is very damp; there is no drainage.”


“No 5 consists of three rooms. There are seven beds in which 25 persons sleep; the ground-floor is very damp; the house altogether is in a filthy state. When entered, the stench is unbearable.”

“In this court, the houses and rooms are very small. The total number living in the court is 88. All the houses are dark, gloomy, and extremely filthy. The windows are very small; capable, if wide open, of ventilating the rooms but very imperfectly. Yet the windows are not only kept permanently closed but are carefully and firmly pasted all round so that not the slightest breath of air can enter. I was told by the woman that her children and herself would starve with the cold, having no means of procuring fuel.”

Captain Napier described the lodging houses in the town: “The low lodging-houses, till lately, have been overcrowded with tramps and navvies; in one room of 10 feet square, slept 12 or 14 navigators, in beds which were never suffered to cool, since by day they were occupied by women, and at night by men.”

Superintendent Sadler described how water is supplied to the inhabitants of the town: "Water is in general supplied to the houses from the river by females, who are employed to carry it in pails, containing from six to eight gallons, and for which they are paid at the rate of 1/2d. per pail."

An extract from the report.

Clark's Inspection

During Clark's inspection of the town, he was accompanied by Rev. Knight, Rev. Harding, Captain Napier, Mr Cox, Mr Price, Mr Edwards and Superintendent Sadler. 

High Street (now Dunraven Place). 
“The buildings between the Town Hall and the river are very badly drained. There is no pump. The inhabitants are allowed to go to the Globe Inn pump. The house-filth is thrown into the river and the street gutter. Mr. Thomas, tailor, rents a 5/. house, without privy or back premises. The other houses are much in the same condition. The street is badly paved, the yards unpaved and filthy. The lower part of High-street, near the new and old bridges, is occasionally flooded.”

David's Court
“...is unpaved, occasionally flooded, and in one corner there is a filthy ash-heap. There is no privy, and the refuse is thrown into the gutter. The inhabitants pay about 3lper annum rental. They would willingly pay 2d. a-week for a water supply.”

Adare Street
“..much of which is new, is unpaved, and at the time of my visit was a pool of water and mud. The houses are let at from 15/. to 18/. per annum each, but are very deficient in privies, and without water.” 

Elder Street
Elder Street is described as having “a culvert, but the drainage from the houses does not enter it, but trickles by an open gutter down the road. They are without privies, and obtain their water from the river or the market pump.”

Union Street (now Market Street)
“..contains nine houses, with only one privy, which is also public. The house-drains pass close beneath the floor, and discharge into the street gutter. The cesspool is placed on ground higher than the houses, and the smell is much complained of.”

An extract from the report.

Paradise Road 
“...is a cluster of six houses, with only one privy. Here the refuse is cast into an open pool. There is no supply of water. The yard is ill-paved and damp. In the street is a public dung-pit and a very filthy pigsty. There is no privy, and the house filth is cast into the public road.”

Irish Court
“At its entry is an open and very offensive dung-heap. Here are eight houses with a crowded population, and without either water or privies. The court is unpaved, and the lodgers taken in are of a very bad description."

The Rue (The Rhiw) 
“...contains 14 houses. They are without water. In the street is an open gutter, and behind are very close and filthy yards, unpaved and wet, and draining upon the houses. At the lower part of this street is a tan-yard and next to it a fellmongery. The smell of the latter is complained of.”

Newcastle Hill
"Bad as is the state of things in Oldcastle, it is as bad, perhaps in some parts worse, on the Newcastle side of the river. The cottages above and about the Castle and Church are absolutely without drains at all; and many of the people bring their water from the river, 100 feet or more below them. The streets are ill-paved and undrained, and damp, even though built on very steep ground. Lower down, several of the houses are within reach of floods. Ten houses here have only one privy, and the want of water is universal. The people, to save the labour of going to the river, even take water from a stagnant and dirty horse-pond in Captain Napier's stable yard."

Remedies and Recommendations 

"It appears from this inspection of Bridgend that the town is badly drained and very badly supplied with water, that the cottage tenements are in several parts wholly without privies, and nowhere even tolerably supplied in this respect, and that in consequence of the damp and filth thus produced, there are parts of the town m which epidemic disease is frequent and severe."

Clark finishes his report by recommending the formation of a local government with powers extending over the town and surrounding suburbs. Known as 'the Local Board' the board was now in charge of the management of highways, sewers and the water supply of the town. 

He recommended that the “provision of a proper water supply, sewerage, and the improvement of the house arrangements” should be the first priority for the newly formed board. 

His other recommendations included: 

• A filtering tank being constructed near the river.. "with a small steam-engine set up, by means of which the water should be raised into a service reservoir containing two to four days' supply, and placed upon the summit of the hill above Newcastle."
• The construction of the main drain on each side of the river.
• That two privies be erected for every three cottages and at least one water tap to the same number. 
• Cess-pools to be filled up and proper dustbins for ashes to be provided.

Unfortunately, not all of the recommendations were carried out. The Local Board failed to provide a proper water supply. In 1857 Caroline, Dowager Countess of Dunraven paid for a pipeline to be laid from a spring near Sarn to a water trough and tap on the corner of Court Road. This water was freely available to everyone. 

A view of Caroline Street, 1870.

(Sources: Wellcome Trust | WelshNewspapersOnline | Dr Randall)