Collection MCC/CL/WMD - CLERK'S DEPARTMENT: WEST MIDDLESEX DRAINAGE

Identity area

Reference code

MCC/CL/WMD

Title

CLERK'S DEPARTMENT: WEST MIDDLESEX DRAINAGE

Date(s)

  • 1930-1965 (Creation)

Level of description

Collection

Extent and medium

2.66 linear metres

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

The phenomenal growth of population in Middlesex from early 1920s brought problems of peculiar difficulty in sewage disposal. These were partly offset by the district councils extending their local purification works but it was clear that the problem could best be met by co-ordination and centralisation of treatment.

After intensive investigation and report by its consulting engineers, under the guidance of John Duncan Watson, the County Council with difficulty secured one of the last Unemployment Grants and obtained powers to construct and operate a system of trunk sewers, with sewage purification and sludge disposal works, to serve Western Middlesex. The undertaking came into operation in 1935-36 and included the Mogden works, then the largest and most modern full-treatment plant in the world.

The West Middlesex undertaking served 16 local authorities covering an area of 171 square miles and a population of 1,360,000. 70 miles of trunk sewers carried 70,000,000 gallons of sewage a day.

Archival history

MCC/CL/WMD 1930-1965 Collection 2.66 linear metres MCC , Middlesex County Council x Middlesex County Council

The phenomenal growth of population in Middlesex from early 1920s brought problems of peculiar difficulty in sewage disposal. These were partly offset by the district councils extending their local purification works but it was clear that the problem could best be met by co-ordination and centralisation of treatment.

After intensive investigation and report by its consulting engineers, under the guidance of John Duncan Watson, the County Council with difficulty secured one of the last Unemployment Grants and obtained powers to construct and operate a system of trunk sewers, with sewage purification and sludge disposal works, to serve Western Middlesex. The undertaking came into operation in 1935-36 and included the Mogden works, then the largest and most modern full-treatment plant in the world.

The West Middlesex undertaking served 16 local authorities covering an area of 171 square miles and a population of 1,360,000. 70 miles of trunk sewers carried 70,000,000 gallons of sewage a day.

Acquired with the records of its parent authority, the Middlesex County Council, and with successor authorities.

Records of the Middlesex County Council Clerk's Department relating to the West Middlesex Drainage Scheme, 1930-1965, including maps and plans of trunk sewers and effluent conduits; administrative papers; staffing matters including appointment of Chief Engineers and Chemists; papers relating to the maintenance and upkeep of the Mogden Sewage Treatment Works, Isleworth; papers relating to general maintenance at Perry Oaks Sludge Works (demolished in 2002, the site is now part of Heathrow Terminal 5); papers relating to pollution and flooding in the River Thames; papers regarding the demolition of Brentford and Chiswick sewage works; papers regarding the general policy on chlorination stations, inter-district drainage, local sewer connections, methane gas, synthetic detergents, sludge disposal and trade effluents; correspondence with other sewage authorities, and papers relating to civil defence including war damage and air raid precautions.

MCC/CL/WMD: General; MCC/CL/WMD/MP: Maps and plans.

Available for general access.

Copyright to these records rests with the Corporation of London.
English

Fit

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

See also MCC/CL/L/WMD.

For further information on the history of the Middlesex County Council please see Middlesex by Sir Clifford Radcliffe (2 editions, 1939 and 1953), LMA Library reference 97.09 MID; and The County Council of the Administrative County of Middlesex: 76 years of local government, 1 April 1889 to 31 March 1965, by Middlesex County Council (1965), LMA library reference S97.09 MID.

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. April to June 2009 MCC , Middlesex County Council x Middlesex County Council Defence Water resources management Water supply Sewerage Surface water Rivers International conflicts War damage War Engineering Maintenance Environmental degradation Pollution Water pollution Waste treatment Sewers Industrial facilities Waterworks Sewage works Water resources Drainage Civil defence Air raid precautions Environmental engineering Sanitation Waste disposal Sewage disposal Clerk's Department , Middlesex County Council Mogden Sewage Treatment Works Heathrow London England UK Western Europe Isleworth Middlesex Chiswick Hillingdon Hounslow Thames, river Brentford State security Europe Facilities

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Acquired with the records of its parent authority, the Middlesex County Council, and with successor authorities.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Records of the Middlesex County Council Clerk's Department relating to the West Middlesex Drainage Scheme, 1930-1965, including maps and plans of trunk sewers and effluent conduits; administrative papers; staffing matters including appointment of Chief Engineers and Chemists; papers relating to the maintenance and upkeep of the Mogden Sewage Treatment Works, Isleworth; papers relating to general maintenance at Perry Oaks Sludge Works (demolished in 2002, the site is now part of Heathrow Terminal 5); papers relating to pollution and flooding in the River Thames; papers regarding the demolition of Brentford and Chiswick sewage works; papers regarding the general policy on chlorination stations, inter-district drainage, local sewer connections, methane gas, synthetic detergents, sludge disposal and trade effluents; correspondence with other sewage authorities, and papers relating to civil defence including war damage and air raid precautions.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

MCC/CL/WMD: General; MCC/CL/WMD/MP: Maps and plans.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Available for general access.

Conditions governing reproduction

Copyright to these records rests with the Corporation of London.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

English

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

See also MCC/CL/L/WMD.

Finding aids

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Publication note

Notes area

Note

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Subject access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

London Metropolitan Archives

Rules and/or conventions used

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

    Sources

    Accession area