Collection GB 0074 CLC/158 - COMMISSIONERS OF SEWERS FOR KENT AND SURREY

1 production unit.

GB 0074 CLC/158 1640 Collection 1 production unit. Surrey and Kent Commissioners of Sewers

Early Commissioners of Sewers were solely concerned with land drainage and the prevention of flooding, not with the removal of sewage in the modern sense. In 1531 an Act of Sewers was passed which set out in great detail the duties and powers of Commissioners and governed their work until the 19th century. Gradually a permanent pattern emerged in the London area of seven commissions, five north and two south of the Thames, with, after the Great Fire, a separate commission for the City of London. The London commissioners had more extensive powers than those in other parts of the country; they had control over all watercourses and ditches within two miles of the City of London as well as newly constructed drains and sewers. After 1800 the London commissioners also obtained powers to control the formation of new sewers and house drains.

Letters Patent for the Surrey and Kent Commissioners of Sewers were issued in 1554. Its minutes begin in 1570 and it was the earliest of the London Commissions to be established on an organised basis. The area of its jurisdiction ran from East Molesey in Surrey to the River Ravensbourne, and included Lambeth, Southwark, Bermondsey, Newington, Deptford, Rotherhithe, Clapham, Battersea, Camberwell, Vauxhall, Wandsworth, Putney, Barnes, Kew, Lewisham, Walworth, Kennington, Nine Elms, Peckham and New Cross. The area of jurisdiction remained the same throughout the three centuries during which it functioned. It is worth pointing out that the areas listed above are no longer in Surrey and Kent but are part of Greater London.

Deposited in the Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section, which merged with the London Metropolitan Archives in 2009.

Record of the Surrey and Kent Commissioners of Sewers, comprising roll from a session for the county of Surrey, held at St Margarets Hill, Southwark (Paris Garden), 1640.

One item.

Available for general access.

Copyright to this collection rests with the City of London.

English

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

For further records of the Surrey and Kent Commissioners of Sewers see reference SKCS.

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.

August to October 2010. Environmental engineering Sanitation Waste disposal Waste treatment Sewers Sewerage Water resources Drainage People People by roles Commissioners Improvement commissioners Surrey and Kent Commissioners of Sewers Southwark (district) Southwark London England UK Western Europe Europe

Deposited in the Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section, which merged with the London Metropolitan Archives in 2009.

Record of the Surrey and Kent Commissioners of Sewers, comprising roll from a session for the county of Surrey, held at St Margarets Hill, Southwark (Paris Garden), 1640.

One item.

Available for general access.

Copyright to this collection rests with the City of London.

• English

• Latin

English

For further records of the Surrey and Kent Commissioners of Sewers see reference SKCS.

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

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.

• English