Collection HLCS - HAVERING LEVEL COMMISSION OF SEWERS

Identity area

Reference code

HLCS

Title

HAVERING LEVEL COMMISSION OF SEWERS

Date(s)

  • 1860-1941 (Creation)

Level of description

Collection

Extent and medium

0.63 linear metres

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

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.

The jurisdiction of the Havering Level Commission of Sewers covered Ilford, East Ham, Havering, Dagenham, West Ham, Leyton, Walthamstow and Barking. A 'Level' in this context is a stretch of land approximately horizontal and unbroken by elevations.

Archival history

HLCS 1860-1941 Collection 0.63 linear metres Havering Level Commission 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.

The jurisdiction of the Havering Level Commission of Sewers covered Ilford, East Ham, Havering, Dagenham, West Ham, Leyton, Walthamstow and Barking. A 'Level' in this context is a stretch of land approximately horizontal and unbroken by elevations.

AC/67/022

Letters patent appointing Commissioners, 1860; volume of presentments with schedules of owners and occupiers of property, 1860; Minutes of the Commissioners, 1894-1934; deeds of grant and agreements allowing construction or maintenance work to take place, 1886-1941; surveys and plans, 1721-1858, including surveys of Dagenham, Barking and East Ham Levels by James Bermingham, ordered by the Commissioners of Sewers, 1735-1742, "plan of Lands in the Valley of the River Roding over which it is proposed to extend the jurisdiction of the Commissioners", 1854 and maps of Wicklands Level, Westbury Level and Little West Marsh, 1858.

HLCS/1: Letters Patent; HLCS/2: Presentments; HLCS/3-10: Minutes; HLCS/11-22: Deeds and agreements; HLCS/23-34: Surveys and Plans.

Available for general access

Copyright: City of London
English

Fit

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

For further records relating to sewers in London please see MCS: Metropolitan Commission of Sewers; PCS: Poplar Commission of Sewers; SKCS: Surrey and Kent Commission of Sewers; THCS: Tower Hamlets Commission of Sewers; WCS: Westminster and Middlesex Commission of Sewers; NSJSB: North Surrey Joint Sewage Board; O/080 and O/160: Westminster Commission of Sewers; ACC/2766: Crossness Pumping Station; GCS: Greenwich Commission of Sewers; HLCS: Havering Level Commission of Sewers; HFCS: Holborn and Finsbury Commission of Sewers; RMSB: Richmond Main Sewerage Board; STKCS: Saint Katherine's Commission of Sewers; WVA: Wandle Valley Main Drainage Authority and MBW: Metropolitan Board of Works. For the City of London see CLA/006: City of London Commissioners of Sewers.

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 Barking and Dagenham Havering Level Commission of Sewers Health policy Waste treatment Sewers Water resources management Water supply Drainage Water resources Sewerage Environmental engineering Sanitation Waste disposal Sewage disposal People People by roles Commissioners Improvement commissioners Health Public health London England UK Western Europe Ilford Essex Walthamstow West Ham Dagenham Redbridge Waltham Forest Havering (district) Havering East Ham Newham Leyton Barking Europe

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

AC/67/022

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Letters patent appointing Commissioners, 1860; volume of presentments with schedules of owners and occupiers of property, 1860; Minutes of the Commissioners, 1894-1934; deeds of grant and agreements allowing construction or maintenance work to take place, 1886-1941; surveys and plans, 1721-1858, including surveys of Dagenham, Barking and East Ham Levels by James Bermingham, ordered by the Commissioners of Sewers, 1735-1742, "plan of Lands in the Valley of the River Roding over which it is proposed to extend the jurisdiction of the Commissioners", 1854 and maps of Wicklands Level, Westbury Level and Little West Marsh, 1858.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

HLCS/1: Letters Patent; HLCS/2: Presentments; HLCS/3-10: Minutes; HLCS/11-22: Deeds and agreements; HLCS/23-34: Surveys and Plans.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Available for general access

Conditions governing reproduction

Copyright: City of London

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

English

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

For further records relating to sewers in London please see MCS: Metropolitan Commission of Sewers; PCS: Poplar Commission of Sewers; SKCS: Surrey and Kent Commission of Sewers; THCS: Tower Hamlets Commission of Sewers; WCS: Westminster and Middlesex Commission of Sewers; NSJSB: North Surrey Joint Sewage Board; O/080 and O/160: Westminster Commission of Sewers; ACC/2766: Crossness Pumping Station; GCS: Greenwich Commission of Sewers; HLCS: Havering Level Commission of Sewers; HFCS: Holborn and Finsbury Commission of Sewers; RMSB: Richmond Main Sewerage Board; STKCS: Saint Katherine's Commission of Sewers; WVA: Wandle Valley Main Drainage Authority and MBW: Metropolitan Board of Works. For the City of London see CLA/006: City of London Commissioners of Sewers.

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

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