Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1682-1841 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
0.65 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 precinct of St. Katherines nigh the Tower of London' as it is described in the earliest Commission which has been found (1646), is the smallest area to have a separate Commission of Sewers in the neighbourhood of London.
Repository
Archival history
STKCS 1682-1841 Collection 0.65 linear metres Saint Katherine's 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 precinct of St. Katherines nigh the Tower of London' as it is described in the earliest Commission which has been found (1646), is the smallest area to have a separate Commission of Sewers in the neighbourhood of London.
Acquired with the records of its successor body, the Metropolitan Board of Works.
Letters patent appointing Commissioners, 1729-1838; writ authorizing the Commissioners to take an oath, 1837; writs to summon juries, 1795-1837; minutes, 1782-1821; draft presentments and petitions, 1754-1841; minutes of the Court Leet regarding a pledge of the Manor of the Hospital of Saint Katherine by the Tower, 1791; plan of Nightingale Lane level produced in the Court of the Queen's Bench in the case of Saint Katherine's Dock versus Higgs, 1836; lease of a messuage [a portion of land occupied as the site for a dwelling house] and garden from the Master of the Hospital of Saint Katherine to Thomas Pickard, joiner, 1682.
STKCS/1-9: Letters patent; STKCS/10-13: Writs; STKCS/14-15: Minutes; STKCS/16-32: Presentments; STKCS/33: Lease; STKCS/34: Minutes of Court Leet; STKCS/35: Plan.
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 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 Health policy Saint Katherine's Commission of Sewers Royal Hospital and Collegiate Church of Saint Katharine by the Tower , 1148-1825 St Katherine Docks Tower Hamlets London England UK Western Europe St Katharine Docks Europe
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Acquired with the records of its successor body, the Metropolitan Board of Works.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Letters patent appointing Commissioners, 1729-1838; writ authorizing the Commissioners to take an oath, 1837; writs to summon juries, 1795-1837; minutes, 1782-1821; draft presentments and petitions, 1754-1841; minutes of the Court Leet regarding a pledge of the Manor of the Hospital of Saint Katherine by the Tower, 1791; plan of Nightingale Lane level produced in the Court of the Queen's Bench in the case of Saint Katherine's Dock versus Higgs, 1836; lease of a messuage [a portion of land occupied as the site for a dwelling house] and garden from the Master of the Hospital of Saint Katherine to Thomas Pickard, joiner, 1682.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
STKCS/1-9: Letters patent; STKCS/10-13: Writs; STKCS/14-15: Minutes; STKCS/16-32: Presentments; STKCS/33: Lease; STKCS/34: Minutes of Court Leet; STKCS/35: Plan.
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
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
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