Welcome to the Victorian Underground Project

As the Industrial Revolution steamrolled ahead, London’s microclimate became increasingly unbearable for the couple of million people living there. The year 1876 was particularly gruelling.

From a sanitary viewpoint, civilisation was still wearing nappies. The sewerage system was minimal, the streets were littered with rotten vegetables alongside dead animals and birds, and people’s waste could literally be found on your doorstep next to the morning milk delivery. This essentially turned London into a petri dish of disease and premature death. Imagine living with that omnipresent stench for just a minute.

The only solution was to purchase gasmasks. However, these were only affordable to the wealthier residents. The vast majority could only protest and wheeze into their handkerchiefs while their life expectancy plummeted.

Today’s photographs show several aspects of the problem and the solution. Photograph #6 is a lavatory shared by 10 household and a million insects. The only place you will find toilets of that calibre today are at Barrow train station in the far north of England. We have also included an ornate gasmask (from our own collection) which was allegedly worn by a member of the Royal Family.

TVUP