Interesting Stories and Notes

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Living Conditions in Nottingham at the time that Walter Burgar lived there

In the 1750s Nottingham was regarded as a garden city, having many houses with large gardens or yards.  There were some older closely packed housing and the population was 10,000. The land outside the town was owned by various Lords and wealthy people who refused to release it for house building.  The town had a population boom owing to the development of the lace making industries.  By 1830, most of the gardens and yards had been built over and the population had increased to 50,000.  About one quarter of the houses had been built between 1820 and 1830.  Thus the town was now densely populated, with much of the housing of a very low standard.    

In the 18th century, the town had been served by about a dozen wells, some in church yards and cemeteries.  The water from these wells was often foul tasting due to the seepage of materials from the soil into the wells.  By 1800 water was delivered by cart from more distant wells and sold at about one farthing per bucket (3 gallons).  By 1832 water was being pumped from the River Trent and the water situation improved drastically.  After the cholera epidemic of 1832, sewage systems were introduced to the city.   By this time it was too late for the Burgar family who had then moved away from Nottingham.

Walter Burgar lived in a back-to-back house in Rancliffe Street. This was not on the 1820 map of Nottingham, so must have been newly built soon after this. Houses in Rancliffe Street would have been more desirable than the older properties in Nottingham, and would have commanded higher rents.  Thus Walter Burgar would have been one of the better-off workers.  However, these new houses were built on low lying land near the River Leen, so might have been quite damp. The size of rooms and the common use of the privies would have meant that they were not all that desirable. 

The outbreak of cholera in 1832 started in Lees Yard.  This was only a few hundred yards from Rancliff Street and Sussex Street. At this time the Nottingham courts and Lanes were littered with all forms of household waste, which was left to putrefy before being sold as manure.  This, together with refuse from tanners and fellmongers (animal skin preparers) and other smelly occupations meant that the poorer housing areas were a breeding ground for vermin and disease.  

(These facts are a summary of data that appears in a Teaching document issued by the University of Nottingham) ¹⁶¹

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