Managing Flow: Drainage and Flood Control in Eighteenth-Century London

The rapid expansion and urban development of eighteenth-century London altered existing drainage patterns and increased flood risk. The early modern sewer commissions, set up to deal with the status quo, struggled to cope with these changes. As the city expanded, a network of public and private drains and sewers was built up haphazardly over time, resulting in an exceedingly complex system that was difficult to manage and almost impossible to know. While most previous histories of London’s sanitation and drainage have been centered on the larger-scale sanitation schemes of the nineteenth century, this study sheds light on the water infrastructure and administration that preceded these interventions. It shows that eighteenth-century London’s management of water was an iterative process of reactive decision-making rather than a grand plan.