Early 1800's. Not a Nice Place to Live
Rochdale town centre was, in the early 19th century, not the most healthiest of places to live. The reasons for this were numerous. The birth rate was rising rapidly which led to the overcrowding of the already small dwellings, this overcrowding wasn't helped by the floods of migrant workers from the outlying areas of Rochdale looking for work. Therefore landlords/builders squeezed as many sub-standard houses on each plot of land they could find.
The area bounded by Packer St,
Church Lane and School Lane became known as 'The Gank' (so called
because the local word for a passage or narrow alley was a 'gank'). By the 1830's Rochdale was being smothered in its own
smoke and squalor. The level of local government that existed at
the time was unable to keep pace with developments and the
political ideology of the time was "laissez-fair"
(non-interference). This provided the perfect excuse to sit back
and do nothing.
To give you an idea of the living conditions, in 1841 only half the streets in Rochdale had drains or sewers. The worst class of houses (the Gank, shown right, taken from the bottom of Packer St looking towards the Parish Church) weren't even provided with closets (non flushing toilets). This led to this area becoming the most unsanitary area of the town. Where closets were provided they were shared by up to 10 households and emptied very irregularly if at all. Because there were no regulations for draining the town, drains and sewers were laid only along the main streets. This meant that the vast majority of narrow streets and alleys were clogged with filth and debris. The unpaved courtyards of the Gank were never cleared, household waste and the polite name of "nightsoil" piled up and created appalling health hazards. In 1845 a report cited Rochdale as being amongst the worst areas in Lancashire for sanitation. This wasn't helped much by the fact that urban Lancashire had one of the worst sanitary conditions in the country!
The people of Rochdale became aware of the threat to all social classes by the lack of a proper sanitary system in 1848. This was when Edward Taylor, a prominent local chemist and politician launched an attack on the town's public health record.
When it was found that the high mortality rate was not exclusive to the poorer areas, and that waterborne diseases such as cholera were not selective socially, action was finally taken and various local improvements Acts, starting in 1853, granted considerably greater powers to the local authority. Progress was very slow and the town's method of 'nightsoil' collection, a horse drawn truck which collected ten-gallon tubs of 'deodorized' waste matter from around the town and transported them to the treatment plant on Entwistle Road, was sub-contracted and poorly organised.
Right is an 'idealistic' drawing of Packer St looking in the same direction as the above picture
Above: Packer St 1999, The whole of the right side was demolished as part of the redevelopment
The following charts show comparisons of height and weight between Boys from Rochdale, Public School Background and the National Average. This information was taken from a table produced by the Rochdale Observer in 1892.
As you can plainly see, a boy from Rochdale was two years behind, in growth, than a boy with a public school background.
Graphs copyright: L Dunning
Last Updated 15/07/03