Infrastructure & Development

Sanitary Conditions 1882-3 

Insights from the Medical Officer’s Annual Report[5]

The Medical Officer’s report for 1883 provides a revealing snapshot of public health conditions across the Aylesbury Rural District at a time when Victorian sanitary reform was still unevenly implemented. Although no major structural improvements were carried out during the year, the Officer noted a **general improvement in cleanliness and nuisance removal** compared with 1882. Rural households and farms were beginning to adopt better habits, even if formal sanitary infrastructure remained limited.

Water Supply: A Persistent Weakness

A major concern repeated from the previous year was the lack of safe drinking water in villages such as Aston Clinton and Weston Turville. Although the Chiltern Hills Water Company’s mains passed directly through both settlements, most residents still relied on wells and brooks, many of which were described as “generally contaminated.”

The Medical Officer had previously recommended installing public standpipes, but this had not been done. Instead, progress came through private philanthropy:  

Lady de Rothschild funded the laying of Chiltern Hills water along the Weston Road, enabling cottages to connect individually to a clean supply. Even so, villagers were slow to adopt the new piped water, continuing to depend on traditional sources despite the health risks.

Infectious Disease and the Need for Isolation Facilities

The report stressed the urgent need for isolation cottages — small, purpose‑built facilities where infectious patients could be separated at the first appearance of disease. None existed anywhere in the district, making it “impossible… to arrest the spread of zymotic disease.”  

The Officer recommended that one such isolation cottage be built between Aston Clinton and Weston Turville, serving both communities.

Closets, Cesspools, and Contaminated Wells

Perhaps the most serious structural problem identified was the widespread use of:

• Cesspools and privies,  

• Drinking wells,  

• All located in close proximity,  

• Sunk into porous limestone, which allowed contamination to spread.

The Medical Officer described this arrangement as a “crying evil”, expressing astonishment that more deaths were not directly attributed to it. He believed that much of the fatal diarrhoea regularly appearing in mortality statistics was caused by contamination from these cesspools.

His recommended remedy was straightforward:  

• Compulsory closure of defective or suspect cesspools,  

• Replacement with simple earth closets, using a pail and household ashes — a system he considered both manageable and far safer.

Weston Turville: Local Conditions in 1883

Weston Turville formed part of the area under review and shared many of the challenges described in the report.

Water Supply

• Although the Chiltern Hills mains ran through the village, most residents still relied on contaminated wells and brooks.  

• Lady de Rothschild’s funding allowed piped water to be laid along the Weston Road, giving cottages the opportunity to connect to a clean supply.  

• Adoption was slow, with villagers hesitant to abandon familiar water sources.

Risk of Infectious Disease

• Weston Turville had no isolation facilities, leaving the village vulnerable to the spread of infectious illnesses.  

• The Medical Officer recommended building an isolation cottage between Weston Turville and Aston Clinton, reflecting the importance of both villages in the district’s health planning.

Sanitation and Waste

The report strongly implied that Weston Turville’s sanitary arrangements needed reform, even though the village did not feature in the year’s most serious incidents.

General Condition

Despite these structural weaknesses, Weston Turville shared in the overall improvement noted across the district: better cleanliness, more attention to nuisances, and a growing awareness of sanitary responsibilities.

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Post & Telephones in Weston Turville

At the Parish Council meeting October 1913[4]

A letter in response to one which had been sent to the Postmaster-General requesting the installation of the telephone in this parish was reported to have been received. It stated that regret was expressed at his inability to comply with the request, owing to the probability of insufficient business to make it remunerative. The Clerk was further desired to write to the Postmaster-General to request him to kindly change the post town of Tring to that of Wendover, with a view to expediting the delivery of letters, etc.

At the Parish Council meeting on 8th September 1914[3]

A letter was read from the Acting Surveyor of the General Post Office, expressing regret that owing to the transfer of the Weston Turville Post Office business to a more central position the request for re-instatement of the letter box near Mr. J. C. Munger's could not be complied with. 

The Clerk reported that he had received the counterpart agreement duly executed in respect of the extension of the telephone system Weston Turville, and that instructions had been issued for the work to be put in hand. 

The first telephone was installed in 1915, on a seven year lease (presumably from the General Post Office) that was renewed in 1922.[1] (We are still research where and by who). In rural areas, seven year service contracts were not uncommon. 

The first public telephone box was installed on Main Street in 1936[1]. We do have a C1940 postcard of Main Street that shows Phone lines, Brindle's Post office and Haig Hall but sadly no phone box. 

Weston Turville had no Telephone Exchange and by 1939 properties with a postal address of Weston Turville were connected to exchanges in Wendover, Aylesbury, Stoke Mandeville and Aston Clinton. 

Between March 1920 and April 1936, 152 new properties were built in Weston Turville.

1933

Complaints that the first post did not arrive until 09:45! [7] This had been a complaint in Parish Council meetings since at least 1898. [9]

Request for a telephone kiosk to be erected somewhere in the centre of the village. [7]

By 1936:-

Electricity was connected to the village in 1926 according to Hamish Heaton though there is little evidence for this before 1928. The Parish Church was lit by electricity for the first time on 1st Jan 1929, though there were insufficient fund for the organ to be blown electrically.[10]

Post Letters were still being delivered very late in the morning. [6]

Telephone Kiosk was not illuminated at night [6]

Water, about two-thirds of the houses were supplied off the mains, and the remainder from wells. There has been a shortage of water at Weston Turville, where the supply was cut off for several hours each day.  In December there was a request to Chiltern Hills Water Company to extend the pipe line up the Marrow Way on to the Wendover Road.

But no sewers. Drainage of all properties was to cesspools. The emptying of cesspools was by horse drawn tank carts equipped with manual pumps. With the constant increase in the number of houses the Council was obliged to consider the provision of further appliances, and they came to the conclusion that rather than provide additional horses and carts it would be preferable to mechanise the whole system.[6]

Weston Turville and the 1936 Sewerage Inquiry

(Summary based on The Bucks Herald, 3 April 1936) [2]

In April 1936, a Ministry of Health inquiry was held at Aston Clinton Assembly Hall to examine a £52,000 sewerage and sewage disposal scheme proposed by the Aylesbury Rural District Council. The plan covered Aston Clinton, Buckland, and Weston Turville, aiming to modernise sanitation as the villages expanded.

Key Points for Weston Turville

• Population Growth: Weston Turville’s population had risen sharply (1,040 at the 1931 census and estimated at 1,301 five years later based upon new properties erected), creating pressure on outdated drainage systems. The inquiry noted that continued development made improved sewage disposal “a very difficult and urgent question.”. At the time, Weston Turville covered an area of 2,723 acres.

• Financial Impact: The scheme’s cost would lead to a 1s. 1d. increase in parish rates for Weston Turville.

• Existing Conditions: Local drains were described as inadequate, with effluent from cesspools and surface water causing pollution concerns. Weston Turville’s low-lying ground made disposal particularly challenging.

• Scheme Details:

  • A new sewer network would serve the village, connecting to a central disposal works near Aston Clinton.

  • The plan aimed to eliminate pollution in local ditches and streams, improving hygiene and reducing nuisances.

  • Engineers proposed gravity-fed sewers where possible, with pumping stations for lower areas.

• Public Reaction: While Aston Clinton residents largely supported the scheme, Weston Turville’s representatives raised concerns about cost and fairness, questioning whether the benefits justified the rate increase.

• Health and Environment: The Ministry inspector heard evidence of “appalling nuisances” from overflowing cesspools and stagnant water. The scheme was presented as essential to prevent further contamination and safeguard public health.

An Infrastructure status article from Bucks Advertiser 30 July 1937

THE MISSING FIRE HYDRANTS

Weston Turville Parish Council is determined to put their village back on the map. They are indignant.

They assert that they are being robbed of even the most primitive advantages of civilisation. First the "arm of the law" is withdrawn-they found themselves without a policeman, and now they are not allowed to have fire outbreaks, because if they do they will not have the means of putting them out. There is no fire engine, but even if there was there is no water-the fire hydrants are as good as non-extinct, and hereby hangs the tale.

The question arose at a Parish Council meeting some six months ago as to what position and what condition these fire hydrants were in. A requisition was sent to the Chiltern Hills Water Company, at the beginning of the year, to apply for the hydrants to be put in working order. On Monday, Parish Council members, the chairman, Mr. H. C. Wakefield, Mr. J. E. Lawton, Mr. Le Plastrier, and Mr. J. Mills took the bull by the horns and went out to discover the worst. Wendover Fire Brigade (incidentally the brigade which would be called to fight a Weston fire), captained by Mr. Senecal, gave their valuable support, and the party made a tour round the village. 

• At the first spot near the Church House they dug for 20 minutes and found a hydrant with a pressure of nil.

• The second hydrant in Church Lane had been rendered useless by a steam roller. 

• After hours of sweated labour and the cost of damage to several spades and picks, a third in Bates' Lane was discovered, but, alas! the water wouldn't turn on.

1947

"SINKING IN THE OOZE" IN MAIN STREET (From Bucks Herald 7 Feb 1947

"We call Weston Turville Southend on Sea nowadays, for surely no place could be muddier," Mrs. Biddle, of Weston Turville le Post Post Office Office, told a "Bucks Herald" reporter. "It is about time something time something was done about our Main Street, for the road, as most people are pointing out, is in an awful caked with mud and everybody's shoes and the interiors of their houses are getting into a filthy state. Main Street is like sinking in the ooze."

There have been some complaints by villagers since part of the road was opened up and piped. It is claimed that since this was done in September the road has got into its present condition. The Bucks County Council

1949

Parish Council resolved to communicate with the Rural District Council over:- [8]

• the continued "shambles," and possibly insanitary condition, of the burnt-out cottages in Church End; 

• request the Postmaster to instal a telephone kiosk at the southern end of World's End Lane; 

• the water-logged state of Weston Turville's streets after every rainstorm to the County Council.

References

• 1. ^ Weston Turville - A History by Hamish Eaton (Kimble Press)

  2. ^ The Bucks Herald, 3 April 1936

  3. ^ Bucks Advertiser 19 Sep 1914

  4. ^ Bucks Advertiser 01 Nov 1913

  5. ^ Bucks Herald 01 Mar 1884

  6. ^ Bucks Herald 04 Dec 1936

  7. ^ Bucks Herald 29 Dec 1933

  8. ^ Bucks Herald 4 Mar 1949

  9. ^ Bucks Herald 10 Dec 1898

  10. ^ Bucks Herald 25 Jan 1929