Historic England - Sir Joseph Bazalgette

Civil engineer Joseph Bazalgette has been credited with being as influential in improving the appearance of London as Sir Christopher Wren, and with saving more lives than any other single Victorian public official. Working for the Metropolitan Sewers' Commission, he devised London’s first sewer network that became a blueprint for many other cities throughout the world. 

 

 

Places to visit

Crossness Pumping Station
Admire the work of this great engineer on open days at this remarkable Beam Engine House, a Grade 1 Listed building in a Victorian Romanesque style that features some spectacular ornamental ironwork. It still contains the four original pumping engines, (though the cylinders were upgraded in 1899) which represent the largest concentration of rotative beam engines in the world.