Improvements to public health in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries
During the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries there were some attempts to improve public health. Henry VII passed a law stating that all slaughterhouses should be placed outside town walls. His son, Henry VIII gave towns the power to raise taxes to build sewers, but few towns did.
In 1647 the town council in Aberdeen began a process of pest control by poisoning rats and mice. People were making the link between dirt and disease but without fully understanding why.
However, the Great Plague of 1665 highlighted the fact that public health had not really improved. Authorities tried to deal with the plague by putting houses under quarantine and posting soldiers to stop people leaving them. However, these were essentially attempts to stop the plague spreading, rather than trying to prevent it in the first instance.
Many historians believe that it was the Great Fire of London in 1666 that contributed the most towards improving public health. In order to reduce the risk of other fires in future, it was decided to rebuild the city by making streets wider, with houses built of stone and brick, with tile or slate roofs. This made London a healthier place in which to live.
By the 18th century the country was slowly became wealthier. Brick houses, which were warmer and healthier, began to replace wooden houses. In agriculture, the introduction of The process of reducing the huge number of small landholdings to create larger, more efficient farms. opened the ways for more efficient farming. Food production increased and this led to some improvement in people’s diets.
However, these attempts to improve public health met with limited success.
- It was difficult to raise money to build sewers or employ people to remove rubbish. As in previous centuries, what little money monarchs raised in taxes was likely to be spent on the armed forces or royal palaces, rather than improving public health.
- Towns were growing so rapidly that it was impossible to keep them clean.
- Slaughterhouses, eg Smithfield in London, continued to operate inside town boundaries. In 1750 500,000 sheep and 70,000 cattle were herded into Smithfield, creating huge amounts of manure and other waste.
- It was still believed that disease was caused by Smells from decomposing material, such as animal and human waste, that were thought to cause disease..