1427 Commission of Sewers Act:

In 1427 a year of 'unseasonable weathering' (Stow's Chronicle) an Act of Parliament

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The word 'sewer' in this context is used in its original sense of 'a fresh water trench
compassed in on both sides with a bank, and is a small current or little river' [Robert
Callis, The Reading ... Upon the Statute of Sewers ..., 1824 edition, p.99; 'An artificial
watercourse for draining marshy land and carrying off surface water into a river or the
sea', O.E.D.], and not its more modern sense of a channel, usually underground, for
discharging waste water and refuse from houses and towns

The areas within the jurisdiction of the Commissioners of Sewers for Western
Sussex were the valleys of the rivers and streams of the West Sussex coastal
plain to the west of the River Arun.
The Commissioners were to survey 'the walls, ditches, gutters, sewers, bridges, causeys
[causeway], wears [weir.], and trenches' in order to discover the extent of any damage,
and to make inquiry 'by the oath . The banks, ditches and sewers were to be repaired,
and the owners and tenants of land which would benefit from such repairs were to be
taxed according to the acreage of their land.

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1488 Commission of Sewers Act (London)

Ancient commissions of sewers, laws and Costumes of Romney Marsh were used for sewers
which intended to guard against floods, and not to carry offensive matter. A Commission act for
preventing floods.

An Act passed that the mayor of London shall have the rule over the River Thames from the
Bridge of Staines to the waters of Medway.

Due to temperature and great abundance of waters in the laid River Thames, which caused
many breaches and divers creeks have been grown of the laid river Thames. Divers pastures,
meadows, grounds overflown and people drowned. The 1488 act made by King Henry ordained
that the Mayor of London have the conservation and rule, like authority in every of the laid
breaches, issues, and creeks, and grounds drowned or overflown as far as water ebeth and
floweth, and punish for using unlawful nets and other unlawful engines in fishing, and to do all
other like corrections and punishments thee concerning the reformation and Redrefs of
unlawful nets and engines.

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PA135&dq=1488+Commission+of+Sewers+Act+
(London)&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi7mPW3zKrXAhWE_KQKHespCOgQ6AEIMzAC#v=onepa
ge&q=1488%20Commission%20of%20Sewers%20Act%20(London)&f=false

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+5.+A+General+Act+concerning+Commissions+of+Sewers+to+be+directed+in+all+Parts+within+
this+Realm.&source=bl&ots=e0Y_6n8fRh&sig=01cePZSDB7XfwjqDiQUH4RD71dI&hl=ar&sa=X&v
ed=0ahUKEwjx-ILukJnXAhXJVhoKHdx-DKYQ6AEILDAB#v=onepage&q=c.%205.%20A%20General
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%20Parts%20within%20this%20Realm.&f=true

1496 The Water bearers guild established Water was carried to some citizens by water
bearers. Ad-hoc and inequitable Water Supply strategy.

The conduit came in to operation when accidently a person named Henry Green drowned while
filling his tankard at the river in 1272.

During the 13th and 14th century a conduit was upgraded to accommodate filling vessels suck
as tankards to serve the people. The water bearers basically distribute the water to the people
from their tankards. The water bearers at that time did not seem to be so involved in major
disputes over the conduit and not all the members utilized the new source. Mostly the water
bearers used the river as their main source long after the conduit was available. The reason was
because it was time consuming for vendors to fill their tankards at the conduit.

The 1496 guild regulations for the London water –bearers were addressed to both brother and
sisters of the fraternity, who generally use large tankards or tynes rather than earthenware
vessels. Tankards like tynes were made of hooped staves, but tankards were cone shaped. They
had a small iron handle at the (bottom) narrow end, were fitted with a bung, contained about
three gallons, and were carried directly on the shoulder.

Water carriers also employed carts to haul larger casks of water.

In London only certain types of users transferred their activities to the conduit. With exception
the fishmongers took advantage of the conduits proximity to the market for washing the fish.
The conflict between user groups at the conduit raised 2 issues: to build a structural formation
of a water system with closed cisterns and lead supply pipes to protect the conduit from
pollution and to have available water flowing from taps.

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zqV9eMC&pg=PT150&lpg=PT150&dq=1496%09The+Water+bearers+guild+established&source=
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=1496%09The%20Water%20bearers%20guild%20established&f=true
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id=rZVFAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA44&lpg=PA44&dq=1496%09The+Water+bearers+guild+established&s
ource=bl&ots=z-GfCdQDmq&sig=DZ-
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MzAC#v=onepage&q=1496%09The%20Water%20bearers%20guild%20established&f=false

1531 Bill of Sewers Act Powers to construct sewers where necessary to convey effluent
from water sources.

In 1530 another emergency occurred. It is referred to in the Grey Friars Chronicle - "this yere
was gret wyndes and fluddes that dyde moohe harme". In the following year an Act (Act 23 Hy.
VIII c.5) was passed which gave general statutory authority for the issuing of Commissions of
Sewers whenever they might be required throughout the country.

It concerned the duties of Commissioners with responsibility for the maintenance of sea banks
and other defences, which protected low-lying areas from inundation by the sea, and the
removal of obstructions in streams and rivers caused by mills, weirs and gates. The word sewer
had a much broader meaning than in modern usage, and referred generally to streams and
watercourses.[3]

The main legislation dealing with land drainage in Britain was the Bill of Sewers (23 Hen 8 c 5),
which had been passed by King Henry VIII in 1531, and sought to make the powers of various
Commissions of Sewers permanent, whereas previously, each parliament had to renew their
powers. Amendments had been made during the reigns of Edward VI and Elizabeth I, and this
Act passed during the reign of Queen Anne was similar, in that it left the main powers of Henry's
Act in place.[4]

This was achieved by various Acts of Parliament from 1427, of which the Statute of Sewers of
1532 was one.

Many lands in the Arun and Adur valleys and on the coastal plain owe their preservation to the
existence, since the fifteenth century, of authorities charged with the responsibility of
maintaining drainage works.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Commission_of_Sewers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
List_of_Acts_of_the_Parliament_of_England,_1485%E2%80%931601

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+5.+A+General+Act+concerning+Commissions+of+Sewers+to+be+directed+in+all+Parts+within+
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%20Act%20concerning%20Commissions%20of%20Sewers%20to%20be%20directed%20in%20all
%20Parts%20within%20this%20Realm.&f=true

http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/london/

http://www.sewerhistory.org/grfx/wh_region/brit.htm

http://www.sewerhistory.org/chronos/middle_ages.htm