Manchester, now a large city, dates back many centuries. It was, in AD79, established as a Roman fort (Mamucium), and remained a small town until the 18th century, when the industrial revolution led to its development as a very rich place, with the help of money flowing in from the textile industry. As people moved in to seek a better way of life, it grew from a population of around 10,000 in 1717 to 351,189 in 1871.

Ancoats, an area of Manchester in the 1870s

The infrastructure was not sufficient to cope well with this growth. There was no water or services. Ten or twelve people might share one bedroom, and up to 100 houses shared the one “privvy” – usually a deep hole dug in the corner of a yard, or a “midden” – a heap against a wall. One report from the mid-18th century describes the lavatories as…