A victorian secret London and urine deflectors of Fleet Street

2 min read

Just off London’s popular Fleet Street is a small, unassuming alleyway named Cliffords Inn Passage.
Now overlooked by streams of commuters this quiet thoroughfare once held a greater purpose as, in Medieval times, served as the main entrance to Clifford’s Inn of Chancery, one of several institutions which, until the 17th century, provided a centre for training barristers.

However, by the 19th century, it became little more than a small shadowy alleyway off a street filled with various drinking establishments or, more precisely, exactly the sort of place where a Londoner, having made merry in the surrounding multitude of taverns and gin palaces would drunkenly stagger for a pee.
It was a time when sewage still filled the streets and the Thames itself ran with death. Of course London’s sanitary arrangements were grim to say the least and folk relieved themselves wherever they could– especially in the city’s labyrinth of alleyways which provided some discretion, and so urination in a secluded alley was certainly not surprising.

Over time, though, the persistent pummel of piddle began to take a toll, corroding the brick walls that made up these alleyways, most of them private property, the owners of which did not take too kindly to having their beloved brickwork eroded by copious flows of steaming urine.
And so, to prevent further damage, urine deflectors were installed along the length of Cliffords Inn Passage, long strips of metal, angled to drain the urine into the gutter (or directly onto the shoes of the drunks).
Although this effectively combatted the unsanitary practices of the time, many “gentlemen” were miffed at the urine deflectors introduction, and apparently one commented in 1809: “In London a man may sometimes walk a mile before he can meet with a suitable corner; for so accommodating are the owners of doorways, passages, and angles, that they seem to have exhausted invention in the ridiculous barricades and shelves, grooves, and one fixed above another, to conduct the stream into the shoes of the luckless wight who shall dare to profane the intrenchments.”

Either way, during the Victorian era urine deflectors were a common sight across London but, as public toilets were built and sanitation in general improved, they began to disappear.