London's sanitation history

Walking from Blackfriar's Bridge to Westminister it was good to see that London's last remaining 'sewer gas lamp' is still burning bright. It is also called a 'sewer gas destructor lamp' in the adjacent plaque - which explains that it has been burning there since 1870 when Bazalgette's Victoria Embankment sewer was 'opened'.

And just a few hundred metres along Bazalgette can be 'seen' overseeing 'his' embankment. Which was partly funded by taxes on coal and wine being brought into the City - innovative financing of its age.