THE BROAD STREET PUMP
No photo tour of John Snow's life would be complete
without a stop at the replica of the Broad Street pump, unveiled on July 20,
1992 to commemorate the public health work of Dr. Snow.
The Old Ordnance Survey map of 1870 for the Broad Street
area is shown below with several landmarks to be presented on our
tour. We will go from right to left along Broad Street (now Broadwick
Street). |
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The first building encountered is a pub on Broadwick
Street near Berwick Street that possibly resembles the famous brewery described
by Dr. Snow in the Broad Street pump outbreak (see to the
right below) |
Snow discovered that none of the 70 persons working in the brewery developed cholera, far different than others in
the immediate neighborhood. Apparently all of the employees consumed water
from a separate well maintained by the brewery, or drank only beer. Snow
reasoned that they had no exposure to the water of the Broad Street pump, adding
further evidence to his theory that the pump water was contaminated by an unseen
biological organism. |
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Further along the road, is a view of a replica of the
Broad Street pump in the center of the scene, with the Broad Street pub in the
distance. |
The original Broad Street pump is no longer present, but instead is represented
by a curbstone and small plaque on the side of the John
Snow pub. A replica of the pump (click for larger view) was created in 1992 to commemorate
Snow's work (see below) |
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The plaque (click for larger view) at the bottom of the pump describes its
importance for those passing by. |
It reads, Dr. John Snow (1813-1858), a noted
anesthesiologist, lived near the focus of the 1854 Soho cholera epidemic which
centered on Broad Street, as Broadwick Street was then called. In
September of that year alone, over 500 people died in Soho from the
disease. Snow had studied cholera in the 1848-49 epidemic in Southwark and
Wandsworth. His theory that polluted drinking water was the cause of
transmission of the disease was confirmed when he mapped cholera deaths in Soho
with the source of the victim's drinking water. He found that they were
concentrated on the Broad Street water pump. His theory initially met with
much disbelief but such was his conviction that he had the pump handle removed
to prevent its further use. Soon afterwards the outbreak ended. The
original pump is believed to have been located outside the nearby "The John
Snow" public house. |
THE END
This ends the photo tour. Additional views of the
John Snow public house (or pub) and the original site of the Broad Street pump
are presented in the section, John
Snow pub. For a more comprehensive presentation of the Broad Street
pump outbreak, see Dr. Snow original
description or for those with a broadband modem connection, see and hear Part
2: Broad Street Pump Outbreak.
Sources:
Porter R. London - A Social History,
1994.
Tames R. Soho
Past, 1994
The
West End, 1870. Old Ordnance Survey Maps.
 Return to John Snow site
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