Sewerage and rural disadvantage in England 1945–74

Abstract

Prior to local government reorganisation in 1974, English rural councils were largely responsible for local sewerage services. In 1945, British national sentiment supported reversing interwar neglect of rural areas through investment in new housing and affiliated services. Rural sewerage was central to expected gains. Rural hopes were soon disabused. Investment in sewerage faltered. National direction pushed social housing towards cities and, within rural districts, to larger villages, while private construction relying on environmentally defective drainage systems was less constrained. Despite regular rural council complaints, governments were slow to address sewerage deficiencies. Rural social segregation and water pollution increased. Yet the role of sewerage provision is little reported in the literature, even though deficits of early postwar decades helped enable today’s middle-class capture of the countryside, while soil pollution from defective sewerage schemes posed threats to rural economic prospects.