Knightsbridge Living

Toilets

The direct route

In Regency England, the streets and open drains remained the most usual toilets.

Patented toilets

Alexander Cummings invented a valve-operated water closet in 1775. Joseph Bramah (the lock inventor) patented his own version in 1778, which was a big seller. The first flushing toilet was invented by Thomas Crapper and it involved a high level cistern fixed on the wall at head level. 

Water problems

Modern toilets required mains water. In Regency times, some richer houses did have mains water, but it was supplied in wooden pipes. The Industrial Revolution introduced steam pumps, which increased the water pressure so it could reach upper floors, but the pressure tended to blow out the wooden joints, so the supply frequently failed. In 1817 the Metropolitan Paving Act required water companies to lay cast iron pipes. This made modern toilets a practical proposition, at least on ground floors.