THAMES EMBANKMENT (SOUTH SIDE) BILL,—LEAVE—FIRST READING. (Hansard, 17 March 1863)

MR. COWPER
, in moving for leave to introduce a Bill to enable the Metropolitan Board of Works to embank that portion of the River Thames opposite the Houses of Parliament extending between Westminster Bridge and the Gasworks near Vauxhall on the south side of the River, said, that all who desired the improvement of the metropolis, and the making of convenient thoroughfares, would naturally consider that one of the first objects to be dealt with was the river. The Thames was the great feature of London, and to its situation on the tidal waters of the Thames London owed its origin, its commercial prosperity, and its pretensions to be not only the metropolis of the British 1585 Empire, but the capital of the world. Although the river had been adequately used for the purposes of commerce, it had been greatly neglected in other respects. We had allowed it to become the receptacle of the offscourings and refuse of the town, and had allowed its mud-banks to become festering heaps when the tide was low, and to disseminate far and wide the most injurious gases. A large portion of its banks had been allowed to be monopolized by private parties, who had erected different places of business, and excluded the public from all access to the river. On the Middlesex side it was true that a mile and a half of embankment existed between Chelsea Bridge and the Houses of Parliament, and by the Act of last Session another embankment of a mile and a half in length was to he made between Westminster and Blackfriars Bridges. On the south side of the river, however, the only portion which could be properly called an embankment, and to which the public had access, was that small part called Bank-side, and that small space near Lambeth Palace called the Bishop's Walk. He believed that both of these were portions of an ancient embankment, and that the present course of the river had been influenced by the embankment erected in the earliest times—the times of the Saxons—in order to prevent the water of the Thames from flowing over the low lands, and especially over that part called Lambeth Marsh, which it seemed was formerly entirely covered by the-water of the Thames at high tides. However, the water was not entirely kept back by the embankment, for at the present moment at very high tides the water of the Thames flowed over the embankment and entered the lower floors of the houses in many of the streets, to the great inconvenience and misery of the inhabitants, and adding greatly to the diseases which were too often rife in the neighbourhood. There could be no doubt that an embankment of that portion of the Lambeth side of the river was urgently required, and he proposed to embank that part of the right bank which lay between Westminster Bridge and the gas works, and to carry a thoroughfare along the embankment to Vauxhall, and to the Nine Elms station. He would thus provide a convenient communication and a place of recreation where people might breathe the fresh air of the river, and enjoy a view of the Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. It was proposed by the Bill to widen the river at 1586 Millbank, which was at present the narrowest part, by which the flow and reflux of the tide would be greatly facilitated. It was also proposed to remove a portion of the mud-banks, which at present occasioned much annoyance and a considerable amount of disease in the neighbourhood. The effect of this would be to reduce the disease which prevailed in a very unhealthy district, and at the same time to remove a large number of noxious manufactories, the effluvia from which extended over the neighbourhood. The Bill proposed to empower the Metropolitan Board of Works to purchase the laud required for the embankment and to execute the works, defraying the cost out of the Thames Embankment Fund. The Bill enabled them to raise money upon the security of that fund, but the charge for the southern embankment was to be made second to the charges which had already been put upon the fund, so that the" embankment on the north side, between Westminster Bridge and Blackfriars, and the street between Blackfriars and the Mansion House, would have a prior claim. The Bill did not contain any provision for raising funds or imposing taxes, but simply gave the Metropolitan Board of Works the power of spending money which had been allotted to metropolitan improvements. Perhaps it would be said that the whole of the southern side of the Thames ought to be embanked; nor could he deny that it would be a great improvement. But it would involve so large an expenditure of money, and be such an interference with the trade and commerce of London, that he did not think that such a measure was practicable under the present circumstances. What was proposed by the present Bill was certainly the most urgent; and if at a future time it was thought desirable to extend the embankment either above or below the points to which it would be carried by the present Bill, a further measure might be introduced. There could be no doubt that a portion of the Surrey side required improvement both for the health and for the convenience of the inhabitants. The Bill was founded on a recommendation of the Royal Commission. Some modifications had been introduced, but in the main it was founded on the evidence and the Report of that Commission, and he trusted it would receive the sanction of the House.

§ MR. W. WILLIAMS
said, he was very sorry to hear that there was no inten- 1587 tion on the part of the Government to bring in a measure to embank the whole of the south side. Within the last week or ten days there had been very great inundations on the Lambeth side of the river. Many streets had been flooded, and the cellars of hundreds of houses had been deluged and great damage done to valuable property; yet the right hon. Gentleman evaded dealing with more than a small portion of the enbankment. Nothing short of an embankment all the way down to Black friars Bridge, if not further, would do justice to the Surrey side. The right hon. Gentleman said the funds which were proposed to be raised for the purpose of metropolitan improvements were to be devoted in the first instance to the improvement of the north side of the river. Did not that mean, that if the improvements on the north side of the river absorbed the whole of the sums provided, the embankment on the south side would have to take its chance, and there was no knowing when it would be completed? In his opinion, the works on both sides ought to go on simultaneously. He was quite sure that the present Bill would be totally ineffective to remedy much of the damage that the inhabitants of Lambeth complained of.

§ MR. W. CUBITT
said, that the embankment on the north side of the Thames was not intended to meet the convenience of the inhabitants of the river-bank; but it being absolutely necessary to provide some means for carrying the increasing traffic through the City, the Commission was appointed which recommended the embankment of the north side of the river; and this was more especially necessary when it was remembered, that if they did not adopt such a course, the Metropolitan Commissioners of Works would have to lay down a large sewer through the Strand and Fleet Street. There was no great necessity for a new line of traffic on the south side; nor could that side of the river be embanked without interfering with large manufactories carried on alike for the benefit of the owners and the public. He contended, that if persons owned wharfs on the side of the river, it was their duty to see that the walls were carried sufficiently high to prevent the water overflowing; but he denied the fact that, with the exception of that part to be now dealt, with the water did overflow on the south side. He could state from personal observation that between Blackfriars Bridge and Westminster Bridge no inconvenience was suf- 1588 fered from flooding. He agreed that it was necessary that there should be an. embankment on the south side between Westminster and Vauxhall Bridges, which were frequently over-flooded, and that the public money would be properly expended in carrying out such a work; but he denied that they would he justified in applying the public money to embanking the Thames on the south side east of Westminster Bridge.