RIS ID

109990

Publication Details

I. Willis 2016 Pit covers and other things under foot Camden History Notes https://camdenhistorynotes.wordpress.com/2016/08/26/pit-covers-and-other-things-under-foot/

Abstract

Utilities like electricity, water, gas, sewerage, communications and others are essential in any community. Camden has acquired the utilities as time has progressed over the past 150 years to the present. Argyle Street has a number of utilities buried beneath the street and footpaths. Their histories provide a valuable insight into the town's development and progress, particularly in the 20th century. The arrival of electricity, gas and water were part of Camden modernism and its influence on the town. Each of these utilities has transnational origins well beyond the township and illustrate the linkages between the town and wider world. For example the supply of clean drinking water in Camden was linked to an outbreak of scarlet fever in the later 19th century. Contagious diseases were a major health concern in the 19th century and were an ever present worry in daily life. Clean drinking water had an important influence on the development of public health. I was walking along Camden's Argyle Street and it struck me that utility inspection covers are a historical statement in their own right. They are an entry point for the utility service as they also provide an entry to the stories that surround the delivery of the utility. Even the different logos for utilities illustrate the changes in the history of a telco or electricity supplier. A cover might be a statement about a utility supplier that is now defunct. The utility cover are made of different material - cast iron, concrete, and others. These are all mysteries that are waiting to be solved for the curious mind. Or just for the bored and idle with nothing better to do.

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