[1] Following a serious outbreak of typhus in 1838, the reformer Edwin Chadwick had spent three years compiling his report on The Sanitary Conditions of the Labouring Classes in Britain in 1842, which had caught the public imagination, and became an unexpected best-seller for Her Majesty's Stationery Office.

[2] The Health of Towns Commission was set up in the wake of this,[3] while Chadwick campaigned vigorously for a system where every house would have a constant water supply and adequate sewerage.

He was convinced that the introduction of water closets only made matters worse if they resulted in cesspools overflowing, rather than the waste being carried away to be treated elsewhere.

Worksop's death rate was 26.6 per thousand in 1847, and a petition signed by the required number of inhabitants was sent to the Central Board of Health.

He arrived on 3 July 1850, and his report stated that there was no public water supply, no drainage system, unpaved streets, the town was uncleansed, there were many dilapidated privies with open cesspools, and some housing suffered from bad ventilation and overcrowding.

[8] There were some difficulties in the early years, with members unused to the idea of ordered debate, and the financial position proving to be confused.

[10] Joseph Garside, a local entrepreneur who owned a large wood yard in the town and subsequently ran the Worksop and Retford Brewery Company, had stood for the board initially, but failed to get elected.

The main brick sewer ran from Bridge Street to Beaver Place, and was of egg-shaped construction, with an overflow to the River Ryton where it ended, and the earthenware pipes to the outlet works began.

The revised scheme, including the design of the Italianate pumping station, was the responsibility of the Local Board of Health's surveyor, John Allsopp.

Each could pump 0.8 million imperial gallons (3.6 Ml) per day along the 1.25-mile (2.0 km) pipeline to Kilton, around twice the volume actually required at the time.

This was allowed to flow into Thievesdale Lane, where it created a hazard, and small quantities of zinc and nickel in the effluent, derived from talcum powder, oxidation of water tanks, and industrial discharges, were thought to be responsible for crop failures at the sewage farm.

It might then have been possible to extend the hours during which pumping was allowed, but he could not see a simple solution to the presence of zinc and nickel, and thought that broad irrigation might have to be abandoned soon, to be replaced by treatment at a sewage works.

In order to reduce the number of trips by tankers carrying the sludge, Worksop was chosen as a central location for Severn Trent's northern area, and therefore the site for the new facility, which cost £15 million.

To reach the site, lorries had to pass through a residential area, and a new access road was constructed as part of the project to avoid this.

[25] The new facility is designed to handle a maximum of 10,209 tonnes of dry solids per year, 80 per cent of which is delivered to the site by road tankers.

A government inspector, visiting the town in 1853, wrote that "The water supply and drainage are of the most wretched description, and manure heaps, piggeries, foul privies and stagnant filth flourish in the vicinity of the houses.

The engineer for the project was Josiah Foster Fairbank, and he oversaw the construction of a well which was 370 feet (110 m) deep, from which water was raised by a steam pump.

The cost of the project was less than the estimated £14,000, and was covered by the provisions of their enabling Act, which allowed them to raise £12,000 in shares and an additional £3,000 if required.

[18] The official opening took place on 5 September, when visitors spent some time inspecting the reservoir, the engine house and the machinery.

William Allen, the chairman of the company, introduced Fairbank, who stated that they had laid 15,000 yards (14,000 m) of water mains within the town, and that although the works had the capacity to supply 30,000 people, only a small number of houses were so far connected to the system.

The party then saw two hydrants being tested, one on Bridge Street and another at the Manton Inn, before visiting a new drinking fountain at the Corn Exchange, which the company had donated to the town.

[34] Uptake of the new facility was slow but steady, and by 1890, most of the houses in the town had a permanent water supply, although a few still relied on pumps or wells.

[35] Work began on sinking Manton Colliery in 1898,[33] on land owned by Henry Pelham-Clinton, 7th Duke of Newcastle[36] and it was fully operational by 1907.

The 1875 Act had given the Water Company powers to sell the works, and had also authorised the Worksop Local Board of Health to buy them, as and when it was appropriate.