Improving public health in Croydon
When the Public Health Act
was passed in 1848
Croydon was one of the first towns
to set up its own Board of Health.
The Board improved the water supply
by building a pumping station,
and laying pipes.
It also built sewers.
Its other responsibilities included
collecting rates,
town planning, street lighting,
law and order and the fire service.
By the 1890s Croydon was said to be
"the healthiest among the large towns
in the kingdom".