Dirt, Grime and Disease at Tudor House

Event Information

Keeping it Clean: Dirt, Grime and Disease in Southampton

New exhibition from 23 March 2024

Before running water, modern medicine, and indoor toilets, how did people keep clean, stay well, and dispose of waste in Southampton? This new exhibition explores dirt, grime and disease from Saxon times, through to the medieval and Victorian eras. Come and discover how our waste can tell the story of Southampton.

Tudor House was one of the most prestigious properties in medieval Southampton, but during the late 1800s it came close to being demolished. The surrounding area had become an unclean, disease-ridden warren of cheap lodgings, and slum clearances had seen nearby houses condemned. A cholera epidemic in 1849 caused the deaths of 240 people in the area.

Find out more about how Tudor House managed to escape the fate of its neighbours, discover secrets hidden in medieval toilets, and learn what would have been one of the smelliest jobs in the world.

Image: Wickham Court, Simnel Street. The houses were destroyed during slum clearances in the late 1890s. Maritime and Local History Collection.