The growth of the city around the commercial City of London was continuing apace; as the British Empire grew so the London Docks had grown in trade, population sharply … See more

Few ratepayers and construction contractors thought MBW were transparently rewarded or that their property deals and tendering amounted to fair price and competition. Its status as a joint board insulated its members from any influence of popular … See more

• Sir John Thwaites 1855–1870
• James Macnaghten Hogg 1870–1889 See more

To empower this body to coordinate work to plan and build infrastructure of the metropolis, Parliament passed the Metropolis Management Act 1855 See more

Sewage
A major problem was sewage: most of London's waste was allowed to flow into the See more

The MBW at first had its meetings in the Guildhall of the City of London and its headquarters at Greek Street in Soho. It then built its own headquarters at Spring Gardens (which became a metonym for the MBW), designed by its first chief architect See more

The Metropolitan Board of Works was abolished by the Local Government Act 1888; and the London County Council had been elected on 21 January 1889, to assume its new powers on 1 April. With the MBW a lame duck, its last weeks were its most inglorious … See more