From a hook on the wall the bathroom evolved, but the bathroom is the room in the house that has the shortest history

Today most new build houses have a main bathroom in addition to an ‘en suite’ to the master bedroom plus a downstairs WC.  So it is hard to believe that less than 100 years ago most houses didn’t have a bathroom or even an indoor WC.  Instead there was a shed at the bottom of the yard, often shared by multiple households, with a toilet seat over a deep hole.  There was a hook on the wall where the tin bath hung with the bath only being used once a week, with the bath water being shared by the whole family.

Thanks to the Industrial Revolution, steps were taken to mechanise the bathroom. As more homes were plumbed for hot water and gas heaters became widely available, the middle class started to experience bathing inside the home. But lower classes still living in dense tenement buildings still shared bathtubs and toilets.

Only in the nineteenth century, with the improvements to the water supply forced by the fear of cholera, and with the building of underground sewers, did the flushing toilet finally take its place in most homes. Working class houses with bathrooms were first built around 1900, and in the 1920’s council houses were built with bathrooms.  However, in the 1950’s and into the 1960’s there were still many houses with outside toilets some with occupants refusing the authority’s grant to install an inside WC as they considered an indoor facility to be unhygienic.

Today, the bathroom combines stylish luxury with functionality. The bathroom is a place to get ready in the mornings and relax in with a warm bath in the evenings. Technology including underfloor heating, steam-free mirrors, televisions, clever lighting, chrome radiators and digital showers are contributing to making the bathroom far more than what could have been envisaged by the Victorians.

If you are looking to have a new bathroom installation or require plumbing and heating work to be done in your home you can source a local qualified and reputable plumber or heating engineer via our search facility at www.FindAQualityPlumber.co.uk. The online database allows you to search via a number of criteria including postcode, town or by specific business name.

 

Fascinating Bathroom Facts

• The use of baths date back as far as 3000 B.C, but they were used for religious rather than hygiene purposes. 
• The flush toilet was invented in 1596, but didn’t become widespread until 1851, and in 1767
• Englishman William Feetham invented the first modern shower.
• It is rumored that toilet paper was first invented by the Chinese in the 6th century.
• On average people visit the bathroom between six and eight times every day.
• 7 million phones are broken every year as they fall into the toilet bowl.
• George II and Elvis Presley both died on the toilet.
• 85% of injuries that happen in the bathroom occur when someone falls into the toilet after the seat has been left up.