ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: COL/ESD
Held at	: London Metropolitan Archives   Click here to find out how to view this collection at https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma ›
Full title	: ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT
Date(s)	: 1872-2003
Level of description	: subfonds View parent record
Extent	: 0.3 linear metres
Name of creator(s)	: Corporation of London

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

The Port of London comprised a stretch of the River Thames from Teddington Lock in Surrey to the Isle of Sheppey in Kent, including all streams, channels, creeks, harbours and docks within these limits. The Port Health Authority was concerned with the health and hygiene of ship's crews and passengers; the control of infectious diseases; the running of the Port Isolation Hospital at Denton, Gravesend, Kent; the disinfection of vessels and control of onboard rodents and pests; the inspection of imported foodstuffs, particularly shellfish; the registration and inspection of canal boats and rodent control at docks.

The Cleansing Department handles the disposal of all household and commercial waste generated within the City.

The City of London runs the Heathrow Animal Reception Centre (HARC) to carry out its main statutory responsibilities under the Animal Health Act, 1981, this legislation incorporates Rabies controls and the Welfare of Animals During Transport Order 1997. The Heathrow Animal Reception Centre, formerly known as the Animal Quarantine Station, is part of the Veterinary Sector of the City of London's Environmental Services Directorate and has over the past 25 years established itself as a world leader in the care of animals during transport. Open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year receiving and caring for literally millions of animals of all types, including everything from tarantulas, cobras, race horses, tigers, cattle, cats and dogs and even baby elephants, the HARC has the facilities to cope with almost any animal.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Records of the Environmental Services Department, 1872-2003, as follows:

Records of the Port Health Authority including papers of a conference 'for the purpose of promoting unity of action and taking into consideration the necessary measures for the prevention of the introduction and spread of Cholera', 17 Feb 1893; papers relating to the hospital ship RHIN, 1872-1884; reports of the Medical Officer for the Port of London, 1880-1884; regulations and reports relating to shellfish, 1915-1917; copies of Acts of Parliament relevant to the Port Health Authority, 1891-1936; report of visit by Mr Mackie, Chief Sanitary Inspector, Port Health Authority, London, to the foreign Quarantine Division, United States Public Health Service, 1951; records of inspection of imports, 1965-1973; Technical Assistant handbook, 1977; summary of powers and duties of the Port Health Authority, 1957 and 1967; accounts of the history of the Port Health Authority, 1942, 1972 and 1972.

Records of the Cleansing Department including papers relating to staffing, 1942-1948 (closed until 2024); booklets relating to the Cleansing Depot and Wharf at Walbrook, 1963-1985; report from a conference on litter, 1967; A Clean City is Our Business, a folder issued by the Cleansing Department, giving advice on the responsibilities of the Corporation towards its ratepayers regarding waste disposal, 1992 and offprint of article "The City of London: A Waste Management History" by Alfred Dunitz, in Wastes Management, the monthly journal of the Institute of Wastes Management, 1993.

Also byelaws relating to the Animal Quarantine Section, Heathrow Airport, 2000-2003 and leaflet describing the service, 1994.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

In sections according to catalogue.

Conditions governing access:

These records are available for public inspection, although records containing personal information are subject to access restrictions under the UK Data Protection Act, 1998.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright: City of London

Finding aids:

Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

Corporation of London Records Office.

Allied Materials

Related material:

For records of the Corporation of London relating to public health, including the provision of welfare and housing services, see: CLA/006: City of London Commissioners of Sewers, COL/CC/FCC: Food Control Committee, COL/CC/GWC: Gas/Gas and Water Committee, COL/CC/HEB: City of London Board of Health, COL/CC/HEC: Health Committee, COL/CC/HGC: Housing Committee, COL/CC/ITP: Joint (Public Health Department) Committee, COL/CC/LAC: Litter Act Committee, COL/CC/LFC: Local Food Control Committee, COL/CC/MIN: Committees, COL/CC/PBC: Public Health Committee, COL/CC/PHC: Port and City of London Health Committee, COL/CC/PHE: Port Health and Environmental Services Committee, COL/CC/PHS: Port and City of London Health and Social Services Committee, COL/CC/PLH: Port of London Health Committee, COL/CC/SHC: Special Housing Committee, COL/CC/SIC: Select and Special Committees, COL/CC/SSC: Social Services Committee, COL/CC/STS: Streets Committee, COL/CC/WCD: Whole Court (Public Health Department) Committee, COL/ESD: Environmental Services Department, COL/PL: Plans, the papers of the Community Services Department (COL/CSD), the papers of the Public Health Department (COL/PHD), the papers of the Planning Department (COL/PLD), the papers of the Surveyor's Department (COL/SVD) and the papers of the Technical Services Department (COL/TSD).

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
February 2009