The Metamorphosis of Ajax
The first water-closet was designed by Sir John Harington, the Elizabethan poet, and installed at his country seat at Kelston, near Bath, in 1589, by a local craftsman known to the history of sanitation only by his initials “T.C.” In 1596, Harington described his invention in a book called The Metamorphosis of Ajax (a pun on “jakes”, the slang word then used for lavatory), which itemised the materials necessary for its construction together with their price - 30s 6d for the complete installation - and included diagrams to show how it worked. Water was drawn from a cistern - depicted with fish swimming in it - into the pan of the bowl, and flushed into a cesspool beneath when a handle in the seat was pulled to release a valve. Harington's water-closet resembled a modern flush lavatory in all important respects, having a reservoir of water constantly in the bowl to prevent foul air rising from the pipe, and a discharge that flushed down all the inside walls.
Despite the practical instructions given in his book, only two Harington water-closets are known to have been built, the Kelston one for his own use, and another at Richmond Palace, installed at the express command of Queen Elizabeth, who was Harington's godmother. Both courtier and Queen were noted in their time for a singular attention to hygiene. The Queen was considered by the rest of the Court to be uncommonly fastidious about her own person, taking a bath once a month “whether she need it or no”. Harington went further, and had a bath every day, a habit considered by his friends to be a mark of the most eccentric behaviour.
The fact that the royal example was not followed by any other of her subjects is a reflection not on the worth of Harington's innovation, but of the total indifference of the majority of Elizabethans to dirt and its attendant odours. There was, however, a practical consideration that made the installation of flush lavatories difficult. The absence of drains or sewers meant that unless a pipe could be run from the water-closet to a river or stream, the effluent would have to be discharged into a pit - little improvement over the common “midden” (dung-hill).
Water supply was also a major problem. Those fortunate enough to have piped water needed to fill tanks during the two or three hour period on three days of the week that it was pumped from the water-works. Until the introduction of ball valves in 1748, this supply depended on the householder or his servants remembering to turn on and off a valve at the material times in order to fill a tank. Water companies resented anyone using more than their fair share, and when a Mr Melmouth of Bath installed a flush lavatory at his house in 1770, the company cut off his supply until he consented to remove it!
Researched by Dick Smith 1999
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