Night soil collectors.(England)

Doug · Jul 23, 2016

On one particular farm there are several fields which show evidence of night soil collecting that have been spread over the fields in times gone by.

I have left out of the photographs the pieces of lead and small pieces of unknown metal and buttons.

Thanks for looking...........Doug.

"During Victorian times, people didn’t have flushing toilets so men came around every week with a horse and cart.

They collected the contents of the toilets or privies as they called them.

These people were called ‘Nightsoil Men’. They collected their ‘Night Soil’ on horses and carts as in the photograph here."

Historical photographs.

One of the fields, stream to my left.

Artifact's.

Somerset light infantry badge 2nd left (part),fairy found just inside the gateway!

Coins.

Cricket badge.

Edward 1st (1272-1307) silver penny.

MrNovice · Jul 23, 2016

Um, you mean we've probably been digging through a least some **** this whole time? Brb...I feel the need to wash my hands again.

Excellent finds and interesting info though!

GeneralQuarters · Jul 23, 2016

Ah, The good old days...now all the good jobs are going overseas!

joee5 · Jul 23, 2016

Nice variety of finds

HistoryStudent · Jul 23, 2016

People in England need to be more careful about not swallowing metal objects. They must have had some serious bowel problems after passing all those metal objects

Vermonster · Jul 23, 2016

Nice finds, and like he history lesson Doug....

ohiochris · Jul 23, 2016

In pic #1 the guys are standing in it :shock:

That's what I would call really getting into your work ! :lol:

Very cool finds though ! And all that " night soil " is just random organic matter by now , even though I don't think I would be brave enough to dig through it :umno:

Dewsweeper894 · Jul 23, 2016

Great little tidbit of history . Love the photos ... Well most of them

cellrdwellr · Jul 24, 2016

Love the finds! Always interesting posts ! HH

zeemang · Jul 24, 2016

Nice finds and a good history lesson there!

SeabeeRon · Jul 24, 2016

zeemang said:
Nice finds and a good history lesson there!

Was justing to say this! I always learn something from Doug's posts. :yes:

I knew the term "Night Soil", but now I know more!!

Mud-puppy · Jul 24, 2016

Well, that certainly explains why theres metal scattered all over in old farm fields! I suppose a guy could look at a map or even satellite/topo try to figure the easiest routes of the nightsoilers to haul it out of town for the offload?

One would think a guy hauling a full wagon load of waste would prefer to travel downhill and downwind of the town within a few miles?? Someplace with a nearby stream to water the poor horses and perhaps clean up in even!?

I cant imagine hauling a wagon load of !!!! uphill for very long once the Sun came up! Great old historic photos and post there Doug!
Mud

rreahard · Jul 25, 2016

Very nice mix of finds! Congrats on the silver!!

Doug · Jul 25, 2016

Firstly an apology.

I posted a reply with a thank you last night but I have to assume I did not hit the 'submit' button!

Once again thank you for your kind comments and views on this post.

I have several farms that have night soil fields on them and under normal search conditions the give away is the amount of metal finds that can come up on a single search session.

The other clue can be the amount of surface pottery.

To-date I have had four gold coins that have been found on night soil fields which possibly may have got into the fields with the night soil activity in days past.

Doug.

Typical night soil field finds.

Night soil collectors.(England)

Doug

Elite Member

MrNovice

GeneralQuarters

Elite Member

joee5

Elite Member

HistoryStudent

Senior Member

Vermonster

Elite Member

ohiochris

Elite Member

Dewsweeper894

Elite Member

cellrdwellr

Elite Member

zeemang

SeabeeRon

"Can Do" Moderator

Mud-puppy

rreahard

Elite Member

Doug

Elite Member

Similar threads