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Public toilets in England
Example alt text
Quorn Railway Station, Gentlemans Facility.
Language of toilets
Local wordsWC, Toilet
Men's toiletsMen, Gents
Women's toiletsWomen, Ladies
Public toilet statistics
Toilets per 100,000 people15
Total toilets??
Public toilet use
TypeWestern style sit toilet
LocationsTrain stations, tube stations
Average costfree
Percent accessible32.9% (2021)
Date first modern public toilets1852
.

Public toilets in England are found at a rate of around fifteen per 100,000 people, though the exact counts are hard because the government does not officially track the total. Outside London, the largest number of public toilets is in Birmingham. Most public toilets are found in town centers, at fast food restaurants, department stores, galleries and free museums. The majority were free to use, with some pay toilets located on the street and some eateries only allowing clients to use them. Few are accessible for people with disabilities and many do not offer facilities for parents with small children.

Public garderobe in London were one of the main places that people used the toilet in the medieval period. They were primarily used by serfs and peasants, smelled very bad and helped to spread disease. The Great Exhibition in 1851 involved one of the first public demonstrations of a flushing toilet. A year later, the first public flush toilets opened in London.

While there is not rigid sex segregation of public toilets, some laws demand sex segregation in these spaces. The lack of public toilets during the 16th, 17th and 18th century meant that women were often confined to their homes.  Only when public toilets specifically for women were introduced did this begin to change.

Public toilets have historically been a place where people, especially homosexuals, met and engaged in public sex. As a result, the police heavily monitored these locations.

Public toilets[edit]

Toilets are colloquially referred to as loos.[1] Euphemisms are often used to avoid discussing the purpose of toilets.  Privy began to be used in the United Kingdom to replace an earlier taboo word.[2] Bathroom is rarely used, as it implies a bath or shower is in the room.[3]

A 2021 study found there were 15 public toilets per 100,000 people in the United Kingdom.[4] The government in the United Kingdom does not have reliable information about the number of public toilets.[5] From 2000 to 2020, the number of public toilets decreased by a third.  This decline was in part to local governments trying to find ways to reduce expenditures.[6] Between 2007 and 2016, 2,000 public toilets closed across the United Kingdom.[7] There are only a few public toilets in London. [8]

City Year Number of public toilets ref
London 2021 568 / 1,463 [4] / [9]
Birmingham 2021 101 [4]
Bristol 2021 61 [4]
Sheffield 2021 55 [4]
Derby 2021 53 [4]
Leicester 2021 44 [4]
Leeds 2021 52 [4]
Manchester 2021 41 [4]
Plymouth 2021 40 [4]

The law requires places that serve food or drink to have toilets that are accessible for customers. Places that serve alcohol or are after 11pm are also required to have toilets for customer use.[10]

Toilets are often found in cafes in the centers of towns.  Most of these toilets though are only available to paying clients.[6] One place people use when there is a lack of public toilets are the facilities at fast food style restaurants.[11] People who need to use a toilet when out in the city center often use ones at department stores, galleries and free museums.[8] There was a public toilet in London Fields in east London.[12] In cities like Paris, London and Amsterdam, public toilets often cost money to use, and have a time limit of 15 minutes.  Many of the ones set up as self-contained units on the street are self-disinfecting.[11] The public toilets at London Gatwick Airport are located in the duty free area, which requires passengers to be treated as retail customers.[13]

71.4% of public toilets in London were free to use in 2021.[9] Stand alone public toilets located on the streets of London require payment to use.[14] Some train stations and tube stations have public toilets, but they charge a usage fee.[8] 32.9% of the public toilets in London in 2021 were not accessible to people with disabilities.[9] Only 31.5% of public toilets in London in 2021 offered diaper changing stations.[9]

At the Millennium Dome in London, each of the six million visitors in 2000 used around 22 liters of what of which 48% went towards toilet flushing. [15]

On the Top 10 Worst Loos list of 2021, London ranked sixth, behind Dundee, Carlisle, Newport, Birmingham and Hull.[9] On the Top 10 Best Loos list of 2021, Edinburgh ranked first, followed by Peterborough, Brighton and Hove, Belfast and Norwich.[9] Toilets: A Spotter’s Guide features more than 100 of the world’s best bogs published in 2016 included a public toilet in the London Shard.[16]

Some historical public toilets in London have been converted into pubs, bars, fast food restaurants, theaters and offices.[17] [18] This includes The High Cross, CellarDoor, Chiringuito, Ladies & Gentlemen, L&G Camden, Attendant, WC - Wine & Charcuterie, and Bermondsey Arts Club.[18] a 12-seat movie theater called the Theater of Small Convenience became a Guinness Book of World Records winner for being the smallest movie theater.[17]

Sex-segregated toilets[edit]

Sex-segregation was part of daily life in much of England in the mid-19th century.[19] There were 233 men's public toilets and 184 women's public toilets in London in 1928.[20] The 1936 Public Health Act granted local authorities the right to build public toilets and charge the public for their usage.  An exception was made for public urinals, with the government believing that if they charged men to access urinals, they would not and instead engage in public urination. [20] The 1992 Workplace Regulations required that employers provide sex segregated toilets for workers.[19]

In quasi public spaces in the Western world with toilet facilities, there is rarely rigid sex separation.  This includes in large, private homes where lots of entertaining is done.[21]

London's transgender population began to advocate in the 1990s to use the public toilet that best aligned with their gender identity instead of their sex.  The issue soon became contentious, especially as in some cases it required redesigning public toilets to cater to security needs expressed by the transgender community.[20]

Women's toilets[edit]

The lack of public toilets in the United Kingdom inconveniences women more than men, creating a situation where women are treated as unequal citizens.[22] One issue for British women is they need to spend comparatively longer time using public toilets than men because of things like menstruation and having less lag time between when the knowledge of needing to peer arises the the actually need to be able to relieve themselves. Things like pregnancy and childbirth also increase the risk of being incontinence, which increases the need of women to rapidly find access to public toilets that men face on a much smaller level.[22]

The lack of public toilets during the 16th, 17th and 18th century meant that women were often confined to their homes.  If they wanted to go out, they often had to devise strategies so that they would not need to use the toilet.  One such strategy was the creation of the urinette, which could be hidden under a woman's skirt and allow her to discretely urinate and then empty the tiny basin. The lack of public toilets is sometimes referred to as the "urinary leash".[23] Women's toilets often require special sex-specific features.  This includes places to dispose of tampons and sanitary napkins.  The disposal container is often a large plastic bin.  In smaller toilet stalls, this can make it difficult for women to sit because of these disposal bins may touch the seat or a woman may come into contact with them when she sits on the toilet seat.[21]

The first women's toilet in London was the result of a single woman who was a member of the government.  She worked hard to lobby George Bernard Shaw to overcome hesitancy by local residents and the vestry to build it.  It took five years of lobbying before it was eventually built in 1905.[24][25] As a result of her efforts, the Ladies’ Sanitary Association was created and the phrase potty politics entered into the English vernacular.[25] The first public toilets for women began appearing en masse a few years later during the Victorian era.[26] This was a time when a woman's modesty could be threatened by the act of using a public toilet.[21] Beginning in 1832, the Suffragette movement's initial demands included access to public toilets.  The women argued that this was key to allowing women to engage in social life.[20]

The first underground public toilet was built in London in 1855.  It would start a trend that went from 1884 to 1925, with most new public toilet facilities being constructed below ground. These underground toilets, which charged a small fee, also provided space for washing and for brushing clothes for an additional fee.  There were two types, gentlemen and the regular one. Changes in flush technology would render them obsolete.[20]

Men have largely been in charge of selection where toilets were placed in the 19th century.  It was why one of the favored location for publicly accessible toilets early in this period was bars and public houses, with 75% of men saying a priority should be placed on locating public toilets there.[22]

During parts of the 20th century, employers refused to install women's toilets as they believed having them would encourage women to join the workplace, and consequently take jobs away from more deserving men.[19] A majority of British women have admitted to squatting or hovering over public toilet seats in order to avoid their butts coming into contact with the seat.[27]

Renaming women's toilets to gender neutral or unisex toilets while leaving men's toilets alone in the United Kingdom and United States has put greater pressure on women in these spaces because these facilities have not expanded in size but are expected to cater to a larger number of users while at the same time the number of users in the men's toilets remains unchanged.[28]

Disability accessible toilets[edit]

Some public toilets in England have braille signage on hand rails outside to help visually impaired people identify entrances. While helpful, it can sometimes create its own problems as these signs may not say which entrance is for men and which is for women.[29]

In 1991, there were 350 disability accessible public toilets in London.[20] The Disability Discrimination Act passed in 1995.  Among other things, it talked about public toilet design.[20] A lack of public toilets in England and Wales in the 2000s made it difficult for some segments of the population to leave their homes.  This included the elderly, people with health problems and people with disabilities.  This left these populations more socially isolated.[5]

32.9% of the public toilets in London in 2021 were not accessible to people with disabilities.[9]

History[edit]

Despite toilet paper being used in parts of China starting in the mid-800s, paper was expensive to produce and considered valuable; this meant most places did not start using toilet paper until relatively late.[30] Many people used newspapers for toilet paper in the early part of the 20th century.[31] Rolls of toilet paper were first sold in Europe in 1928.  Soft paper rolls were not introduced to Europe until 1942.[31] British people resisted the use of American style soft toilet paper into the 1970s because of a distrust of a product being primarily pushed by American brands.[27] Toilet paper remained one of the most popular ways to clean after using a toilet in the 2010s.[27]

The Public Health Act of 1936 regulated public toilets.[20] The 1936 Public Health Act granted local authorities the right to build public toilets and charge the public for their usage.  An exception was made for public urinals, with the government believing that if they charged men to access urinals, they would not and instead engage in public urination. [20]

Public toilets, and the act of urination and defecation, could not be discussed in newspapers up until the 1960s.  Phrases like water-closet, having a go and bowel movement were banned because they were viewed as inappropriate.[20]

The Community Toilet Schemes was created by the government in 2005, facilitating the creation of new public toilets in England and Wales with partnerships between local authorities and local businesses.[5][20]

Local Conservative Party Chairman Christopher Shale died in a public toilet during the Glastonbury Festival in 2011.[32][33]

London[edit]

There was a large public garderobe in London that emptied into the River Thames during the Medieval period.  It was primarily used by serfs and peasants, and smelled very bad.  This public toilet also helped spread disease in the city in this period. [34] Portchester Castle had toilets, built by its resident monks, that were holes in the floor that led to the sea.  When the tide came in, the human waste was naturally taken away.[31] River Fleet in London was home to a public toilet in the 16th century.  The facilities were primitive and did not contain a flush toilet.[31] Many peasants and surfs in Medieval London lacked access to any sort of public toilet or garderobe. Instead, they ended up going to the end of the nearest street to relieve themselves.[34]

The lack of public toilets caused a stink on the streets in major cities in the 1850s.[30] In the 1850s, the streets of London contained sewage from a population of around 3 million people.[30] Sanitation in the United States in the 1850s was comparable to London in the same period.[30] London began major expansion of its sewer systems in the 1850s after lobbying work and a report by social reformer Edwin Chadwick.[20] The Public Health Act of 1848 required all toilets be connected to drainage.[20]

The Great Exhibition in 1851 involved one of the first public demonstrations of a flushing toilet.  The specific model on display had been designed by Brighton plumber George Jennings , and were initially called "Monkey Closets".[19][23] They cost a penny to use, with clients getting a clean seat, a towel and a shoe shine for that price.[23]

The first modern public toilets, with a flush function, opened in London in 1852.[31] The coin-operated toilet was invented by John Nevil Maskelyne in 1892.  When it as installed in places across England, it cost a penny to use.[31] George Jennings' 1851 flushing toilet invention proved very popular, and was installed in a number of public toilet facilities starting in 1852.  Most of these, colloquially known as "Public Waiting Rooms" were intended for use by men.[19] The first underground public toilet was built in London in 1855.  It would start a trend that went from 1884 to 1925, with most new public toilet facilities being constructed below ground. These underground toilets, which charged a small fee, also provided space for washing and for brushing clothes for an additional fee.  There were two types, gentlemen and the regular one. Changes in flush technology would render them obsolete.[20]

By 1918, 281 public toilets had been constructed in London.   Between 1918 and 1940, 128 new public toilets were build in London. Between 1940 and 1991, 71 new public toilets were constructed in London with a total of around 700 public toilets by 1991. In 1991, there were 125 public toilets that included diaper change stations. There were 486 public toilets in London in 2000.  In 2004, there were only 419.[20]

As a result of London's Metropolitan Water Act of 1872 and its demand for water based sewage systems, changes in toilet designed occurred. [20] The 1891 Public Health Act in London saw a growth in the volume of public toilets as it said public roads could be used as property of the local government for the construction of public toilets.[20]

During the 1960s, another round of underground toilets were built in London as part of the Motorway and Pedestrian Underpass Program.[20]

Public toilets in London continued to cost around a penny until 1971 when currency inflation led to an end to that pricing.[20]

The mass closure of public toilets in London in the late 20th century was in part because of their continued association with elicit sexual activity and fear that public exposure of people's genitals was giving others a sexual thrill.[35]

A lot of renovations of public toilets started taking place in London in 1990 as part of conservation efforts in the city.  The first automated public toilets began to  appear in London.  The first of these were not very well received.[20]

Monica Bonvicini’s “Don’t miss a sec” mirrored public restroom was installed in London from 2003 to 2004.  It was a temporary installation in front of Tate Modern. People using the toilet could see out but people outside could not see in.[36]

By 2005, local officials in London acknowledged there was a shortage of public toilets.[20] The Community Toilet Scheme was launched in 2009, which in London led to a committment to build public toilets in underserved areas.[20]

After budget shortfalls in 2011, the government started cost saving measures with one of the first things being cut was support for public toilets as their maintenance was one of the biggest expenses for the city.  Only 401 public toilets were to be supported in the new budget.[20]

Sex and public toilets[edit]

There was a guidebook published in 1937 that listed all the public toilets in London.  It was written in part as a thinly veiled critiques of the city's sexual mores. The history of homosexuality in the late 1800s and early 1900s in London has largely been mapped by academics looking for criminal records near known public toilets.   The public toilets in Piccadilly Circus Underground Station in the late 1800s and early 1900s were a popular meeting place for homosexual activity. 81% of arrests for homosexual incidents in 1917 in London occurred in or near public urinals.  This led to some in society associating homosexuals with being dirty and degrading because that was the condition of a number of public toilets in that period.[35]

The Metropolitan Police in London in the 1950s had a map of homosexual spaces in the city that drew in large part on the location of public parks and public toilets. Homosexuality was partially decriminalized in England in 1967.  Prior to that, police frequently raided bars and commercial establishments catering to a more gay clientele.  Public toilets as gay meeting places were easier to keep hidden and access. Public homosexual sex in London public toilets continued into the 1990s.[35]

References[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to JustinePorto/Public toilets in England.
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