London Beer Flood. There were fatalities and alcohol poisoning

The London beer flood is an event that went down in the history of Great Britain. Unfortunately, not as a positive event, but as a tragedy that killed as many as eight people. The wave of golden liquor poured out onto the streets with enormous impetus. Not only people suffered, but also buildings. What was the cause of the London beer flood? How did this unfortunate accident happen? You will find the answer below.

1. London’s Beer Flood, known as the London Porter Flood, is a tragedy that occurred on the streets of England’s XNUMXth-century capital
2. On October 17, 1814, an alarming event took place at Tottenham Court Road, resulting in the death of eight people.
3. The deadly wave of beer with its strength took not only human lives, but also took with it residential houses and old buildings
4. Respond before it’s too late. Get to know your Health Index!
5. More information can be found on the Onet homepage

What led to the London beer flood?

Although it is difficult to imagine it, it really happened. A huge wave of golden liquor spilled over the streets of London, wreaking great destruction and panic. The immediate cause of the incident was the failure of one of the largest breweries that prospered in England at that time – Meux & Co’s Horse Shoe Brewery. On October 17, 1814, the huge fermentation vat, or more precisely the rim that surrounded it, broke. It had enormous dimensions – it was said to be 6 m high and 18 m in diameter. It was fermented with dark, strong beer – the beloved by many porters, for which Great Britain is famous.

Although the Horse Shoe brewery was adequately equipped and operated at a high – for those times – level, it did not stop the tragedy that is today known as the London beer flood. The person who noticed the seal failure was one of the employees, George Creek. The man reported the problem, leaving a note about a defect in one of the 29 hoops entwining the barrel, hiding approx. 560 thousand. l porter. Unfortunately, the defect was not repaired, which after just an hour resulted in a beer tsunami that damaged other barrels and flooded London streets. It is estimated that the amount of liquor that rammed Tottenham Court Road was almost 1,5 million liters of beer.

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London beer flood and its aftermath

On October 17, 1814, a 4,5 m high wave of golden liquor paralyzed one of the poorer districts of nineteenth-century London – then known as St. Giles rookery (city slum street). Every day the English street gathered many people: poor residents, refugees or workers returning from factories, but it was identified mainly with the slums. A wave of liquor that exploded under tremendous pressure damaged the brewery’s wall and hit the street, engulfing buildings and residential homes. There were four of them in total. However, the tragedy did not end with the destruction of the above-mentioned objects. The London beer flood swallowed people near the Horse’s Horseshoe who did not expect what was going to happen next. Eight people left after the failure of Meux & Co’s Horse Shoe Brewery. The fatal victims of the curious accident were: Hannah Bamfield, Anne Saville, and four other mourners guarding the coffin of the deceased boy (Mary Mulvey, a 3-year-old boy, Elizabeth Smith and Catherine Butler), Sarah Bates and Eleanor Cooper.

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In addition to the death toll that the British liked, it damaged the bodies of many who were hospitalized with multiple injuries. All employees of the brewery escaped alive, but a few of them were pulled out from under the rubble and bricks, which collapsed under the strong blast of a wave of beer.

But that’s not all. The drink that floated through the streets became easy prey for the poorer inhabitants of the city, who filled their buckets with it and got drunk en masse. The result of this uncontrolled phenomenon was the death of many people, caused by alcohol poisoning.

Who is to blame for the tragic events described as the London Porter Flood?

Who was to blame for the tragedy that took place in the streets of England’s XNUMXth-century capital? The judge’s verdict did not charge the owner of the Horse Shoe brewery for her. The rationale was that the hoops that wrapped around the enormous porter barrels broke every now and then, and this never led to even the slightest leakage of beer. Therefore, the employees played down the problem and did not take any steps to prevent the misfortune.

Despite the fact that the blame for the disaster was not imposed on the owner of the beer company, the man decided to finance the funerals of the victims of the London beer flood. The brewery itself, despite many financial problems and balancing on the verge of bankruptcy caused by the London beer flood, operated on Tottenham Court Road continuously until 1921. Then it was moved to another location, because the London district began to develop rapidly, and the “Horse horseshoe” did not enter into the aesthetics of a more and more modern agglomeration of the city. Eventually, Meux & Co’s Horse Shoe Brewery was stopped in 1961.

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