London Beer Flood 1814

The London Beer Flood was a tragic event that happened close to what is now the Dominion Theatre in Tottenham Court Road, in London's West End, and occurred on the 17th of October 1814; some reports record this tragedy to have happened the day before, but the evidence to support the 17th as the anniversary looks to be stronger.

In those days, London's beer drinkers were supplied by dozens of competing breweries, and some breweries built enormous vats in which to ferment and condition their ales. Indeed, the enormous porter vat of Maux & Company had a capacity of over a million pints! At about 6pm, on the 17th of October 1814, one of the steel restraining bands that encircled that gigantic vat broke and released its contents. Together with the million plus pints of porter released from this vat, other vessels in the brewery were also damaged, consequently releasing even more beer into the flood. The resulting deluge damaged the brewery and a nearby pub, the Tavistock Arms and, sadly, flooded the basements of nearby homes...

Depending on which reports you read, between 7 and 9 people died as a direct result of the flood, most of them drowning in their own basements, and many more were seriously injured, including some of those who came to help rescue survivors... 

R.I.P. to those who sadly died in their own homes. 😢

First image, with thanks to www.history.info; I cannot find the original source for the photograph of Maux & Company Brewery, indeed, not even on Google, my apologies to that source!