In 1902, Manchester’s Plantation Street was built, bringing unparalleled levels of luxury in the form of an outside toilet. As one of its residents, Fred Cawood, puts it, ‘This would have been quite the thing. Before that it was chamberpots.’

Fast forward 108 years and its hard to believe that there was a time when the only toilet it in the house was actually in the garden. Thankfully, during the 1970s, local councils offered 75% grants to families installing a WC indoors, causing the outdoor loo to pretty much disappear.

Now, due to the rarity of outdoor toilets on Plantation Street, resident like Fred are finding their property to be worth well above the current average of £65,000.

So can the outdoor toilet actually play a functional role in modern urban housing, or is it just a historical relic? Perhaps we should turn to Fred Cawood, lifelong user of the outdoor loo, for a definitive answer:

I still find the outdoor one very convenient, It’s on the level so I don’t need to go all the way upstairs and down on the stairlift.

The outdoor toilet: clearly a historical relic.

Image courtesy of Tony Worral on flickr