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the pump that changed medicine forever

Broad Street Cholera Pump

FreeHidden gem
Soho · Oxford Circus
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A replica water pump in Soho marking the spot where Dr John Snow cracked cholera and effectively founded modern epidemiology.

Getting there. On Broadwick Street in Soho, near the corner with Lexington Street.
Free history marker
ALWAYS
FREE
Soho · Oxford Circus
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The lowdown

In 1854 a terrible cholera outbreak swept Soho, and the physician John Snow did something revolutionary, he mapped every death and noticed they all clustered around one public water pump on what was then Broad Street. He persuaded the authorities to remove the pump's handle, the outbreak faded, and the modern science of epidemiology was born.

A replica pump now stands near the spot, with a nearby pub renamed in Snow's honour, and a small kerbstone marks where the original stood. It is a free and easily missed landmark, but for anyone who loves the history of science it is a genuine place of pilgrimage on an ordinary Soho street.

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Look for the pump with no handle, a deliberate nod to the moment Snow had it removed. The John Snow pub a few steps away has displays on the story if you fancy a pint with your history.
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