Did you know?

Some interesting facts about bathrooms you may or may not know....

• The first patent for a WC was taken out by Alexander Cummings in 1775 and not by Thomas Crapper
• As recently as 1912, 64 of 90 houses in Port Isaac, Cornwall had no WC of any kind
• Between 1860 and 1899 over 3500 patents were taken out to improve sanitaryware
• The average height of an English male has increased  by approximately 70mm in the last 100 years.
• The original 'Privy' gave no privacy at all. They were shared by several households.
• Sanitation has had a bigger effect on the health of the population than medicine.
• The first British patent for toilet paper was taken out by Mr Fechtinger in 1863.
• Scott Paper Co of Philadelphia is credited with inventing rolled toilet tissue in 1879.
• In 2002 the toilet tissue market was worth £766 million
• That is five times greater than the shampoo market
• And four times greater than the toothpaste market.
• The first showers in the modern era were self contained where water could be re-used several times.
• The Romans had lagged hot water cylinders.
• Queen Elizabeth 1 had a valve water closet.
• Louis XIV had cushions in his bath
• The first known bath is almost identical to todays but dates from 1700 B.C.
• Buckingham Palace has 78 bathrooms.
• The Bronze Age Minoans had running water and baths 3,500 years ago.
• The Romans were the first civilisation to utilise central heating.