The Ladies

This is the door to the ladies close to the art gallery (visit recommended) within Norwich Castle – an oasis of functional design that we had all to ourselves. 

There was a nice sliding lock on the stall and a proper chain to pull to empty the overhead tank with a satisfying clank. 

This of course sent me off on an historical trail that took me back to 1851. 

The Urinary Leash: A Tribute to the Ladies Sanitary Association

In eighteen hundred fifty-two,
London gave the gents a loo.

Women were not so provided –
Their needs denied, their rights derided.

No place was theirs. Even sadder,
No place was there for ease of bladder.

A tether –  though unseen – held tight –
Deprived of basic equal right.

Then voices rose, both strong and true:
Josephine Butler and her crew.

They said none should fear or hide
When nature calls – no need for pride.

Public ladies’ lavs – the key
To safe and private sanctuary.

So when you pass a modest door,
Recall the battles fought before,

Where women could at last be free
To answer calls in privacy.

Their efforts broke the urinary leash –
Brave women who refused to “wheesht”.

Historical Note

The first public toilet for women appeared in 1893 opposite the Royal Court of Justice in the Strand. London. This chart shows the number of public toilets around London in 1895, only one of which was designated for women. 

The Struggle

The struggle for women’s public toilets in Victorian and Edwardian Britain was part of a broader fight for women’s dignity, health, and access to public life.

Early feminists did not always campaign directly for public lavatories, but their demands for women’s full participation in society necessarily challenged a public infrastructure designed by and for men.

Figures such as Josephine Butler (1828–1906), who fought against the Contagious Diseases Acts and for women’s political and social rights; Emily Davies (1830–1921), a pioneer for women’s higher education; and Octavia Hill (1838–1912), a social reformer focused on urban housing and conditions for working-class women, helped shape a vision of cities in which women could move freely and safely.

The absence of women’s toilets – while men’s urinals proliferated – was both a practical and symbolic barrier.

Groups like the Ladies Sanitary Association, founded in the 1850s, promoted women’s health and hygiene, and helped bring the issue into public discourse. Additionally, the Union of Women’s Liberal and Radical Associations advocated for working-class women’s access to public toilets, specifically in areas like Camden.

By the early 20th century, campaigners including Lady Rhondda (1883–1958) and suffrage activists would carry these demands forward as part of a wider claim to public space.

These efforts were about more than convenience. They affirmed women’s right to inhabit public life with dignity, privacy, and safety. The creation of same-sex toilet spaces was a necessary step toward equality,

There is compelling historical evidence that many men in Victorian England not only resisted but sometimes actively sabotaged the establishment of public toilets for women. There is also evidence that some men were active supporters. 

Public toilet provision in the UK still favours men

For equality and equal access – women are still waiting