WEIRD FACTS ABOUT
CHIMNEY SWEEPS

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CHIMNEY SWEEPS

Under the Chimney Sweepers Act 1894, it was an offence 'to solicit employment as a chimney sweep by knocking on doors, ringing bells or using any noisy instrument to the annoyance of any inhabitant'. 

This and earlier Chimney Sweepers Acts were repealed in 1938 following a debate in the British House of Commons in which it was asserted that the Acts were regarded by chimney sweepers, of whom there were only about 6,000 in England and Wales, as "a slur upon their profession, for chimney sweepers are the only manual workers in the country who have to get an annual permit from the police in order to perform their duties."


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