To celebrate the fatberg in all its glory London Gay Men’s Chorus have composed the 12 Days of Fatberg. Since the discovery of the fatberg under the streets of Whitechapel in September 2017, the monster fatberg has managed to hit the headlines all over the world.
Consisting of wet wipes, nappies, fat and oil this huge deposit of fat was one of the largest ever found at 250 metres long and weighed 130 tonnes, the same as 11 double decker buses. It was blocking a stretch of Victorian sewer that was twice the length of two Wembley football pitches.
The fatberg marked a particular moment in London’s history, created by people and businesses who discarded rubbish and fat which London’s Victorian sewer system was never designed to cope with.
The last remaining piece of the monster Whitechapel fatberg went on display at the Museum of London in February 2018. The display followed the fatberg from sewer to showcase and highlighted the ground-breaking conservation processes that occurred behind the scenes in order to be able to display this gruesome object. Whilst on display it ‘sweated’, hatched flies and grew mould.
Since then the fatberg has been of global interest hitting the headlines in places such as China, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Australia, the USA and all over Europe. The museum welcomed over 70,000 visitors in February, the best month that financial year.
The fatberg has continued to capture everyone’s imagination with poems, plays and even cakes being inspired by it. The museum has now been able to acquire this iconic piece of fat into our permanent collection and can now be viewed 24/7 on our livestream, dubbed FatCam. Since the launch in August we have had over 90,000 views worldwide on the livestream.
The 12 Days of Fatberg is a festive reminder to all that we shouldn’t flush oil down our sinks or wet wipes down our toilets, we should always bin it – don’t block it!
