Aged Urine Was Once England's Most Valuable Industrial Chemical
Lant – The Forgotten Resource
Before modern chemistry, aged urine — known in Old English as "lant" — powered tanning, dyeing, gunpowder, and brewing. King Charles I even made saltpeter, a by-product of urine, a royal monopoly, forcing households to hand over their waste daily to "saltpeter men" who could dig up stable floors. A University of Delaware student on a British design-history trip traces this forgotten economy and the stigmatized gong farmers who handled the waste.
Though well compensated, the life of a gong farmer was devoid of any cache. The role was highly stigmatized and was only performed between 9pm – 5am.