Another inventive but ultimately useless British tax was the window tax, the results of which can still be seen across the country today, with householders who could not afford to pay for all their windows simply bricking many up.
Houses with more than 10 windows had to pay a huge 10 shillings. The tax negatively impacted the health of the nation as unscrupulous landlords bricked up the windows in their tenants' houses, leading to damp and unlit conditions. After years of campaigning, the tax was repealed in 1851, but for some, that came 150 years too late.