England's window tax, introduced in 1696, charged homeowners based partly on the number of windows in a property, intended as a way to tax wealth without requiring inspectors to enter private homes. In response, many property owners simply bricked over existing windows to reduce their tax bracket, leaving interior rooms permanently dark. Contemporary physicians and social reformers later argued the resulting lack of ventilation and sunlight contributed to poor public health in crowded towns, helping build pressure for repeal. The tax remained in effect for over 150 years before finally being abolished in 1851. Numerous original bricked-up windows survive today on historic buildings across England, still visible as physical evidence of the policy.
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