“On the twelfth day of Christmas the fatberg gave to me…”

The fatberg was found in Whitechapel sewers

The fatberg was found in Whitechapel sewers last year Pic (original): Thames Water (modified): Thames Menteth

The East End’s notorious fatberg has now been honoured with its own Christmas carol, sung by the London Gay Men’s Chorus.

The monstrous 130-tonne mass of oil, grease and congealed wet wipes has gained international fame since it was discovered in a sewer below Whitechapel by Thames Water engineers in September 2017.

The Christmas carol like no other, ‘ft. fatberg’ is sung by the Chorus to the tune of Twelve Days of Christmas and is produced by the Museum of London., where piece of the object is now on display.

The world’s biggest fatberg was also commemorated with a special edition man hole cover.

The Museum, which has refused to rule out a future Christmas album including additional tracks ‘O come all ye fatbergs’ and ‘Away in a Drainer’, credits the fatberg for drawing in some of its biggest visitor numbers to date: in February alone, 70,000 visitors came to see the greasy relic.

The giant fatberg hit the headlines in Mexico, Russia, Japan, Australia and the United States and has inspired a comic strip, stage musical, pop band and a little boy who asked his mum to bake him a ‘monster fatberg’ cake for his 10th birthday.

The fatberg has inspired webcomics and a children's book

The fatberg has inspired webcomics and a children’s book Pic: @nathantwright

According to curators at the museum, the fatberg is particularly important for locals as it tells a story about how London’s Victorian sewer system is facing increasing pressures, and how the fat that goes down the drains reflects our increasingly oily diets.

The merry serenade to the fatberg, as well as celebrating the museum’s star attraction, also has a serious message about what not to flush down your drains this season, including plastic cups, condoms and congealed fat.

Water companies have warned home owners not to pour turkey or goose fat down kitchen sinks this Christmas in efforts to avoid ‘turkeybergs’, the festive cousin of the fatberg.

The leftover lump of waste is on display in the Museum of London’s permanent collection. You can check it out in real time on the museum’s fatcam.

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