(H. R. M.)
III. Geology
For an area so small, England is peculiarly rich in geological interest. This is due in some degree to the energy of the early British geologists, whose work profoundly influenced all subsequent thought in the science, as may be seen by the general acceptation of so many of the English stratigraphical terms; but the natural conditions were such as to call forth and to stimulate this energy in an unusual way. Almost every one of the principal geological formations may be studied in England with comparative ease.
If we lay aside for the moment all the minor irregularities, we find, upon examination of a geological map of England, two structural features of outstanding importance. (1) The first is the great anticline of the Pennine Hills which dominates the northern half of England from the Scottish border to Derby. Its central core of Lower Carboniferous rock is broadly displayed towards the north, while southward it contracts; on either side lie the younger rocks, the coal-fields, the Permian strata and the Triassic formations, the last-named, while sweeping round the southern extremity of the Carboniferous axis of the uplift from its eastern and western flanks, spread out in a large sheet over the midland counties. (2) The second striking feature is the regular succession of Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks which crop out in almost unbroken lines from the coast of Dorsetshire, whither they appear to converge, to the Cleveland Hills and the Yorkshire coast. Lying upon the Cretaceous rocks in the S.E. of England are the two Tertiary basins of London and Hampshire, separated by the dissected anticline of the Weald.The older rocks in England occupy relatively small areas. Pre-Cambrian rocks are represented by the gneisses of Primrose Hill and schists of Rushton in Shropshire; by the gneisses forming the core of the Malvern Hills, and by the ancient volcanic and other rocks of the Wrekin, Charnwood Forest and Nuneaton. The slates of the Long Mynd, on the Shropshire border, belong to this system. Cambrian strata appear in Shropshire in the form of sandstones and quartzites; in the Malvern Hills they are black shales, while in theLake District they are represented by the Skiddaw slates. Next in point of age comes the Ordovician system, which is well developed upon the Shropshire border and in the Lake District. In the same two areas we find the Silurian rocks, shales and limestones with grits and flags. In N. and S. Devon are the Devonian limestones, grits and shales; the corresponding Old Red Sandstone type of the system (marls and sandstones) being exposed over a large part of Herefordshire, stretching also into Shropshire and Monmouth. Next in order of succession comes the Carboniferous system, with shales and limestones in the lower members, grits, sandstones and shales—the Millstone Grit series—in the middle of the system, followed by the Coal Measures—a great series of shales with coal, sandstones and ironstone at the top. This important system occupies a large area in England. The limestones and shales are well exposed in Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Northumberland, the Mendip Hills and at Clifton. The Millstone Grit series is prominent in Lancashire, Derbyshire, N. Staffordshire, Yorkshire and in the Forest of Dean. The Coal Measures rest upon the Millstone Grits in most places, generally in synclinal basins. On the eastern side of the Pennine range are the conterminous coal-fields of Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, and the coal-field of Durham and Northumberland; on the western side are the Whitehaven, Burnley, S. Lancashire and N. Staffordshire coal-fields. Farther south are the S. Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Coalbrook Dale, Forest of Wyre, Forest of Dean and Bristol and Somerset coal-fields; while much concealed coal lies under younger formations in the south-east of England, as has been proved at Dover. A large part of N. Devon is occupied by the Culm shales, limestones and grits of Carboniferous age. The principal development of Permian rocks is the narrow strip which extends from Nottingham to Tynemouth; here the Magnesian limestone is the characteristic feature. On the other side of the Pennine Hills we find the Penrith sandstone of the Vale of Eden and the Brockram beds of the Lake District. Red sandstones and conglomerates of this age constitute some of the red rocks which form the picturesque scenery about Dawlish and Teignmouth.The Triassic rocks, red sandstones, marls and conglomerates cover a broad area in the Midlands in Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Leicestershire, whence they may be followed south-westward through Somerset to the coast at Sidmouth, and northward, round either flank of the Pennine Hills, through Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire to Middlesbrough on the one hand, and upon the other through Staffordshire, Cheshire and Lancashire to Carlisle.The outcrop of the Lias, mainly clay with thin limestones and ironstones, runs in an almost continuous band across the country from Lyme Regis, through Bath, Cheltenham, near Leicester, and Lincoln to Redcar in Yorkshire. Closely following the same line are the alternating clays and limestones of the Oolitic series. Next in order come the Greensands and Gault, which lie at the base of the Chalk escarpment, between that formation and the Oolites. The Chalk occupies all the remaining portion of the south-east of England, save the Wealden area, and extends northward as far as Flamborough in Yorkshire, forming the Yorkshire Wolds, the Lincolnshire Wolds, the Chiltern Hills, the N. and S. Downs, the Dorsetshire heights and Salisbury Plain. But in the eastern and southern counties the Chalk is covered by younger deposits of Tertiary age; the Pliocene Crags of Norfolk and Suffolk, the Lower London Tertiaries (London Clay, Woolwich and Reading Beds, &c.) of the London Basin comprising parts of Essex, Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Bucks and Berks, and northern Kent. Again, in the Hampshire Basin and Isle of Wight, Eocene and Oligocene formations rest upon the Chalk.When we attempt to decipher the physical history of the country from the complicated record afforded by the stratigraphical palimpsest, we are checked at the outset by the dearth of information from being able to picture the geographical condition in the older Palaeozoic periods. All we can say is, that in those remote times what is now England had no existence; its site was occupied by seas which were tenanted by marine invertebrates, long since extinct. As for the boundaries of these ancient seas, we can say nothing with certainty, but it is of interest to note the evidence we possess of still older land conditions, such as we have in the old rocks of Shropshire, &c. In the Devonian period it is clear that an elevatory movement had set in towards the north, which gave rise to the formation of inland lakes and narrow estuaries in which the Old Red Sandstone rocks were formed, while in the south of England lay the sea with a vigorous coral fauna. This condition led up to the Carboniferous period, which began with fairly open sea over the south and north of England, but in the centre there rose an elevated land mass from which much of the Millstone Grit was derived; other land lay towards the north. Slowly this sea shallowed, giving rise to the alternating estuarine marine and freshwater deposits of the Coal Measures. Continual elevation of the land brought about the close of the coal-forming period and great changes ensued. Desert conditions, with confined inland seas, marked the Permian and Triassic periods. It was about this time that the Pennine Hills, the Lake District mountain mass, and the Mendip Hills were being most vigorously uplifted, while the granite masses of Cornwall and Devon were perhaps being injected into the Carboniferous and Devonian rocks. From this period, more or less of the Pennine ridge has always remained above the sea, along with much of Cornwall and parts of Devonshire.In early Jurassic times the sea probably again occupied most of England with the exception of the above-mentioned areas, the Lake District and eastern part of the London Basin; Wales, too, and much of Scotland were land. Elevation gradually caused more land to appear in later Jurassic and early Cretaceous times when a river system, now entirely obliterated, drained into the Purbeck estuary and Wealden lake; but a subsequent depression led to the wide extension of the Chalk sea. By the beginning of the Eocene period we find the sea limited to the S.E. of England, where the London Clay, &c., were being laid down. It was not until quite late in Tertiary time that these islands began to assume anything like their present form. In the earlier part of the Pleistocene period, England and Ireland were still incompletely severed, and the combined activity of certain extinct rivers and the sea had not yet cut through the land connexion with the continent. The last well-marked lowering of the land took place in the Pleistocene period, when it was accompanied by glacial conditions, through which the greater part of northern England and the Midlands was covered by ice; a state of things which led directly and indirectly to the deposition of those extensive boulder clays, sands and gravels which obscure so much of the older surface of the country in all but the southern counties.Throughout the whole period of its geological history, volcanic activity has found expression with varying degrees of intensity along what is now the western side of the island, with the exception that in the Mesozoic era this activity was in abeyance. We may note the pre-Cambrian lavas and tuffs of the Wrekin district in Shropshire and the somewhat later volcanic rocks of Charnwood; the porphyrites, andesites, tuffs and rhyolites of the Borrowdale volcanic centre, erupted in the Ordovician period, and the Silurian granites of the same region. The volcanic outbursts which followed became feebler in the Devonian and Carboniferous periods and ceased with the Permian. When again the volcanic forces became active, it was in the early Tertiary era; the evidences for this lie outside the English border.The principal directions of crust movement in England are: (1) north and south, by which the Pennine folds and faults, and the Malvern Hills have been produced; (2) east and west, by which the folds of the Weald and the Mendip Hills, and those of Devonshire have been formed. Another less important direction is N.W. and S.E., as in the Charnwood folding.Further details of the geology are given under the heads of the counties.
If we lay aside for the moment all the minor irregularities, we find, upon examination of a geological map of England, two structural features of outstanding importance. (1) The first is the great anticline of the Pennine Hills which dominates the northern half of England from the Scottish border to Derby. Its central core of Lower Carboniferous rock is broadly displayed towards the north, while southward it contracts; on either side lie the younger rocks, the coal-fields, the Permian strata and the Triassic formations, the last-named, while sweeping round the southern extremity of the Carboniferous axis of the uplift from its eastern and western flanks, spread out in a large sheet over the midland counties. (2) The second striking feature is the regular succession of Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks which crop out in almost unbroken lines from the coast of Dorsetshire, whither they appear to converge, to the Cleveland Hills and the Yorkshire coast. Lying upon the Cretaceous rocks in the S.E. of England are the two Tertiary basins of London and Hampshire, separated by the dissected anticline of the Weald.
The older rocks in England occupy relatively small areas. Pre-Cambrian rocks are represented by the gneisses of Primrose Hill and schists of Rushton in Shropshire; by the gneisses forming the core of the Malvern Hills, and by the ancient volcanic and other rocks of the Wrekin, Charnwood Forest and Nuneaton. The slates of the Long Mynd, on the Shropshire border, belong to this system. Cambrian strata appear in Shropshire in the form of sandstones and quartzites; in the Malvern Hills they are black shales, while in theLake District they are represented by the Skiddaw slates. Next in point of age comes the Ordovician system, which is well developed upon the Shropshire border and in the Lake District. In the same two areas we find the Silurian rocks, shales and limestones with grits and flags. In N. and S. Devon are the Devonian limestones, grits and shales; the corresponding Old Red Sandstone type of the system (marls and sandstones) being exposed over a large part of Herefordshire, stretching also into Shropshire and Monmouth. Next in order of succession comes the Carboniferous system, with shales and limestones in the lower members, grits, sandstones and shales—the Millstone Grit series—in the middle of the system, followed by the Coal Measures—a great series of shales with coal, sandstones and ironstone at the top. This important system occupies a large area in England. The limestones and shales are well exposed in Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Northumberland, the Mendip Hills and at Clifton. The Millstone Grit series is prominent in Lancashire, Derbyshire, N. Staffordshire, Yorkshire and in the Forest of Dean. The Coal Measures rest upon the Millstone Grits in most places, generally in synclinal basins. On the eastern side of the Pennine range are the conterminous coal-fields of Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, and the coal-field of Durham and Northumberland; on the western side are the Whitehaven, Burnley, S. Lancashire and N. Staffordshire coal-fields. Farther south are the S. Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Coalbrook Dale, Forest of Wyre, Forest of Dean and Bristol and Somerset coal-fields; while much concealed coal lies under younger formations in the south-east of England, as has been proved at Dover. A large part of N. Devon is occupied by the Culm shales, limestones and grits of Carboniferous age. The principal development of Permian rocks is the narrow strip which extends from Nottingham to Tynemouth; here the Magnesian limestone is the characteristic feature. On the other side of the Pennine Hills we find the Penrith sandstone of the Vale of Eden and the Brockram beds of the Lake District. Red sandstones and conglomerates of this age constitute some of the red rocks which form the picturesque scenery about Dawlish and Teignmouth.
The Triassic rocks, red sandstones, marls and conglomerates cover a broad area in the Midlands in Worcestershire, Warwickshire and Leicestershire, whence they may be followed south-westward through Somerset to the coast at Sidmouth, and northward, round either flank of the Pennine Hills, through Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire to Middlesbrough on the one hand, and upon the other through Staffordshire, Cheshire and Lancashire to Carlisle.
The outcrop of the Lias, mainly clay with thin limestones and ironstones, runs in an almost continuous band across the country from Lyme Regis, through Bath, Cheltenham, near Leicester, and Lincoln to Redcar in Yorkshire. Closely following the same line are the alternating clays and limestones of the Oolitic series. Next in order come the Greensands and Gault, which lie at the base of the Chalk escarpment, between that formation and the Oolites. The Chalk occupies all the remaining portion of the south-east of England, save the Wealden area, and extends northward as far as Flamborough in Yorkshire, forming the Yorkshire Wolds, the Lincolnshire Wolds, the Chiltern Hills, the N. and S. Downs, the Dorsetshire heights and Salisbury Plain. But in the eastern and southern counties the Chalk is covered by younger deposits of Tertiary age; the Pliocene Crags of Norfolk and Suffolk, the Lower London Tertiaries (London Clay, Woolwich and Reading Beds, &c.) of the London Basin comprising parts of Essex, Hertfordshire, Middlesex, Bucks and Berks, and northern Kent. Again, in the Hampshire Basin and Isle of Wight, Eocene and Oligocene formations rest upon the Chalk.
When we attempt to decipher the physical history of the country from the complicated record afforded by the stratigraphical palimpsest, we are checked at the outset by the dearth of information from being able to picture the geographical condition in the older Palaeozoic periods. All we can say is, that in those remote times what is now England had no existence; its site was occupied by seas which were tenanted by marine invertebrates, long since extinct. As for the boundaries of these ancient seas, we can say nothing with certainty, but it is of interest to note the evidence we possess of still older land conditions, such as we have in the old rocks of Shropshire, &c. In the Devonian period it is clear that an elevatory movement had set in towards the north, which gave rise to the formation of inland lakes and narrow estuaries in which the Old Red Sandstone rocks were formed, while in the south of England lay the sea with a vigorous coral fauna. This condition led up to the Carboniferous period, which began with fairly open sea over the south and north of England, but in the centre there rose an elevated land mass from which much of the Millstone Grit was derived; other land lay towards the north. Slowly this sea shallowed, giving rise to the alternating estuarine marine and freshwater deposits of the Coal Measures. Continual elevation of the land brought about the close of the coal-forming period and great changes ensued. Desert conditions, with confined inland seas, marked the Permian and Triassic periods. It was about this time that the Pennine Hills, the Lake District mountain mass, and the Mendip Hills were being most vigorously uplifted, while the granite masses of Cornwall and Devon were perhaps being injected into the Carboniferous and Devonian rocks. From this period, more or less of the Pennine ridge has always remained above the sea, along with much of Cornwall and parts of Devonshire.
In early Jurassic times the sea probably again occupied most of England with the exception of the above-mentioned areas, the Lake District and eastern part of the London Basin; Wales, too, and much of Scotland were land. Elevation gradually caused more land to appear in later Jurassic and early Cretaceous times when a river system, now entirely obliterated, drained into the Purbeck estuary and Wealden lake; but a subsequent depression led to the wide extension of the Chalk sea. By the beginning of the Eocene period we find the sea limited to the S.E. of England, where the London Clay, &c., were being laid down. It was not until quite late in Tertiary time that these islands began to assume anything like their present form. In the earlier part of the Pleistocene period, England and Ireland were still incompletely severed, and the combined activity of certain extinct rivers and the sea had not yet cut through the land connexion with the continent. The last well-marked lowering of the land took place in the Pleistocene period, when it was accompanied by glacial conditions, through which the greater part of northern England and the Midlands was covered by ice; a state of things which led directly and indirectly to the deposition of those extensive boulder clays, sands and gravels which obscure so much of the older surface of the country in all but the southern counties.
Throughout the whole period of its geological history, volcanic activity has found expression with varying degrees of intensity along what is now the western side of the island, with the exception that in the Mesozoic era this activity was in abeyance. We may note the pre-Cambrian lavas and tuffs of the Wrekin district in Shropshire and the somewhat later volcanic rocks of Charnwood; the porphyrites, andesites, tuffs and rhyolites of the Borrowdale volcanic centre, erupted in the Ordovician period, and the Silurian granites of the same region. The volcanic outbursts which followed became feebler in the Devonian and Carboniferous periods and ceased with the Permian. When again the volcanic forces became active, it was in the early Tertiary era; the evidences for this lie outside the English border.
The principal directions of crust movement in England are: (1) north and south, by which the Pennine folds and faults, and the Malvern Hills have been produced; (2) east and west, by which the folds of the Weald and the Mendip Hills, and those of Devonshire have been formed. Another less important direction is N.W. and S.E., as in the Charnwood folding.
Further details of the geology are given under the heads of the counties.
(J. A. H.)
IV. Climate
Temperature.—The mean annual temperature of the whole of England and Wales (reduced to sea-level) is about 50° F., varying from something over 52° in the Scilly Isles to something under 48° at the mouth of the Tweed. The mean annualClimate.temperature diminishes very regularly from south-west to north-east, the west coast being warmer than the east, so that the mean temperature at the mouth of the Mersey is as high as that at the mouth of the Thames. During the coldest month of the year (January) the mean temperature of all England is about 40°. The influence of the western ocean is very strongly marked, the temperature falling steadily from west to east. Thus while the temperature in the west of Cornwall is 44°, the temperature on the east coast from north of the Humber to the Thames is under 38°, the coldest winters being experienced in the Fenland. In the hottest month (July) the mean temperature of England and Wales is about 61.5°, and the westerly wind then exercises a cooling effect, the greatest heat being found in the Thames basin immediately around London, where the mean temperature of the month exceeds 64°; the mean temperature along the south coast is 62°, and that at the mouth of the Tweed a little under 59°. In the centre of the country along a line drawn from London to Carlisle the mean temperature in July is found to diminish gradually at an average rate of 1° per 60 m. The coasts are cooler than the centre of the country, but the west coast is much cooler than the east, modified continental conditions prevailing over the North Sea. The natural effect of the heating of the air in summer and the cooling of the air in winter by contact with the land is largely masked in England on account of the strength of the prevailing south-westerly wind carrying oceanic influence into the heart of the country. This effect is well seen in the way in which the wind blowing directly up the Severn estuary is directed along the edges of the Oolitic escarpment north-eastward, thus displacing the centre of cold in winter to the east coast, and the centre of heat in summer to the lower Thames, from the position which both centres would occupy, if calms prevailed, in a belt running from Birmingham to Buckingham. As to how far the narrow portion of the North Sea modifies the influence of the European continent, there seems reason to believe that the prevailing winds blowing up the English Channel carry oceanic conditions some distance inland, along those parts of the continent nearest to England. The Mersey estuary, being partly sheltered by Ireland and North Wales, does not serve as an inlet for modifying influences to the same extent as the Bristol Channel; and as the wind entering by it blows squarely against the slope of the Pennine Chain, it does not much affect the climate of the midland plain.(Click to enlarge.)Winds.—The average barometric pressure over England is about29.94 in., and normally diminishes from south-west to north-east at all seasons, the mean pressure on the south coast being 29.97 and that on the northern border 29.88. The pressure at any given latitude is normally highest in the centre of the country and on the east coast, and lowest on the west coast. The direction of the mean annual isobars shows that the normal wind in all parts of England and Wales must be from the south-west on the west coast, curving gradually until in the centre of the country, and on the east coast it is westerly, without a southerly component. The normal seasonal march of pressure-change produces a maximum gradient in December and January, and a minimum gradient in April; but for every month in the year the mean gradient is for winds from southerly and westerly quarters. In April the gradient is so slight that any temporary fall of pressure to the south of England or any temporary rise of pressure to the north, which would suffice in other months merely to reduce the velocity of the south-westerly wind, is sufficient in that month to reverse the gradient and produce an east wind over the whole country. The liability to east wind in spring is one of the most marked features of the English climate, the effect being naturally most felt on the east coast. The southerly component in the wind is as a rule most marked in the winter months, the westerly component predominating in summer. The west end of a town receives the wind as it blows in fresh from the country at all seasons, and consequently the west end of an English town is with few exceptions the residential quarter, while smoke-producing industries are usually relegated to the east end.Storms.—On account of the great frequency of cyclonic disturbances passing in from the Atlantic, the average conditions of wind over the British Islands give no idea of the frequency of change in direction and force. The chief paths of depressions are from south-west to north-east across England; one track runs across the south-east and eastern counties, and is that followed by a large proportion of the summer and autumn storms, thereby perhaps helping to explain the peculiar liability of the east of England to damage from hail accompanying thunderstorms. A second track crosses central England, entering by the Severn estuary and leaving by the Humber or the Wash; while a third crosses the north of England from the neighbourhood of Morecambe Bay to the Tyne. While these are tracks frequently followed by the centres of barometric depressions, individual cyclones may and do cross the country in all directions, though very rarely indeed from east to west or from north to south.Rainfall.—The rainfall of England, being largely due to passing cyclones, can hardly be expected to show a very close relation to the physical features of the country, yet looked at in a general way the relation between prevailing winds and orographic structure is not obscure. The western or mountainous division is the wettest at all seasons, each orographic group forming a centre of heavy precipitation. There are few places in the Western Division where the rainfall is less than 35 in., while in Wales, the Cornwall-Devon peninsula, the Lake District and the southern part of the Pennine Region the precipitation exceeds 40 in., and in Wales and the Lake District considerable areas have a rainfall of over 60 in. In the Eastern Division, on the other hand, an annual rainfall exceeding 30 in. is rare, and in the low ground about the mouth of the Thames estuary and around the Wash the mean annual rainfall is less than 25 in. In the Western Division and along the south coast the driest month is usually April or May, while in the Eastern Division it is February or March. The wettest month for most parts of England is October, the most noticeable exception being in East Anglia, where, on account of the frequency of summer thunderstorms, July is the month in which most rain falls, although October is not far behind. In the Western Division there is a tendency for the annual maximum of rainfall to occur later than October. It may be stated generally that the Western Division is mild and wet in winter, and cool and less wet in summer; while the Eastern Division is cold and dry in winter and spring, and hot and less dry in summer and autumn. The south coast occupies an intermediate position between the two as regards climate. Attention has been called to the fact that the bare rocks and steep gradients which are common in the Western Division allow of the heavy rainfall running off the surface rapidly, while the flat and often clayey lands of the Eastern Division retain the scantier rainfall in the soil for a longer time, so that for agricultural purposes the effect of the rainfall is not very dissimilar throughout the country.Sunshine.—The distribution of sunshine is not yet fully investigated, but it appears that the sunniest part is the extreme south coast, where alone the total number of hours of bright sunshine reaches an average of more than 1600 per annum. The north-east, including the Pennine Region and the whole of Yorkshire, has less than 1300 hours of sunshine, and a portion of North Wales is equally cloudy. Although little more than a guess, 1375 hours may be put down as approximately the average duration of bright sunshine for England as a whole, which may be compared with 2600 hours for Italy, and probably about 1200 hours for Norway.For the purpose of forecasting the weather, the meteorological office divides England into six districts, which are known as England N.E., Midland Counties, England East, London and Channel, England N.W. and North Wales, and England S.W. and South Wales.
Temperature.—The mean annual temperature of the whole of England and Wales (reduced to sea-level) is about 50° F., varying from something over 52° in the Scilly Isles to something under 48° at the mouth of the Tweed. The mean annualClimate.temperature diminishes very regularly from south-west to north-east, the west coast being warmer than the east, so that the mean temperature at the mouth of the Mersey is as high as that at the mouth of the Thames. During the coldest month of the year (January) the mean temperature of all England is about 40°. The influence of the western ocean is very strongly marked, the temperature falling steadily from west to east. Thus while the temperature in the west of Cornwall is 44°, the temperature on the east coast from north of the Humber to the Thames is under 38°, the coldest winters being experienced in the Fenland. In the hottest month (July) the mean temperature of England and Wales is about 61.5°, and the westerly wind then exercises a cooling effect, the greatest heat being found in the Thames basin immediately around London, where the mean temperature of the month exceeds 64°; the mean temperature along the south coast is 62°, and that at the mouth of the Tweed a little under 59°. In the centre of the country along a line drawn from London to Carlisle the mean temperature in July is found to diminish gradually at an average rate of 1° per 60 m. The coasts are cooler than the centre of the country, but the west coast is much cooler than the east, modified continental conditions prevailing over the North Sea. The natural effect of the heating of the air in summer and the cooling of the air in winter by contact with the land is largely masked in England on account of the strength of the prevailing south-westerly wind carrying oceanic influence into the heart of the country. This effect is well seen in the way in which the wind blowing directly up the Severn estuary is directed along the edges of the Oolitic escarpment north-eastward, thus displacing the centre of cold in winter to the east coast, and the centre of heat in summer to the lower Thames, from the position which both centres would occupy, if calms prevailed, in a belt running from Birmingham to Buckingham. As to how far the narrow portion of the North Sea modifies the influence of the European continent, there seems reason to believe that the prevailing winds blowing up the English Channel carry oceanic conditions some distance inland, along those parts of the continent nearest to England. The Mersey estuary, being partly sheltered by Ireland and North Wales, does not serve as an inlet for modifying influences to the same extent as the Bristol Channel; and as the wind entering by it blows squarely against the slope of the Pennine Chain, it does not much affect the climate of the midland plain.
(Click to enlarge.)
Winds.—The average barometric pressure over England is about29.94 in., and normally diminishes from south-west to north-east at all seasons, the mean pressure on the south coast being 29.97 and that on the northern border 29.88. The pressure at any given latitude is normally highest in the centre of the country and on the east coast, and lowest on the west coast. The direction of the mean annual isobars shows that the normal wind in all parts of England and Wales must be from the south-west on the west coast, curving gradually until in the centre of the country, and on the east coast it is westerly, without a southerly component. The normal seasonal march of pressure-change produces a maximum gradient in December and January, and a minimum gradient in April; but for every month in the year the mean gradient is for winds from southerly and westerly quarters. In April the gradient is so slight that any temporary fall of pressure to the south of England or any temporary rise of pressure to the north, which would suffice in other months merely to reduce the velocity of the south-westerly wind, is sufficient in that month to reverse the gradient and produce an east wind over the whole country. The liability to east wind in spring is one of the most marked features of the English climate, the effect being naturally most felt on the east coast. The southerly component in the wind is as a rule most marked in the winter months, the westerly component predominating in summer. The west end of a town receives the wind as it blows in fresh from the country at all seasons, and consequently the west end of an English town is with few exceptions the residential quarter, while smoke-producing industries are usually relegated to the east end.
Storms.—On account of the great frequency of cyclonic disturbances passing in from the Atlantic, the average conditions of wind over the British Islands give no idea of the frequency of change in direction and force. The chief paths of depressions are from south-west to north-east across England; one track runs across the south-east and eastern counties, and is that followed by a large proportion of the summer and autumn storms, thereby perhaps helping to explain the peculiar liability of the east of England to damage from hail accompanying thunderstorms. A second track crosses central England, entering by the Severn estuary and leaving by the Humber or the Wash; while a third crosses the north of England from the neighbourhood of Morecambe Bay to the Tyne. While these are tracks frequently followed by the centres of barometric depressions, individual cyclones may and do cross the country in all directions, though very rarely indeed from east to west or from north to south.
Rainfall.—The rainfall of England, being largely due to passing cyclones, can hardly be expected to show a very close relation to the physical features of the country, yet looked at in a general way the relation between prevailing winds and orographic structure is not obscure. The western or mountainous division is the wettest at all seasons, each orographic group forming a centre of heavy precipitation. There are few places in the Western Division where the rainfall is less than 35 in., while in Wales, the Cornwall-Devon peninsula, the Lake District and the southern part of the Pennine Region the precipitation exceeds 40 in., and in Wales and the Lake District considerable areas have a rainfall of over 60 in. In the Eastern Division, on the other hand, an annual rainfall exceeding 30 in. is rare, and in the low ground about the mouth of the Thames estuary and around the Wash the mean annual rainfall is less than 25 in. In the Western Division and along the south coast the driest month is usually April or May, while in the Eastern Division it is February or March. The wettest month for most parts of England is October, the most noticeable exception being in East Anglia, where, on account of the frequency of summer thunderstorms, July is the month in which most rain falls, although October is not far behind. In the Western Division there is a tendency for the annual maximum of rainfall to occur later than October. It may be stated generally that the Western Division is mild and wet in winter, and cool and less wet in summer; while the Eastern Division is cold and dry in winter and spring, and hot and less dry in summer and autumn. The south coast occupies an intermediate position between the two as regards climate. Attention has been called to the fact that the bare rocks and steep gradients which are common in the Western Division allow of the heavy rainfall running off the surface rapidly, while the flat and often clayey lands of the Eastern Division retain the scantier rainfall in the soil for a longer time, so that for agricultural purposes the effect of the rainfall is not very dissimilar throughout the country.
Sunshine.—The distribution of sunshine is not yet fully investigated, but it appears that the sunniest part is the extreme south coast, where alone the total number of hours of bright sunshine reaches an average of more than 1600 per annum. The north-east, including the Pennine Region and the whole of Yorkshire, has less than 1300 hours of sunshine, and a portion of North Wales is equally cloudy. Although little more than a guess, 1375 hours may be put down as approximately the average duration of bright sunshine for England as a whole, which may be compared with 2600 hours for Italy, and probably about 1200 hours for Norway.
For the purpose of forecasting the weather, the meteorological office divides England into six districts, which are known as England N.E., Midland Counties, England East, London and Channel, England N.W. and North Wales, and England S.W. and South Wales.
(H. R. M.)
V. English Place-Names
English place-names are of diverse origin and often extremely corrupt in their modern form, so that the real etymology of the names can often be discovered only by a careful comparison of the modern form with such ancient forms as are to be found in charters, ancient histories, and other early documents. By the aid of these a certain amount of work has been done in the subject, but it is still largely an unworked field. The most satisfactory method of characterizing English place-nomenclature is to deal with it historically and chronologically, showing the influence of the successive nations who have borne sway in this island. The Celtic influence is to be found scattered evenly up and down the country so far as names of rivers and mountains are concerned; in names of towns it is chiefly confined to the west. Roman influence is slight but evenly distributed. English influence is all-pervading, though in the northern and north-midland counties this influence has been encroached upon by Scandinavian influence. Norman influence is not confined to any particular district.
Celtic.—Though scattered notices of towns, cities and rivers in Britain are to be found in various early Roman writers, it is not till the time of Ptolemy (2nd century), who constructed a map of the island, and of the itinerary of Antonine (beginning of the 3rd century) that we have much information as to the cities and towns of Britain. We there learn that the following place-names are ultimately of Celtic origin:—Brougham, Catterick, York, Lincoln (Lindum), Manchester (Mancunium), Doncaster (Danum), Wroxeter (Viroconium), Lichfield (Letocetum), Gloucester (Glevum), Cirencester (Corinium), Colchester (Camulodunum), London, Reculver, Richborough (Rutupiae), Dover, Lymne, Isle of Wight, Dorchester (Durnovaria), Sarum, Exeter (Isca), Brancaster (Branodunum), Thanet. We also have the names of the following rivers:—Eden, Dee, Trent, Yare, Colne, Thames, Kennet, Churne, Exe, Severn, Tamar. Gildas, writing in the 6th century, speaks of the twenty-eight cities of the Britons. Nennius’Historia Britonumgives what purports to be a list of these cities. Of these, excluding Welsh ones, we may with some certainty identify Canterbury (Caint), Caerleon-on-Usk, Leicester (Lerion), Penzelwood, Carlisle, Colchester, Grantchester (Granth), London, Worcester (Guveirangon), Doncaster (Daun), Wroxeter (Guoricon), Chester (Legion—this is Roman), Lichfield (Licitcsith) and Gloucester (Gloui). Others less certain are Preston-on-Humber and Manchester (Manchguid).In modern place-names the suffixdonoften goes back to the Celticdun, a hill,e.g.Bredon, Everdon, but the suffix was still a living one in Saxon times. Of river-names the vast majority are Celtic (possible exceptions will be named later), and the same is true of mountains and hills. The forests of Wyre, Elmet and Sel (wood), and the districts of the Wrekin and the Peak are probably Celtic.Roman.—We do not owe entire place-names to Roman influence, with the exception of a few such as Chester, Chester-le-Street (L.strata[via], a road) and Caistor, but Roman influence is to be found in many names compounded of Celtic and Roman elements. The chief of these is the elementchester—(L.castrum, a fort),e.g.Ebchester, Silchester, Grantchester. Porchester is entirely Latin, but may not have been formed till Saxon times. The formcasteris found in the north and east, under Scandinavian influence,e.g.Tadcaster, Lancaster; and in the south-west and in the midlands we have a group of towns with the formcester:—Bicester, Gloucester, Cirencester, Worcester, Alcester, Leicester, Towcester. Exeter, Wroxeter and perhaps Uttoxeter show the suffix in slightly different form. In names like Chesterton, Chesterford, Chesterholm, Woodchester, the second element shows that the names are of later English or Scandinavian formation. In Lincoln we have a compound of the CelticLindumand the Latincolonia.Saxon.—The chief suffixes of Saxon origin to be found in English place-names are as follows (some of them being also used independently):-burgh,-borough,-bury(O.E.burh, fortified town),e.g.Burgh, Bamborough, Aylesbury, Bury;-bourne,-borne,-burn(O.E.burne,-a, a stream),e.g.Ashbourne, Sherborne, Sockburn;-bridge,e.g.Weybridge, Bridge;-church,e.g.Pucklechurch;-den,-dean(O.E.denu, a valley),e.g.Gaddesden, Rottingdean;-down,-don,-ton(O.E.dūn[Celtic], a hill),e.g.Huntingdon, Seckington, Edington;-ey,-ea,-y(O.E.īg, an island),e.g.Thorney, Mersea, Ely;-fleet(O.E.fleot, an estuary)e.g.Benfleet;-field,e.g.Lichfield;-ford,e.g.Bradford;-ham(O.E.hām, a home, andhamm, an enclosure); these are not distinguished in modern English,e.g.Bosham, Ham;-hall(O.E.healh, a corner),e.g.Riccall, Tettenhall;-head,e.g.Gateshead;-hill,e.g.Tickhill;-hurst(O.E.hyrst, copse, wood),e.g.Deerhurst;-ing(patronymic suffix, plural form in O.E.),e.g.Basing, Reading;-leigh,-ley,-lea(O.E.lēah, meadow),e.g.Leigh, Stoneleigh, Whalley;-lade(O.E.lād, path, course),e.g.Cricklade;-land,e.g.Crowland;-lock(O.E.loca, enclosure),e.g.Porlock;-minster(O.E.mynster, L.monasterium),e.g.Axminster, Minster;-mouth,e.g.Exmouth;-port(O.E.port, market-town, a word of Latinorigin),e.g.Bridport;-sted,-stead(O. E.stede, a place),e.g.Stansted, Wanstead;-stone,-ston,e.g.Beverstone, Sherston;-staple(O.E.stapol, foundation),e.g.Barnstaple;-stow(O.E.stow, place),e.g.Stow, Chepstow, Bristol (earlier Bristow);-tree,-try,e.g.Coventry, Elstree, Seasalter;-ton(O.E.tŭn, enclosure),e.g.Milton;-wark(O.E.geweorc, fortification),e.g.Southwark;-well,e.g.Bakewell;-wich,-wick(O.E.wic, a dwelling),e.g.Norwich, Swanage (O.E. Swanawic), Warwick;-worth,-worthy(O.E.weorth,weorthig, an enclosure),e.g.Polesworth, Holsworthy.Of river names the Blackwater, Witham, Ashburne, Swift, Washburn, Loxly, Wythburn, Eamont are perhaps English and so also may be the Waveney in Suffolk.Scandinavian.—The following suffixes are Scandinavian in origin, some of them being also used independently:-beck(O.N.bekkr, stream),e.g.Starbeck, Troutbeck;-by(O.N.byr, town),e.g.Whitby;-dale(O.N.dalr),e.g.Swaledale;-car(r),-ker(O.N.kiörr, marshy ground),e.g.Redcar, The Carrs, Muker;-fell(O.N.fjäll, mountain),e.g.Scafell;-force,-foss(O.N.fors, waterfall). High Force, Wilberfoss;-garth(O.N.garðr, enclosure),e.g.Hoggarths;-gill(O.N.gil, a deep narrow glen),e.g.Skelgill, Dungeon Ghyll;-holm(e)(O.N.hólmr, island),e.g.Axholme, Durham (earlier Dunholm);keld(O.N.kelda, well, spring),e.g.Threlkeld, Keld;-lund(O.N.lundr, grove),e.g.Snelland, Timberland, Lound;-how(O.N.haugr, hill),e.g.Greenhow;-scale(O.N.skále, hut, shed),e.g.Seascale;-skew(O.N.skógr, forest),e.g.Litherskew;-thorpe(O.N.þorp, village),e.g.Thorpe, Osgathorp;-thwaite(O.N.þveit, a piece of land),e.g.Rosthwaite;-toft(O.N.topt, a green knoll),e.g.Toft, Langtoft;-with(O.N.viðr, a wood),e.g.Blawith, Stowiths.Tarn (a mountain pool), grain and sike (mountain streams) are also Scandinavian terms.Norman.—Norman influence has not been very great in English place-nomenclature. The number of places with pure French names is extremely limited; a few such are Beaulieu, Belvoir, Beauchief, Beaudesert, Beaufort, Beaumont, also TheydonBois, War-boys. Norman influence is marked more strongly in certain compound place-names, where one of the elements often represents the name of the original Norman tenant or holder,e.g.ThorpeMandeville,HelionBumstead, HighamFerrers, SwaffhamBulbeck, StokeGifford, SheptonMallet; similarly names like LymeRegis,King’sSutton,Monks’Kirby, ZealMonachorum, MiltonAbbas,Bishop’sWaltham,Prior’sDean, HuishEpiscopidate from feudal times. Gallicized forms are also to be found in a few forms like Kirkby-le-Soken, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Alsop-en-le-Dale, Barnoldby-le-Beck. Ecclesiastical influence is to be found in such names as Aldwinkle St Peter, Barford St Martin, Belchamp St Paul, the name of the saint being the name either of the saint to whom the church at that place was dedicated or the patron-saint of the monastery or abbey to whom lands in that district belonged.
Celtic.—Though scattered notices of towns, cities and rivers in Britain are to be found in various early Roman writers, it is not till the time of Ptolemy (2nd century), who constructed a map of the island, and of the itinerary of Antonine (beginning of the 3rd century) that we have much information as to the cities and towns of Britain. We there learn that the following place-names are ultimately of Celtic origin:—Brougham, Catterick, York, Lincoln (Lindum), Manchester (Mancunium), Doncaster (Danum), Wroxeter (Viroconium), Lichfield (Letocetum), Gloucester (Glevum), Cirencester (Corinium), Colchester (Camulodunum), London, Reculver, Richborough (Rutupiae), Dover, Lymne, Isle of Wight, Dorchester (Durnovaria), Sarum, Exeter (Isca), Brancaster (Branodunum), Thanet. We also have the names of the following rivers:—Eden, Dee, Trent, Yare, Colne, Thames, Kennet, Churne, Exe, Severn, Tamar. Gildas, writing in the 6th century, speaks of the twenty-eight cities of the Britons. Nennius’Historia Britonumgives what purports to be a list of these cities. Of these, excluding Welsh ones, we may with some certainty identify Canterbury (Caint), Caerleon-on-Usk, Leicester (Lerion), Penzelwood, Carlisle, Colchester, Grantchester (Granth), London, Worcester (Guveirangon), Doncaster (Daun), Wroxeter (Guoricon), Chester (Legion—this is Roman), Lichfield (Licitcsith) and Gloucester (Gloui). Others less certain are Preston-on-Humber and Manchester (Manchguid).
In modern place-names the suffixdonoften goes back to the Celticdun, a hill,e.g.Bredon, Everdon, but the suffix was still a living one in Saxon times. Of river-names the vast majority are Celtic (possible exceptions will be named later), and the same is true of mountains and hills. The forests of Wyre, Elmet and Sel (wood), and the districts of the Wrekin and the Peak are probably Celtic.
Roman.—We do not owe entire place-names to Roman influence, with the exception of a few such as Chester, Chester-le-Street (L.strata[via], a road) and Caistor, but Roman influence is to be found in many names compounded of Celtic and Roman elements. The chief of these is the elementchester—(L.castrum, a fort),e.g.Ebchester, Silchester, Grantchester. Porchester is entirely Latin, but may not have been formed till Saxon times. The formcasteris found in the north and east, under Scandinavian influence,e.g.Tadcaster, Lancaster; and in the south-west and in the midlands we have a group of towns with the formcester:—Bicester, Gloucester, Cirencester, Worcester, Alcester, Leicester, Towcester. Exeter, Wroxeter and perhaps Uttoxeter show the suffix in slightly different form. In names like Chesterton, Chesterford, Chesterholm, Woodchester, the second element shows that the names are of later English or Scandinavian formation. In Lincoln we have a compound of the CelticLindumand the Latincolonia.
Saxon.—The chief suffixes of Saxon origin to be found in English place-names are as follows (some of them being also used independently):-burgh,-borough,-bury(O.E.burh, fortified town),e.g.Burgh, Bamborough, Aylesbury, Bury;-bourne,-borne,-burn(O.E.burne,-a, a stream),e.g.Ashbourne, Sherborne, Sockburn;-bridge,e.g.Weybridge, Bridge;-church,e.g.Pucklechurch;-den,-dean(O.E.denu, a valley),e.g.Gaddesden, Rottingdean;-down,-don,-ton(O.E.dūn[Celtic], a hill),e.g.Huntingdon, Seckington, Edington;-ey,-ea,-y(O.E.īg, an island),e.g.Thorney, Mersea, Ely;-fleet(O.E.fleot, an estuary)e.g.Benfleet;-field,e.g.Lichfield;-ford,e.g.Bradford;-ham(O.E.hām, a home, andhamm, an enclosure); these are not distinguished in modern English,e.g.Bosham, Ham;-hall(O.E.healh, a corner),e.g.Riccall, Tettenhall;-head,e.g.Gateshead;-hill,e.g.Tickhill;-hurst(O.E.hyrst, copse, wood),e.g.Deerhurst;-ing(patronymic suffix, plural form in O.E.),e.g.Basing, Reading;-leigh,-ley,-lea(O.E.lēah, meadow),e.g.Leigh, Stoneleigh, Whalley;-lade(O.E.lād, path, course),e.g.Cricklade;-land,e.g.Crowland;-lock(O.E.loca, enclosure),e.g.Porlock;-minster(O.E.mynster, L.monasterium),e.g.Axminster, Minster;-mouth,e.g.Exmouth;-port(O.E.port, market-town, a word of Latinorigin),e.g.Bridport;-sted,-stead(O. E.stede, a place),e.g.Stansted, Wanstead;-stone,-ston,e.g.Beverstone, Sherston;-staple(O.E.stapol, foundation),e.g.Barnstaple;-stow(O.E.stow, place),e.g.Stow, Chepstow, Bristol (earlier Bristow);-tree,-try,e.g.Coventry, Elstree, Seasalter;-ton(O.E.tŭn, enclosure),e.g.Milton;-wark(O.E.geweorc, fortification),e.g.Southwark;-well,e.g.Bakewell;-wich,-wick(O.E.wic, a dwelling),e.g.Norwich, Swanage (O.E. Swanawic), Warwick;-worth,-worthy(O.E.weorth,weorthig, an enclosure),e.g.Polesworth, Holsworthy.
Of river names the Blackwater, Witham, Ashburne, Swift, Washburn, Loxly, Wythburn, Eamont are perhaps English and so also may be the Waveney in Suffolk.
Scandinavian.—The following suffixes are Scandinavian in origin, some of them being also used independently:-beck(O.N.bekkr, stream),e.g.Starbeck, Troutbeck;-by(O.N.byr, town),e.g.Whitby;-dale(O.N.dalr),e.g.Swaledale;-car(r),-ker(O.N.kiörr, marshy ground),e.g.Redcar, The Carrs, Muker;-fell(O.N.fjäll, mountain),e.g.Scafell;-force,-foss(O.N.fors, waterfall). High Force, Wilberfoss;-garth(O.N.garðr, enclosure),e.g.Hoggarths;-gill(O.N.gil, a deep narrow glen),e.g.Skelgill, Dungeon Ghyll;-holm(e)(O.N.hólmr, island),e.g.Axholme, Durham (earlier Dunholm);keld(O.N.kelda, well, spring),e.g.Threlkeld, Keld;-lund(O.N.lundr, grove),e.g.Snelland, Timberland, Lound;-how(O.N.haugr, hill),e.g.Greenhow;-scale(O.N.skále, hut, shed),e.g.Seascale;-skew(O.N.skógr, forest),e.g.Litherskew;-thorpe(O.N.þorp, village),e.g.Thorpe, Osgathorp;-thwaite(O.N.þveit, a piece of land),e.g.Rosthwaite;-toft(O.N.topt, a green knoll),e.g.Toft, Langtoft;-with(O.N.viðr, a wood),e.g.Blawith, Stowiths.
Tarn (a mountain pool), grain and sike (mountain streams) are also Scandinavian terms.
Norman.—Norman influence has not been very great in English place-nomenclature. The number of places with pure French names is extremely limited; a few such are Beaulieu, Belvoir, Beauchief, Beaudesert, Beaufort, Beaumont, also TheydonBois, War-boys. Norman influence is marked more strongly in certain compound place-names, where one of the elements often represents the name of the original Norman tenant or holder,e.g.ThorpeMandeville,HelionBumstead, HighamFerrers, SwaffhamBulbeck, StokeGifford, SheptonMallet; similarly names like LymeRegis,King’sSutton,Monks’Kirby, ZealMonachorum, MiltonAbbas,Bishop’sWaltham,Prior’sDean, HuishEpiscopidate from feudal times. Gallicized forms are also to be found in a few forms like Kirkby-le-Soken, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Alsop-en-le-Dale, Barnoldby-le-Beck. Ecclesiastical influence is to be found in such names as Aldwinkle St Peter, Barford St Martin, Belchamp St Paul, the name of the saint being the name either of the saint to whom the church at that place was dedicated or the patron-saint of the monastery or abbey to whom lands in that district belonged.
(A. Mw.)
VI. Population
Until the beginning of the 19th century there existed no other knowledge of the actual area and population of the country but what was given in the vaguest estimates. But there can be little doubt that the population of England and Wales increased very slowly for centuries, owing largely to want of intercommunication, which led to famines, more or less severe—it being a common occurrence that, while one county, with a good harvest, was enjoying abundance, the people of the adjoining one were starving. The interpretation of certain figures given in the Domesday Survey (which do not cover certain parts of modern England nor take account of the ecclesiastical population) is a matter of widely divergent opinion; but a total population of one million and a half has been accepted by many for the close of the 11th century. In 1377 the levying of a poll-tax provides partial figures from which a total of two to two-and-a-half millions has been deduced, but again divergent views have been expressed as to how far the number was still affected by the Black Death of 1348-1349. It is calculated, on the basis of registers of births and deaths, that the population of England and Wales numbered 5,475,000 in 1700, and 6,467,000 in 1750. From the later part of the 18th century a stronger tendency to increase set in, and at the taking of the first census, in 1801, it was ascertained that the population numbered 8,892,536, being—if the former estimates were approximately correct—an increase of very nearly 2½ millions in little over fifty years. This rate of increase was not only continued, but came to be greatly exceeded.
Since the first census of 1801, regular enumerations of the people of England and Wales have been taken every ten years. The results of these enumerations are published in separate volumes for each county, in a volume of summary tables, and in a general report. In the summaries England and Wales are treated as one, and this treatment is followed here. The following table gives the total numbers of the population of England and Wales at each census, together with the absolute increase, and growth per cent, during each decennial period:—
Allowing for a rate of increase equivalent to that which obtained between 1891 and 1901, the estimated population was 34,152,977 in 1905, and 36,169,150 in 1910.
Distribution.—A detailed map of the distribution of population in England and Wales11shows certain well-defined areas of very dense population. First for consideration, though not in geographical extent, stands the area round London, in Middlesex, Surrey, Kent, Essex and Hertfordshire. A great proportion of this population is purely residential, that is to say, its working members do not practise their professions at home or close to home, but in the metropolis, travelling a considerable distance between their residences and their offices. Just as London, in spite of its manifold industrial interests, is hardly to be termed a manufacturing centre, so the populous district surrounding it is not to be termed an industrial district in the sense in which that term is applied to the remaining regions of dense population which fall for consideration here. London gained its paramount importance from its favourable geographical position in respect of the rest of England on the one hand and the Continent on the other, and the populous district of the “home counties” owes its existence to that importance; whereas other populous districts have generally grown up at the point where some source of natural wealth, as coal or iron, lay to hand. The great populous area which covers south Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire, and extends beyond them into Cheshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Nottinghamshire, is not in reality a unit. The whole of the lowland in the south of Lancashire has almost the appearance of one vast town, whereas among the hills of the Pennine Chain the population crowds the valleys on either flank and leaves in the high-lying centre some of the largest tracts of practically uninhabited country in England. Moreover, the industries in different parts of this area (for it is strictly an industrial area) differ completely, as will be observed later, though coal-mining is common to all. The other most extensive centres of dense population are the coal-mining or manufacturing districts of Northumberland and Durham, of the midlands (parts of Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Leicestershire), and of South Wales and Monmouthshire; and it is in these districts, and others smaller, but of similar character, that the greatest increase of population has been recorded, since the extensive development oftheir resources during the 19th century. Thus the preceding counties12showed an increase, under normal conditions, exceeding 10% during the ten years 1891-1901, the percentage of increase in 1871-1891 being given for comparison.Counties.Increase per cent.1871-1891.1891-1901.Middlesex47.4245.11Essex31.5439.60Glamorganshire (S. Wales)30.7225.10Surrey25.0324.78Northumberland14.4219.19Worcestershire12.1218.49Nottinghamshire19.3018.09Durham21.6716.62Leicestershire17.4316.46Kent13.1515.95Hampshire12.7315.33Monmouthshire12.0814.97Yorkshire (E. Riding)14.3113.49Northamptonshire11.4013.27Warwickshire12.7812.95Staffordshire12.1512.92Derbyshire15.5212.81Yorkshire (W. Riding)15.3612.70Cheshire14.6212.56Lancashire17.9212.05Hertfordshire5.0810.91It will be observed that three of the home counties occur in the first four in the above list. It is interesting to note, in this connexion, that the increase of population diminished steadily, in the three decades under notice, within the area covered by the administrative county of London, which is only the central part of urban London (compare the population table of the great urban districts, below). This was 17.44% in 1871-1881, 10.39 in 1881-1891, and 7.3 in 1891-1901. This illustrates the constant tendency for the residential districts of a city to radiate away from its centre, which appears, though in a modified degree, in the case of all the great English cities.During the period 1891-1901 five English and five Welsh counties showed a decrease per cent in the population. The English counties were:—Decrease or Increase(+).Decrease.1891-1901.1871-1881.1881-1891.Huntingdonshire8.295.517.04Rutland1.553.735.59Westmorland1.25+2.962.73Oxfordshire+1.27+3.641.70Herefordshire3.264.021.62The Welsh counties were Montgomeryshire, Cardiganshire, Flintshire, Merionethshire and Brecknockshire, the first-named showing the highest decrease, 5.08%, in 1891-1901. These counties are principally agricultural, and it is in agriculturalUrban and rural districts.districts elsewhere that the increase of population is slightest. But in 1871-1881 a decrease was found in the case of fifteen counties in all, and in 1881-1891 in the case of thirteen, whereas in 1891-1901, although Radnorshire, which returned a decrease previously, now returned an abnormal increase owing to the temporary employment of workmen on the construction of the Birmingham waterworks, the number fell to 10, and the average percentage also fell. This suggested some tendency to return to a state of equilibrium as between urban and rural districts. This is in a measure borne out by the movement of population in the districts classed as purely rural in 1901. In these there was an increase per cent of 14.2 in 1811-1821, which fell off to 2.8 in 1841-1851. A decrease then set in and grew from 0.2 in 1851-1861 to 0.67 in 1881-1891, but in 1891-1901 an increase, 1.95, was once more recorded. But the drain on the rural population continued heavy, for in the same purely rural area, which had a population in 1901 of 1,330,319, the excess of births over deaths was 150,437, but the actual increase of population was only 25,492, leaving a heavy loss (9.6%) to be accounted for by migration, the term used in this connexion in the general report of the Census to include movement of population to any new locality, home or foreign.Housing.—The total area of England and Wales covered by urban districts (a term which coincides pretty nearly with that of towns, which bears no technical meaning in England) was 3,848,987 acres, and contained a population of 25,058,355 in 1901, the increase in the decade 1891-1901 being 15.2%. The number of inhabited houses in the whole country in 1901, namely 6,260,852, may be compared with the numbers in 1801 (1,575,923) and 1851 (3,278,039); it gives an average of 5.2 persons to each house. This average has decreased with some regularity from amaximumof 5.75 in 1821, but there is no certain evidence on which to affirm or deny that the average cubic capacity of dwelling-houses has been maintained. The urban population averaged 5.4 persons to a house, but varied greatly in different towns. Thus, an average below 4.4 is quoted for Rochdale, Halifax, Huddersfield, Yarmouth, Bradford and Stockport, while the average for London was 7.93, and for Gateshead, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and South Shields, in the northern industrial district of the Tyne, and for Devonport, the average exceeded 8. The average of persons to a house in rural districts was 4.6.Year.Percentage ofExcess of Estimatedover EnumeratedPopulation.Increase byBirths.Decrease byDeaths.1851-186136.1923.58122,1111861-187137.5623.9878,9681871-188137.8922.80164,3071881-189134.2420.27601,3891891-190131.5719.1868,330Vital Statistics.—“The increase or decrease of population is governed by two factors: (1) the balance between births and deaths, and (2) the balance between immigration and emigration.”13The following table is therefore given to show (1) the percentage of increase by births and decrease by deaths in each decade from 1851, and (2) the difference at the close of each decade (i.e.in the later year mentioned in each line) between the population which would have followed upon the natural increase unaffected by migration and the population as actually enumerated. In the case of (2) the actual population has always been exceeded by the estimate based on natural increase, and this demonstrates an excess of emigration over immigration.The proportion of males to females is 1000 to 1068, this being a higher proportion of females than any recorded in the 19th century, during which the lowest proportion of females was 1036 in 1821. The proportion rose at each census from 1851. But on the other hand 1000 male children were born against only 965 female, on an average in 1891-1901. This excess of male births, which is usual, has been ascertained to find its equilibrium, through a higher rate of infant mortality among the males, about the tenth year of life, and is finally changed by perilous male occupations and other causes, including the stronger tendency of males to emigration. The proportion of females varies much in different localities, being highest in such districts as London and the home counties, which are residential, and in which, therefore, many domestic servants are enumerated; and Somersetshire, Bedfordshire and other seats of industries which especially occupy women (e.g.the straw-plaiting of the county last named). It is lowest, naturally, in the mining districts, as Glamorgan, Monmouth, Durham, Northumberland; but an exception may be noted in the case of Cornwall, where a high proportion of females is attributed to the emigration of miners consequent upon the relative decrease in importance of the tin-mines. In 1901 the proportion of females to males in urban districts was 1086 to 1000, and in rural districts 1011 to 1000.Urban Districts of England and Wales with Population exceeding 80,000(1901).Population.Increaseper cent.1891.1901.London *4,228,3174,536,5417.3Liverpool629,548684,9588.8Manchester505,368543,8727.6Birmingham478,113522,2049.2Leeds367,505428,96816.7Sheffield324,243380,79317.4Bristol289,280328,94513.7Bradford265,728279,7675.3West Ham **204,903267,35830.5Hull200,472240,25919.8Nottingham213,877239,74312.1Salford198,139220,95711.5Newcastle-upon-Tyne186,300215,32815.6Leicester174,624211,57921.2Portsmouth159,278188,13318.1Bolton146,487168,21514.8Cardiff (Wales)128,915164,33327.5Sunderland131,686146,07710.9Oldham131,463137,2464.4Croydon **102,695133,89530.4Blackburn120,064127,6266.3Brighton115,873123,4786.6Willesden **61,265114,81187.4Rhondda (Wales)88,351113,73528.7Preston107,573112,9895.0Norwich100,970111,73310.7Birkenhead99,857110,91511.1Gateshead85,692109,88828.2Plymouth88,931107,63621.0Derby94,146105,91212.5Halifax97,714104,9367.4Southampton82,126104,82427.6Tottenham **71,343102,54143.7Leyton **63,10698,91256.7South Shields78,39197,26324.1Burnley87,01697,04311.5East Ham **32,71296,018193.5Walthamstow **46,34695,131105.3Huddersfield95,42095,0470.4 decr.Swansea (Wales)91,03494,5373.8Wolverhampton82,66294,18713.9Middlesborough75,53291,30220.9Northampton75,07587,02115.9Walsall71,78986,43020.4St Helens72,41384,41016.6Rochdale76,16183,1149.1* Administrative county.** These districts, administratively distinct, belong topographically to Greater London.The proportion of married adults (aged twenty and upwards) was found to decrease from 1881 to 1901, being 630 per thousandin the former and 604.5 in the latter year. The marriage-rate per thousand has ranged since 1841 from 14.2 in 1886 to 17.6 in 1873, and is evidently closely associated with the general prosperity of the country, for in the latter year the value of the total imports and exports per head of the population of the United Kingdom was at its highest, and in the former year at its lowest. The five years 1895-1899 exhibited a remarkable sequence illustrative of this:—Years.Marriage-Rate.Value,Exports andImports.£. s. d.189515.017 19 3189615.818 14 1189716.018 14 3189816.319 0 5189916.520 1 8The marriage-rate declined, subsequently to the year last quoted in this table, to 15.6 in 1903.
Distribution.—A detailed map of the distribution of population in England and Wales11shows certain well-defined areas of very dense population. First for consideration, though not in geographical extent, stands the area round London, in Middlesex, Surrey, Kent, Essex and Hertfordshire. A great proportion of this population is purely residential, that is to say, its working members do not practise their professions at home or close to home, but in the metropolis, travelling a considerable distance between their residences and their offices. Just as London, in spite of its manifold industrial interests, is hardly to be termed a manufacturing centre, so the populous district surrounding it is not to be termed an industrial district in the sense in which that term is applied to the remaining regions of dense population which fall for consideration here. London gained its paramount importance from its favourable geographical position in respect of the rest of England on the one hand and the Continent on the other, and the populous district of the “home counties” owes its existence to that importance; whereas other populous districts have generally grown up at the point where some source of natural wealth, as coal or iron, lay to hand. The great populous area which covers south Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire, and extends beyond them into Cheshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Nottinghamshire, is not in reality a unit. The whole of the lowland in the south of Lancashire has almost the appearance of one vast town, whereas among the hills of the Pennine Chain the population crowds the valleys on either flank and leaves in the high-lying centre some of the largest tracts of practically uninhabited country in England. Moreover, the industries in different parts of this area (for it is strictly an industrial area) differ completely, as will be observed later, though coal-mining is common to all. The other most extensive centres of dense population are the coal-mining or manufacturing districts of Northumberland and Durham, of the midlands (parts of Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Leicestershire), and of South Wales and Monmouthshire; and it is in these districts, and others smaller, but of similar character, that the greatest increase of population has been recorded, since the extensive development oftheir resources during the 19th century. Thus the preceding counties12showed an increase, under normal conditions, exceeding 10% during the ten years 1891-1901, the percentage of increase in 1871-1891 being given for comparison.
It will be observed that three of the home counties occur in the first four in the above list. It is interesting to note, in this connexion, that the increase of population diminished steadily, in the three decades under notice, within the area covered by the administrative county of London, which is only the central part of urban London (compare the population table of the great urban districts, below). This was 17.44% in 1871-1881, 10.39 in 1881-1891, and 7.3 in 1891-1901. This illustrates the constant tendency for the residential districts of a city to radiate away from its centre, which appears, though in a modified degree, in the case of all the great English cities.
During the period 1891-1901 five English and five Welsh counties showed a decrease per cent in the population. The English counties were:—
The Welsh counties were Montgomeryshire, Cardiganshire, Flintshire, Merionethshire and Brecknockshire, the first-named showing the highest decrease, 5.08%, in 1891-1901. These counties are principally agricultural, and it is in agriculturalUrban and rural districts.districts elsewhere that the increase of population is slightest. But in 1871-1881 a decrease was found in the case of fifteen counties in all, and in 1881-1891 in the case of thirteen, whereas in 1891-1901, although Radnorshire, which returned a decrease previously, now returned an abnormal increase owing to the temporary employment of workmen on the construction of the Birmingham waterworks, the number fell to 10, and the average percentage also fell. This suggested some tendency to return to a state of equilibrium as between urban and rural districts. This is in a measure borne out by the movement of population in the districts classed as purely rural in 1901. In these there was an increase per cent of 14.2 in 1811-1821, which fell off to 2.8 in 1841-1851. A decrease then set in and grew from 0.2 in 1851-1861 to 0.67 in 1881-1891, but in 1891-1901 an increase, 1.95, was once more recorded. But the drain on the rural population continued heavy, for in the same purely rural area, which had a population in 1901 of 1,330,319, the excess of births over deaths was 150,437, but the actual increase of population was only 25,492, leaving a heavy loss (9.6%) to be accounted for by migration, the term used in this connexion in the general report of the Census to include movement of population to any new locality, home or foreign.
Housing.—The total area of England and Wales covered by urban districts (a term which coincides pretty nearly with that of towns, which bears no technical meaning in England) was 3,848,987 acres, and contained a population of 25,058,355 in 1901, the increase in the decade 1891-1901 being 15.2%. The number of inhabited houses in the whole country in 1901, namely 6,260,852, may be compared with the numbers in 1801 (1,575,923) and 1851 (3,278,039); it gives an average of 5.2 persons to each house. This average has decreased with some regularity from amaximumof 5.75 in 1821, but there is no certain evidence on which to affirm or deny that the average cubic capacity of dwelling-houses has been maintained. The urban population averaged 5.4 persons to a house, but varied greatly in different towns. Thus, an average below 4.4 is quoted for Rochdale, Halifax, Huddersfield, Yarmouth, Bradford and Stockport, while the average for London was 7.93, and for Gateshead, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and South Shields, in the northern industrial district of the Tyne, and for Devonport, the average exceeded 8. The average of persons to a house in rural districts was 4.6.
Vital Statistics.—“The increase or decrease of population is governed by two factors: (1) the balance between births and deaths, and (2) the balance between immigration and emigration.”13The following table is therefore given to show (1) the percentage of increase by births and decrease by deaths in each decade from 1851, and (2) the difference at the close of each decade (i.e.in the later year mentioned in each line) between the population which would have followed upon the natural increase unaffected by migration and the population as actually enumerated. In the case of (2) the actual population has always been exceeded by the estimate based on natural increase, and this demonstrates an excess of emigration over immigration.
The proportion of males to females is 1000 to 1068, this being a higher proportion of females than any recorded in the 19th century, during which the lowest proportion of females was 1036 in 1821. The proportion rose at each census from 1851. But on the other hand 1000 male children were born against only 965 female, on an average in 1891-1901. This excess of male births, which is usual, has been ascertained to find its equilibrium, through a higher rate of infant mortality among the males, about the tenth year of life, and is finally changed by perilous male occupations and other causes, including the stronger tendency of males to emigration. The proportion of females varies much in different localities, being highest in such districts as London and the home counties, which are residential, and in which, therefore, many domestic servants are enumerated; and Somersetshire, Bedfordshire and other seats of industries which especially occupy women (e.g.the straw-plaiting of the county last named). It is lowest, naturally, in the mining districts, as Glamorgan, Monmouth, Durham, Northumberland; but an exception may be noted in the case of Cornwall, where a high proportion of females is attributed to the emigration of miners consequent upon the relative decrease in importance of the tin-mines. In 1901 the proportion of females to males in urban districts was 1086 to 1000, and in rural districts 1011 to 1000.
Urban Districts of England and Wales with Population exceeding 80,000(1901).
The proportion of married adults (aged twenty and upwards) was found to decrease from 1881 to 1901, being 630 per thousandin the former and 604.5 in the latter year. The marriage-rate per thousand has ranged since 1841 from 14.2 in 1886 to 17.6 in 1873, and is evidently closely associated with the general prosperity of the country, for in the latter year the value of the total imports and exports per head of the population of the United Kingdom was at its highest, and in the former year at its lowest. The five years 1895-1899 exhibited a remarkable sequence illustrative of this:—
The marriage-rate declined, subsequently to the year last quoted in this table, to 15.6 in 1903.