The British Empire, Great Britain and England are often erroneously used
in the popular mind for one and the same nation. In strict accuracy the
British Empire consists of (1) The United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland; (2) India, and the British Colonies, Protectorates, and
Dependencies. Great Britain proper includes only England, Scotland and
Wales. What is really meant is the geographical group of the British
Isles, including England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the adjacent
islands. For here is the source of power and authority that holds
together and controls this greatest of modern empires.
=Geographical Features.=--The British Isles belong distinctly to the
mainland of Europe. If we imagine the sea level between England and
Holland to fall sixty feet--the height of an ordinary house--the broad
_Dogger Bank_, midway between England and Denmark, would begin to show
its sands, and if a fall of two hundred feet took place one might walk
dry shod across to the continent, to Belgium, Holland, or Denmark. From
its shallows and banks, its stormy cross seas and frequent fogs, the
navigation of the _North Sea_ is dangerous; yet the traffic over it is
enormous, for it is surrounded by countries, the inhabitants of which
have been famous on the seas from the earliest times.
The great highways of commerce from it are _Dover Strait_, leading to
the English Channel, in the south, and the stormy _Pentland Firth_,
which separates Scotland from the Orkney Islands, in the north. The
_English Channel_, though deeper than the North Sea, is also shallow;
the enclosed _Irish Sea_, between England and Ireland, with _St.
George’s Channel_ and the _North Channel_ leading out from it to the
ocean, has been scoured deeper in its central lines; but there is a
width of about fifty miles of shallow sea, or “soundings,” all round the
islands, in the west, where they face the broad Atlantic.
=Chief Islands and Divisions.=--The main island of Great Britain,
roughly triangular in shape, measures about six hundred miles in a
straight line from its southwest corner, where the granite walls of
_Land’s End_ and the dark serpentine cliffs of the _Lizard_ run out into
the Atlantic, to the northern apex, the high red sandstone rocks of
_Dunnet Head_, or its companion _Duncansby Head_, where John o’Groat’s
House stood, on the beach of the Pentland Firth.
The base of the island, forming the north coast of the English Channel,
measures only about half this distance, or three hundred and twenty
miles; and the eastern side, from the chalk cliffs of the _South
Foreland_, on the Strait of Dover, to the Pentland Firth, is about five
hundred and forty miles long. No part of the interior of Great Britain
is more distant than three or four days’ walk from the sea on one side
or other. In the narrower parts of the north of Scotland, indeed, where
the Moray Firth runs into the land, it is an easy day’s journey from the
head of this inlet of the North Sea to that of one or other of the
opposite sea lochs running in from the Atlantic.
The second island, _Ireland_, more rounded in general outline, measures
three hundred miles from _Malin Head_, its northernmost point, to _Mizen
Head_, its most southerly extremity, and two hundred miles from
_Carnsore Point_, its southeastern corner nearest England, to _Erris
Head_, its northwestern promontory on the Atlantic.
=Smaller Islands.=--The most extensive of the many island groups and
islets are those which lie off the broken west coast of Scotland, the
wild and rugged Outer and Inner Hebrides, of which _Lewis_, separated by
the channel called the Minch, and _Skye_, _Mull_, _Islay_ and _Arran_,
in the inner group, are the largest. The _Orkney_ group, separated from
the north of Scotland by the turbulent Pentland Firth, consist of no
fewer than fifty-nine rocky islets; and the _Shetlands_, forty miles
farther north, comprise upwards of a hundred separate points. The high
_Isle of Man_, in the middle of the Irish Sea; _Anglesey_, close to the
Welsh coast; and now united to it by the famous railway tubes across the
Menai Strait; and the _Isle of Wight_, “the garden of England,” in the
English Channel, separated from the mainland by the busy Solent, are the
others of importance. The Channel Islands, of which _Jersey_ and
_Guernsey_ are the largest, belong politically to Britain, but are
physically parts of France.
=Surface: Mountains and Lowlands.=--In the island of Great Britain the
highest portions lie generally to north and west, the lowlands to south
and east.
The heather-covered Highlands, which fill the north of Scotland, are
divided by the great natural passage of _Glen More_, which runs in a
straight line across the island from northeast to southwest into two
chief groups, the northern and central.
The northern group consists of irregularly-distributed and often almost
isolated masses, separated, it may be, by deep sea-fiords, and
presenting every variety of contour, from that of the round mass of _Ben
Wyvis_ to the steep, wall-like sides of _Suilvein_ or the sharp peak of
_Ben Stack_. The Central Highlands or the _Grampians_, extending from
the peninsula of Cantyre northeastward to the precipitous coast of
Buchan on the North Sea, are far more massive and continuous.
_Ben Nevis_, a huge round mass ascending abruptly from the shores of
Loch Eil at the mouth of the Great Glen, is the highest mountain of the
British Isles.
The Southern Highlands of Scotland are more broken, and separated by
river valleys. _Mount Merrick_, in the southwest, is their highest
point; the _Lowther Hills_ form their central group; the _Pentlands_,
_Moorfoot_, and _Lammermoor_ hills their more detached portions, on the
northeast.
With the Cheviot Hills, the boundary range between Scotland and England,
begins the long _Pennine chain_, which reaches due south into the heart
of England. _Cheviot Hill_, in the north, _Crossfell_, and _Whernside_,
and the _Peak of Derby_, in the south, mark the summits and direction of
the chain. To the west of the Pennine chain rises the compact circular
knob of slate mountains of Cumberland, of which _Scawfell_ is the summit
of England proper. And corresponding to this mass, near the opposite
coast, are the eastern moorlands and _wolds_ of Yorkshire.
Separated from the Pennine heights by the plain of Cheshire (west of
England) rise the highlands of Wales, collectively called the _Cambrian
Mountains_.
Across the Bristol Channel we come to the heights of the southwestern
peninsula of England, with its three groups of _Exmoor_, _Dartmoor_,
with its rugged granite tors, and the _Cornish Heights_. These are the
more important mountain groups of Great Britain.
Over all the south and east of England the elevations are comparatively
insignificant; broad, undulating, grassy uplands, called the _South
Downs_ and the _Chiltern Hills_, rarely attaining more than eight
hundred feet of elevation, follow the chalk formation across Southern
England as far as Beachy Head on the Channel and the Foreland Cliffs on
the Strait of Dover. The limestone _Cotswold Hills_ between these and
the Welsh Highlands rise somewhat higher.
Almost all the lowlands of Great Britain lie to the east and south. Here
we find the plain of the “_New Forest_” in Hampshire and the treeless
_Salisbury Plain_, the broad open _Valley of the Thames_, the “_Eastern
Plain_” of Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk, extending with rounded shores
towards the North Sea; the low “_Fen District_” behind the shallow
estuary of “_The Wash_,” from which many tracts have been reclaimed; the
long “_Plain of York_” beyond; the valleys of the Tees and Tweed, the
latter including the cultivated “_Merse_,” the march or border land of
Berwickshire; the Scottish “_Lowlands_” between the Central and Southern
Highlands; the “_Carse_” or alluvial plain of Gowrie, north of the Tay;
“_Strathmore_,” the broad valley which extends between the Grampians and
their southern outliers; the _plain of Cromarty_ and the level moors of
eastern Caithness farthest north of all. The only extensive lowlands on
the western side of the island are the “_Vale of Severn_,” the “_Plain
of Cheshire_,” between the Pennine chain and the Welsh Highlands, the
lowlands round the estuary of the Solway, those of Ayrshire, and the
_Valley of the Clyde_.
Crossing over to Ireland, though we find the lines of elevation running
generally in the same direction as those of Great Britain, or from
northeast to southwest, as shown in the peninsulas of the southwest
coast, the mountains appear rather in detached clusters than in definite
ranges, with shapes rather rounded than abrupt, forming a fringe round
the coasts. The plateau of Antrim, which forms the precipice of _Fair
Head_, the nearest point to the Scottish coast, contains the remarkable
basaltic scenery of the Giants’ Causeway.
=Giants’ Causeway.=--This extensive and extraordinary assemblage of
basaltic columns is in the county of Antrim, between Bengore Head and
Port Rush. The name is sometimes given to the whole range of basalt
cliffs along the coast, some of which reach the height of four or five
hundred feet; but it is more properly restricted to a small portion of
it where a platform of closely-ranged basalt columns from fifteen to
thirty-six feet in height runs down into the sea in three divisions,
known as the Little, the Middle, and the Grand Causeway. The last is
from twenty to thirty feet wide, and stretches some nine hundred feet
into the sea.
The Giants’ Causeway derives its name from the legend that it was built
by giants as a road which was to stretch across the sea to Scotland.
There are similar formations on the west coast of Scotland, on the
island of Staffa.
In the southwest are the _Mountains of Kerry_, containing _Cam Tual_,
the summit of all Ireland. The only important groups that lie centrally
in the island are the mountains of western Tipperary.
Within the circle of these heights, and branching out between them at
many points to the sea-coast, lies the _Great Plain of Ireland_,
averaging perhaps two hundred feet in elevation above the sea. The
highest point between Dublin and Galway, east to west across its center,
is only three hundred and twenty feet above the sea-level. Many parts of
it, such as that which surrounds Lough Neagh in the north, are scarcely
fifty feet in elevation.
=Rivers.=--England and Ireland are very bountifully watered; Scotland
rather less so, as the higher mountains of Great Britain rise in the
west of the island, so the water-parting line following the greatest
general height lies nearer the west than the east. The longer and
gentler slope of the island is to the North Sea; the shorter and steeper
to the Atlantic side. Hence most of the larger rivers belong to the
North Sea drainage.
THE THAMES (_Temz_), the most important river of Great Britain, flows
southeast by east across the southern portion of the country. It rises
in the Cotswold Hills and follows a course of some one hundred and
ninety miles to Gravesend, the head of the estuary, where it has a width
of half a mile, gradually increasing then to ten miles at the Nore
lightship about thirty miles farther. By the addition of its tributaries
the Colne, Leach, and Churn, it becomes navigable for barge traffic at
Lechlade, where the canal to the Severn leaves. Above Oxford the stream
is frequently called the Isis. At Oxford the navigability improves, and
river steamers ply between Oxford and points below it as far as London.
Until the Tower Bridge, in London, was built, London Bridge was the
lowest in the course, and ocean-going vessels still reach the latter.
Gravesend, twenty miles lower, grew up at the spot where vessels waited
the turn of the tide; a little farther the Medway, by virtue of its
estuary the most important tributary, enters; just inside this is
Chatham, an important naval depot. Opposite Gravesend and on the north
bank is Tilbury, the terminus of modern liners. The waters from the
Tilbury docks to the Nore lightship are of great strategic importance,
hence there is here a station for destroyers, torpedo-boats, and
gun-boats. Sheerness and Shoreham as land defenses add to this.
From London Bridge downward the Thames is lined with docks and wharves,
the former being now under the Port of London authority. At Woolwich, on
the south bank, eight miles below London Bridge, is the arsenal, and a
little farther up the river Greenwich Observatory.
Historically, the Thames is unsurpassed by any river of the world. A
slight rise surrounded by marsh on the left bank formed the first point
suitable for bridging a strategic site for London, the tide giving
facilities to it as a port, while yet placed well up the river for
defensive purposes. Still farther up, a dominating site in the lower
valley was found at Windsor for the mediæval kings. In Anglo-Saxon times
the kingdoms were divided by the river, and the break in the Chiltern
Hills at Goring was a check in the line of aggression.
Above London the scenery is rich and beautiful, though not romantic, the
numerous islands lending a peculiar charm. The Thames is the best
beloved of English rivers for those who boat for pleasure. During the
summer the Thames is a favorite holiday resort, house-boats being
frequently the temporary homes of pleasure-seekers; and regattas are
held at Henley, Kingston, and other places. For boat-racing, it divides
the honors with the Tyne. The Thames watermen are renowned in song and
story. Since Spencer’s days “the silver-streaming Thames” has been sung
by England’s poets; Herrick calls it “Silver-footed Thamesis;” Denham’s
apostrophe is famous; and Pope has word-painted much of the scenery of
its banks.
OTHER BRITISH RIVERS.--The next longest river to northward is the _Great
Ouse_, navigable from the west for ninety miles to Bedford; then we come
to the group of rivers which water the long plain of York, and unite in
the estuary of the Humber, including the _Trent_ from the south,
navigable one hundred and five miles to Burton; the _Yorkshire Ouse_,
navigable forty-five miles to the city of York, with its main tributary
the _Derwent_. Farther north are the _Tees_ and _Wear_, and the busy
_Tyne_. Passing into Scotland, we reach the _Tweed_, valuable for its
fisheries, but unnavigable; the _Forth_, winding in links through the
fertile lowland, navigable to Stirling; the _Tay_, navigable to Perth;
the rapid _Dee_ and _Spey_ from the Grampians, and the _Ness_ from the
lakes of Glenmore.
On the western or Atlantic side of Britain, the largest river, the
second in drainage area in the island, is the _Severn_, drawing its
upper tributaries from the Welsh mountains, and its chief lower
affluent, the navigable _Avon_, from England, curving round to the
British Channel; it is navigable to Welshpool, one hundred and twenty
miles from its mouth. The _Mersey_, though a short river, forms one of
the most important estuaries of the island, the “Liverpool Channel.”
Scarcely less valuable in this respect is the lower _Clyde_, the most
important commercial river of Scotland, navigable to Glasgow, and
forming in its upper valley the largest falls in the island.
Almost all the river estuaries of Britain are great highways of
commerce; the Solway Firth, between England and Scotland on the west
coast, is the most important exception, its swift and strong tides,
rushing in over the sands so fast that a galloping horseman can scarcely
escape from them, being exceedingly dangerous to shipping. Besides these
estuaries many natural harbors lie round the coast. Such are the
sheltered Solent and Portsmouth harbor behind the Isle of Wight,
Plymouth Sound farther west, and Milford Haven on the south coast of
Wales, unsurpassed perhaps in the world as a deep and spacious harbor
thoroughly sheltered from all winds.
=British Lakes.=--The lakes of South Britain are comparatively few and
small. _Bala Lake_, only four miles long, is the largest in the Welsh
Highlands; in England the only considerable group is that which clusters
round the knot of mountains in Cumberland, known through the rare
interest that has been added to this district by the group of
illustrious poets who made it their home about the beginning of the
nineteenth century.
=English Lake District.=--Within this area are grouped as many as
sixteen lakes or _meres_, besides innumerable mountain _tarns_ and
streams. The district extends about thirty miles from north to south by
about twenty-five from east to west, and contains within its compass the
utmost variety and wealth of natural scenery, soft and graceful beauty
ever alternating closely with grandeur and sublimity.
Windermere, the largest of the lakes (ten and one-half miles by one
mile), lies in the southeast corner of the district and is connected
with Rydal Water, Grasmere, Elther Water, and Esthwaite. To the west
rises the Scawfell range, terminating in the Old Man of Coniston, which
rises above Coniston Water, and to the east of the Scawfell range lies
Wastwater (three miles long), the deepest of all the lakes. In the
northeast is Ullswater, with the sequestered Hawes Water to the
southeast. To the west of Helvellyn is Thirlmere, which is the reservoir
for the water supply of Manchester, dammed in 1890-1894. The river
Derwent, rising in the Scawfell range, flows north through Borrowdale
and forms Bassenthwaite and Derwentwater, the most beautiful of the
lakes. Westward from Borrowdale opens a valley in which lie Buttermere
and Crummock Water, and between these and the Derwent valley is
Ennerdale Water. There are several waterfalls, the chief, perhaps, being
Lodore, near Derwentwater. Near Derwentwater lies Keswick, the chief
town of the district, while Ambleside and Bowness (Windermere) and
Hawkshead (Esthwaite) are other places of importance.
Of the lake school of poets, Wordsworth was the acknowledged head and
founder, and his home for sixty years was in the Lake District. Southey,
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and De Quincey were the chief of the group, and
Shelley, Scott, Carlyle, Mrs. Hemans, Matthew Arnold, Edward Fitzgerald,
Tennyson, Gray, and Charles Lamb, although not directly associated with
the school, were connected with the district.
=Scotch Lakes.=--Scotland abounds in lakes in all three Highland
districts, and their number increases towards the north. _Loch Lomond_,
twenty-four miles long, in the largest in Britain, _Loch Awe_, _Loch
Tay_, _Loch Rannoch_, and _Loch Ericht_, may be mentioned as the largest
of those in the Grampian valleys. _Loch Ness_, twenty-four miles long
and eight hundred feet deep, with _Loch Oich_ and _Loch Lochy_, fills
the deep trench of the Great Glen between the Grampians and the Northern
Highlands; _Loch Shin_, twenty miles long and only one mile broad, and
_Loch Maree_, are the largest of the Northern Highland region. On the
western watershed of the Northern Highlands, however, lakes are so
thickly sown that hundreds may be counted from a mountain top, and the
Outer Hebrides are covered with a perfect network of them.
=Irish Rivers and Lakes.=--In Ireland, in contrast to Britain, the
watersheds are more evenly divided toward all points of the compass; the
greatest drainage, however, is westward to the Atlantic. On this side we
find the largest river, the _Shannon_, one hundred and sixty miles long,
draining an area second only to that of the Thames in extent, and
affording a navigable highway over the central plain almost up to its
source. The _Erne_ is another large river of the western drainage of
Ireland. Flowing northward we find the _Foyle_, and the _Bann_ passing
through Lough Neagh, and navigable for fifty-five miles. On the eastern
watershed the _Liffey_, from the Wicklow Mountains, is the most
important stream; the _Barrow_, navigable to Athy, seventy miles from
its fine estuary of Waterford Harbor, receiving near its mouth the
almost equally important _Nore_ and _Suir_, is the chief river of the
southern drainage; the _Blackwater_, affording twenty-two miles of
navigation, and the _Lee_, flowing to Cork (Queenstown) Harbor, are the
other notable rivers of this slope.
The lakes of Ireland, in contrast to those of Britain, belong rather to
the plain than to the mountain regions. _Lough Neagh_, in the basin of
the Bann in the north, is the largest of all in the British Islands, one
hundred and fifty-four square miles in area, twenty miles in length. The
lakes of the _Erne_, upper and lower, stand next in size; _Loughs
Corrib_ and _Mask_ in Connaught, joined by a subterranean channel, are
the largest in the west. The Shannon has three large expansions, _Loughs
Allen_, _Ree_, and _Derg_. Most famous for their scenery, however, are
the much smaller highland _Lakes of Killarney_, embosomed in the
southwestern mountains of Kerry, and considered the finest in Great
Britain.
=Climate.=--Their maritime situation has a favorable effect on the
climate of the British Isles, making it milder and more equable than
that of continental countries in the same latitude.
=Peoples of the British Isles.=--During the four centuries in which the
Romans held the lowlands of South Britain, many of the native British
tribes became Romanized, but the Celtic peoples of the mountain regions
of Wales, the Scottish Highlands, and of the west of Ireland, have
retained their language and more or less pure blood to the present day.
After the fall of the Roman power the invading Anglo-Saxons and Jutes
conquered the island, and to their strong Germanic element followed that
of the brilliant Normans, or Northmen who had settled in Normandy, and
who had there adopted the religion, language, and manners of the French.
Thus the population of these islands is a mixed Celtic, Germanic, and
Romanic one, all its elements being more thoroughly amalgamated in the
populous lowlands of Britain, the Celtic remaining purer in the highland
regions, which are more difficult of access. In Ireland the Teutonic
element prevails along the eastern margin; thence towards the western
mountains the transition is gradual to the pure Celtic.
=Religion.=--In religion, rather more than half the population of
England claims membership in the Church of England; the most prominent
other bodies being the Wesleyan Methodists, the Independents, and
Baptists. About a twentieth part of the population is Roman Catholic.
=Cities.=--The three largest cities in Wales are Cardiff, Rhondda, and
Merthyr Tydfil. The capital of England and of the British Empire is
London. The cities next in size (in order of population) are Liverpool,
Manchester and Salford, Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Bristol, Bradford,
Nottingham, and Hull.
The capital of Scotland is Edinburgh. Glasgow is the industrial
metropolis, followed by Dundee, and Aberdeen. After these come, in order
of population, Paisley, Leith, Greenock, Coatbridge, Kilmarnock,
Kirkcaldy, Perth, Hamilton, Motherwell, and Falkirk.
The capital of Ireland is Dublin; the other chief towns are Belfast,
Cork, Limerick, and Londonderry.
There are numerous other cities, towns, villages and districts notable
for industrial, educational, historical, literary, or other
associations.
[Illustration: =THE VICTORIA EMBANKMENT, LONDON, WITH THE THAMES IN THE
FOREGROUND=]
=LONDON=, the capital of the British Empire and the second largest city
in the world, is situated in the southeast of England on both sides of
the River Thames, which winds through it from west to east. The river is
crossed by numerous bridges and is deep enough to allow large vessels to
come up to London Bridge, the lowest of these (except the movable Tower
Bridge), where it is two hundred and sixty-six yards wide. London may be
said to stretch from east to west about fourteen miles, from north to
south about ten.
The area embraced by the Metropolitan and City police districts,
including all parishes within fifteen miles of Charing Cross, is spoken
of as Greater London. The population of London roughly equals that of
Scotland, Holland, Portugal or Sweden. Under the Act of 1899 London
includes the municipal boroughs of Battersea, Bermondsey, Bethnal Green,
Camberwell, Chelsea, Deptford, Finsbury, Fulham, Greenwich, Hackney,
Hammersmith, Hampstead, Holborn, Islington, Kensington, Lambeth,
Lewisham, Paddington, Poplar, St. Marylebone, St. Pancras, Shoreditch,
Stoke Newington, Wandsworth, Westminster and Woolwich.
GENERAL FEATURES.--The greater portion of London lies on the north side
of the Thames, in the counties of Middlesex and Essex, mainly the
former, on a site gradually rising from the river, and marked by several
inequalities of no great height, except in the northern suburbs, where
the elevation of four hundred and thirty feet is reached; on the
opposite bank, in the county of Surrey and partly in Kent, the more
densely built parts cover an extensive and nearly uniform flat, in some
places below the level of the highest tides, while the outskirts are
mostly elevated.
The nucleus of London was formed by what is still distinctively the City
of London, situated in the heart of the metropolis on the north bank of
the Thames. The City is a separate municipality, having a civic
corporation of its own, at its head being the Lord-mayor of London. The
City occupies only six hundred and seventy-one acres, and has a resident
population of only twenty-seven thousand.
Westminster, another portion of old London, associated with the
sovereigns, the parliaments, and the supreme courts of justice of
England for over eight hundred years, borders with the City on the west;
while across the river from the city lies the ancient quarter of
Southwark, or “The Borough.” Besides these, London consists of a great
number of well-defined quarters or districts, as well as many minor
districts, the names of which are familiar to the outside world, such as
Whitechapel, Spitalfields, Pimlico, Bloomsbury, Bermondsey, Belgravia,
etc. Another loose division of London is into the West End or
fashionable quarter, the residence of the wealthy, and the East End, the
great seat of trade and manufactures.
[Illustration: =PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS, LONDON=]
The financial and business houses of the city are principally located to
the east of St. Paul’s; the galleries, theaters, and places of amusement
between St. Paul’s and St. James’s Park; the parks and residences of the
nobility upon the western margin of the city. The railway stations are,
with few exceptions, in the suburbs.
London, on the whole, may be called a well-built city, brick being the
material generally employed, though many public and other edifices are
built of stone. In some streets the brick fronts are made to imitate
stone by being coated with cement. The streets are generally well kept
and well paved and lighted, but, except in some of the more recent
quarters, the general appearance of London is not attractive, much of
the effect of the fine buildings being lost by overcrowding and the want
of fitting sites.
What generally most strikes a stranger in London is its immense size,
which can only be grasped by actually traveling about, or by obtaining a
view from some elevation, as Primrose Hill in the northwest, or the dome
of St. Paul’s Cathedral near the center, the most conspicuous building
in the metropolis. Other striking and also attractive features of London
are the parks, especially Hyde Park and Regent’s Park, so valuable as
breathing spaces; and the handsome and massive stone embankments along
the Thames, forming wide roadways and promenades bordered by trees for
long distances.
As the capital of the British Empire, London is from time to time the
residence of the sovereign and court. It contains the buildings for the
accommodation of parliament and all the great government departments. It
is the chief intellectual center of Britain, and is equally great as a
center of commerce, banking and finance generally.
MAIN STREETS.--Although in the different districts of London, with the
exception of the parts most recently built, there are numerous narrow
and crooked streets, yet the whole extent of the metropolis is well
united by trunk lines of streets in the principal directions, which
render it comparatively easy for a stranger to find his way from one
district to another. Picadilly and Pall Mall; the Strand and its
continuation Fleet Street, Oxford Street and its continuations, Holborn,
Holborn Viaduct, and Cheapside eastward, and Bayswater Road, Notting
Hill High Street, and Holland Park Avenue westward, are among noteworthy
streets running east and west; while of those running north and south,
Regent Street, perhaps the handsomest street in London, and the location
of fashionable shops, is the chief. Edgware Road, with its
continuations, is an important thoroughfare running northwest. Kings-way
and Aldwych, connecting Holborn with the Strand, were opened in 1905.
Many of the streets are closely associated with special trades,
industries, pursuits, etc. Thus Bond Street is associated with jewelers,
Oxford Street and Regent Street with milliners, the Burlington Arcade
with fashionable haberdashers, Fleet Street with newspapers,
Northumberland Avenue and the Strand with hotels, Long Acre with
carriage builders, Shaftesbury Avenue with theaters, while Pall Mall is
the especial center of clubland. Booksellers’ Row and the Lowther Arcade
in the Strand, famous respectively for second-hand book shops and for
toy shops, have both disappeared quite recently. The Thames Embankment
on the north or Middlesex side, known as the Victoria Embankment, also
forms a magnificent thoroughfare, adorned by important buildings, and at
different points with ornamental grounds and statues.
BRIDGES.--A number of magnificent bridges cross the Thames. The lowest
is the Tower Bridge, a “bascule” bridge opening by machinery so as to
let ships pass through. The others most remarkable in upward order
(exclusive of railway bridges) are London Bridge, nine hundred feet
long, and built of Aberdeen granite; Southwark Bridge, and Blackfriars’
Bridge, all connecting the city with Southwark; Waterloo Bridge, one
thousand three hundred and eighty feet long, consisting of nine
elliptical arches of Aberdeen granite; Westminster Bridge, an elegant
structure of iron, one thousand two hundred feet long, crossing the
river from Westminster to Lambeth; Vauxhall Bridge (rebuilding completed
in 1906), carrying an electric railway; Putney Bridge, and Hammersmith
Bridge. A great traffic passes under the river in tunnels, some for
electric railways. The old Thames Tunnel, two miles below London Bridge,
now contains a railway. The great Blackwall Tunnel, farther down, is for
general traffic.
PARKS AND SQUARES.--The chief parks are in the western portion of the
metropolis, the largest being Hyde Park and Regent’s Park, which,
together with St. James’s Park and the Green Parks, are royal parks. The
most fashionable is Hyde Park, containing about four hundred acres. It
is surrounded by a carriage-drive two and one-half miles long, has some
fine old trees, large stretches of grass, and contains a handsome sheet
of water sadly misnamed the Serpentine River. Kensington Gardens (three
hundred and sixty acres), with which Hyde Park communicates at several
points, are well wooded and finely laid out. St. James’s Park,
eighty-three acres, and the Green Park, seventy-one acres in extent,
adjoin Hyde Park on the southeast. Regent’s Park, in the northwest of
London, north of Hyde Park, containing the gardens of the Zoological
Society and those of the Royal Botanic Society, covers an area of four
hundred and seventy acres. The Zoological Gardens contain the largest
collection of living animals of all kinds in the world. Adjoining
Regent’s Park to the north is Primrose Hill. There are, besides,
Victoria Park in the northeast of London, Hampstead Heath in the
northwest, the happy hunting-ground of the toilers of the city on “bank
holidays.” Battersea Park in the southwest, West Ham Park in the extreme
east, Greenwich Park at Greenwich, etc.
Of the squares the most central and noteworthy is Trafalgar Square, with
Charing Cross adjoining. Most of the squares possess gardens, some
public, such as Leicester Square, others private, as Grosvenor Square,
Russell Square, Bedford Square, Tavistock Square, etc.
[Illustration: =CLEOPATRA’S NEEDLE, LONDON=]
MONUMENTS.--Among the public monuments are “The Monument” on Fish Street
Hill, London Bridge, a fluted Doric column two hundred and two feet
high, erected in 1677 in commemoration of the great fire of London; the
York Column, in Waterloo Place, one hundred and twenty-four feet high;
the Guards’ Memorial (those who fell in Crimea), same place; the Nelson
Column, in Trafalgar Square, one hundred and seventy-six and one-half
feet high, with four colossal lions by Landseer at its base; the
national memorial to Prince Albert in Hyde Park, probably one of the
finest monuments in Europe, being a Gothic structure one hundred and
seventy-six feet high, with a colossal statue of the prince seated under
a lofty canopy; Cleopatra’s Needle on the Thames Embankment; a handsome
modern “cross” at Charing Cross; and numerous statues of public men. The
Queen Victoria Memorial at Buckingham Palace, on a grand scale, was
designed by Sir Aston Webb, R.A.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS.--Among the royal palaces are St. James’s, a brick
building erected by Henry VIII.; Buckingham Palace, the King’s London
residence, built by George IV.; Marlborough House, the residence of the
Prince and Princess of Wales; Kensington Palace, a plain brick building,
the birthplace of Queen Victoria. These are all in the west of London.
Lambeth Palace, the residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, is
situated on the Surrey side of the river, while Fulham Palace, the
residence of the Bishop of London, is in Fulham, near Putney Bridge.
On the north bank of the Thames stand the Houses of Parliament, a
magnificent structure in the Tudor Gothic style, with two lofty towers.
The buildings cover about eight acres, and cost fifteen million dollars.
Westminster Hall, adjacent to the Houses of Parliament, a noble old pile
built by William Rufus, was formerly the place in which the Supreme
Courts of Justice sat, but is now merely a promenade for members of
parliament.
In and near Whitehall in the same quarter are the government offices,
comprising the Foreign, Home, Colonial, and India Offices, the new War
Office, Horse Guards and Admiralty.
Somerset House, which contains some of the public offices, is in the
Strand. The Postoffice in the city occupies spacious and handsome
buildings. New Postoffice buildings are on the former site of Christ’s
Hospital, the king having laid the foundation stone in 1905.
Adjoining the city on the east is the Tower, the ancient citadel of
London, which occupies an area of twelve acres on the banks of the
Thames. The most ancient part is the White Tower, erected about 1078 for
William the Conqueror.
Other noteworthy buildings are the new Law Courts, a Gothic building at
the junction of the Strand and Fleet Street; the Bank of England; the
Royal Exchange; the Mansion House, the official residence of the
lord-mayor; the Guildhall, the seat of the municipal government of the
city; and the four Inns of Court; and Inner and Middle Temple, Lincoln’s
Inn; and Gray’s Inn.
CHURCHES.--Among the churches the chief is St. Paul’s Cathedral,
completed in 1710 by Sir Christopher Wren. It is situated in the City,
occupies the summit of Ludgate Hill, and is a classic building, five
hundred and ten feet in length, with a dome four hundred feet in height.
Westminster Abbey, one of the finest specimens of the pointed style in
Great Britain, dates from the reign of Henry III. and Edward I. It
adjoins the Houses of Parliament, is five hundred and thirty-one feet
long, including Henry VII.’s chapel, and two hundred and three feet wide
at the transepts. Here the kings and queens of England have been
crowned, from Edward the Confessor to George V. In the south transept
are the tombs and monuments of great poets from Chaucer downward, whence
it is called “Poets’ Corner”; and in other parts are numerous sculptured
monuments to sovereigns, statesmen, warriors, philosophers, divines,
patriots, and others, many of whom are interred within its walls. Among
many old churches are St. Bartholomew’s in West Smithfield; the Chapel
Royal, Savoy; St. Andrew’s, Undershaft; St. Giles, Cripplegate; St.
Margaret’s, Westminster; St. Stephen’s, Walbrook; the Temple Church, Bow
Church, St. Bride’s in Fleet Street. The Roman Catholic Cathedrals at
Westminster and in Southwark should also be mentioned.
[Illustration: =ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL, LONDON=]
PLACES OF AMUSEMENT.--These are naturally exceedingly numerous. Among
the theaters may be mentioned: Covent Garden, the home of opera; Drury
Lane, identified with melodrama and pantomime; His Majesty’s, famous for
its efforts in the cause of the higher drama; the Haymarket, St.
James’s, Criterion, Wyndham’s New, Duke of York’s, Garrick, Court, and
others, for comedy; the Gaiety, Daly’s, Lyric, Prince of Wales’s, Savoy,
and Vaudeville for musical comedy and comic opera. The “music-hall” is
equally conspicuous among London’s places of amusement, variety
entertainments being given at the Alhambra, Empire, Palace, Coliseum,
Hippodrome, Lyceum, and a host of others. Among the more dignified
concert halls may be mentioned the Royal Albert Hall (capable of holding
an audience of eight thousand persons), Queen’s Hall, and Crystal
Palace.
MUSEUMS.--The British Museum, the great national collection, in a very
central position, is the principal one. It contains an immense
collection of books, manuscripts, engravings, drawings, sculptures,
coins, etc.
The South Kensington Museum is a capacious series of buildings
containing valuable collections in science and the fine and decorative
arts, and there is a branch museum from it in Bethnal Green, in the East
End. The very extensive natural history department of the British Museum
occupies a fine Romanesque building at South Kensington. The India and
the Patent Museums are also at South Kensington, and here was built the
Imperial Institute, partly intended as a museum of home and colonial
products, but now also accommodating the University of London.
The Soane Museum contains many valuable objects of art. The chief
picture-galleries are the National Gallery, in Trafalgar Square, the
National Gallery of British Art (known as the Tate Gallery), the
collection in the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the National Portrait
Gallery. Mention must also be made of the Wallace Collection, at
Hertford House, Manchester Square, a magnificent collection of pictures,
sculpture and objects of art, bequeathed to the nation by the widow of
Sir Richard Wallace in 1897.
The chief libraries are the British Museum, Lambeth Palace library, the
Guildhall library, Sion College library, the London library, London
Institution library. Many free libraries have recently been established.
SHIPPING.--The port of London has been for many years the greatest in
the world. The control and management of the business of the port was
transferred in March, 1909, from the Thames Conservancy to the Port of
London Authority. This new body controls the river from Teddington to
Warden Point, fifty-one miles east of London Bridge. It also took over
the India, Millwall, and Surrey Commercial docks. The total cost of the
transfer was one hundred and twelve million dollars.
ITS COSMOPOLITAN POPULATION.--There are in London nearly 60,000 persons
of Scottish birth and over 60,000 of Irish birth. Of 150,000 foreigners,
40,000 are Russians (including Jews), with 16,000 Russian Poles, 30,000
Germans, 12,000 French, 11,000 Italians, 6,000 Austrians, 6,000
Americans (U. S.), 4,500 Dutch, 45,000 Swiss, 2,500 Belgians, 1,800
Swedes, 1,000 Norwegians, and 1,000 Danes.