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Article ENGLISH FINANCE: "Almost at the opening of the age of
parliamentary taxation one of the older sources of revenue ceased.
The pressure of popular opinion forced Edward I. to decree the
expulsion of the Jews (1290), though he naturally desired to retain
such profitable subjects." 'opinion' amended from 'opinon'.
ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA
A DICTIONARY OF ARTS, SCIENCES, LITERATURE
AND GENERAL INFORMATION
ELEVENTH EDITION
VOLUME IX, SLICE IV
England to English Finance
ARTICLES IN THIS SLICE:
ENGLAND ENGLEWOOD
ENGLAND, THE CHURCH OF ENGLISH CHANNEL
ENGLEFIELD, SIR FRANCIS ENGLISH FINANCE
ENGLEHEART, GEORGE
ENGLAND. Geographical usage confines to the southern part of the island
of Great Britain the name commonly given to the great insular power of
western Europe.[1] In this restricted sense the present article deals
with England, the predominant partner in the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, both as containing the seat of government and in
respect of extent, population and wealth.
1. TOPOGRAPHY.
England extends from the mouth of the Tweed in 55 deg. 46' N. to Lizard
Point in 49 deg. 57' 30" N., in a roughly triangular form. The base of
the triangle runs from the South Foreland to Land's End W. by S., a
distance of 316 m. in a straight line, but 545 m. following the larger
curves of the coast. The east coast runs N.N.W. from the South Foreland
to Berwick, a distance of 348 m., or, following the coast, 640 m. The
west coast runs N.N.E. from Land's End to the head of Solway Firth, a
distance of 354 m., or following the much-indented coast, 1225 m. The
total length of the coast-line may be put down as 2350 m.,[2] out of
which 515 m. belong to the western principality of Wales.[3] The most
easterly point is at Lowestoft, 1 deg. 46' E., the most westerly is
Land's End, in 5 deg. 43' W. The coasts are nowhere washed directly by
the ocean, except in the extreme south-west; the south coast faces the
English Channel, which is bounded on the southern side by the coast of
France, the two shores converging from 100 m. apart at the Lizard to 21
at Dover. The east coast faces the shallow North Sea, which widens from
the point where it joins the Channel to 375 m. off the mouth of the
Tweed, the opposite shores being occupied in succession by France,
Belgium, Holland, Germany and Denmark. The west coast faces the Irish
Sea, with a width varying from 45 to 130 m.
+---------------------+-------------+-------------+
| | Area | |
| Counties. | Statute | Population. |
| | Acres. | 1901. |
+---------------------+-------------+-------------+
| Bedfordshire | 298,494 | 171,240 |
| Berkshire | 462,208 | 256,509 |
| Buckinghamshire | 475,682 | 195,764 |
| Cambridgeshire | 549,723 | 190,682 |
| Cheshire | 657,783 | 815,099 |
| Cornwall | 868,220 | 322,334 |
| Cumberland | 973,086 | 266,933 |
| Derbyshire | 658,885 | 620,322 |
| Devonshire | 1,667,154 | 661,314 |
| Dorsetshire | 632,270 | 202,936 |
| Durham | 649,352 | 1,187,361 |
| Essex | 986,975 | 1,085,771 |
| Gloucestershire | 795,709 | 634,729 |
| Hampshire | 1,039,031 | 797,634 |
| Herefordshire | 537,363 | 114,380 |
| Hertfordshire | 406,157 | 250,152 |
| Huntingdonshire | 234,218 | 57,771 |
| Kent | 995,014 | 1,348,841 |
| Lancashire | 1,203,365 | 4,406,409 |
| Leicestershire | 527,123 | 434,019 |
| Lincolnshire | 1,693,550 | 498,847 |
| Middlesex | 181,320 | 3,585,323 |
| Monmouthshire | 341,688 | 292,317 |
| Norfolk | 1,308,439 | 460,120 |
| Northamptonshire | 641,992 | 338,088 |
| Northumberland | 1,291,530 | 603,498 |
| Nottinghamshire | 539,756 | 514,578 |
| Oxfordshire | 483,626 | 181,120 |
| Rutland | 97,273 | 19,709 |
| Shropshire | 859,516 | 239,324 |
| Somersetshire | 1,043,409 | 508,256 |
| Staffordshire | 749,602 | 1,234,506 |
| Suffolk | 952,710 | 384,293 |
| Surrey | 485,122 | 2,012,744 |
| Sussex | 933,887 | 605,202 |
| Warwickshire | 577,462 | 897,835 |
| Westmorland | 503,160 | 64,303 |
| Wiltshire | 879,943 | 273,869 |
| Worcestershire | 480,560 | 488,338 |
| Yorkshire | 3,882,328 | 3,584,762 |
+---------------------+-------------+-------------+
| Total | 32,544,685 | 30,807,232 |
+---------------------+-------------+-------------+
The area of England and Wales is 37,327,479 acres or 58,324 sq. m.
(England, 50,851 sq. m.), and the population on this area in 1901 was
32,527,843 (England, 30,807,232). The principal territorial divisions of
England, as of Wales, Scotland and Ireland, are the counties, of which
England comprises 40. Their boundaries are not as a rule determined by
the physical features of the land; but localities are habitually defined
by the use of their names. A list of the English counties (excluding
Wales) is given in the table above.[4]
_Hills._--As an introduction to the discussion of the natural regions
into which England is divided (Section II.), and for the sake of
comparison of altitudes, size of rivers and similar details, deg.the
salient geographical features may be briefly summarized. The short
land-frontier of England with Scotland (its length is only 100 m.) is in
great measure a physical boundary, as considerable lengths of it are
formed on the east side by the river Tweed, and on the west by Kershope
Burn, Liddel Water, and the river Sark; while for the rest it follows
pretty closely the summit of the Cheviot Hills, whose highest point is
the Cheviot (2676 ft.). A narrow but well-marked pass or depression,
known as the Tyne Gap, is taken to separate the Cheviot system from the
Pennine Chain, which is properly to be described as a wide tract of
hill-country, extending through two degrees of latitude, on an axis from
N. by W. to S. by E. The highest point is Cross Fell (2930 ft.). On the
north-west side of the Pennine system, marked off from it by the upper
valleys of the rivers Eden and Lune, lies the circular hill-tract whose
narrow valleys, radiating from its centre somewhat like wheel-spokes,
contain the beautiful lakes which give it the celebrated name of the
Lake District. In this tract is found the highest land in England,
Scafell Pike reaching 3210 ft. East of the Pennines, isolated on three
sides by lowlands and on the fourth side by the North Sea, lie the
highmoors of the North Riding of Yorkshire, with the Cleveland Hills,
and, to the south, the Yorkshire Wolds of the East Riding. Neither of
these systems has any great elevation; the moors, towards their
north-western edge, reaching an extreme of 1489 ft. in Urra Moor. The
tableland called the Peak of Derbyshire, in the south of the Pennine
system, is 2088 ft. in extreme height, but south of this system an
elevation of 2000 ft. is not found anywhere in England save at a few
points on the south Welsh border and in Dartmoor, in the south-west.
Wales, on the other hand, projecting into the western sea between
Liverpool Bay and the estuary of the Dee on the north, and the Bristol
Channel on the south, is practically all mountainous, and has in
Snowdon, in the north-west, a higher summit than any in England--3560
ft. But the midlands, the west, and the south of England, in spite of an
absence of great elevation, contain no plains of such extent as might
make for monotony. The land, generally undulating, is further
diversified with hills arranged in groups or ranges, a common
characteristic of which is a bold face on the one hand and a long gentle
slope, with narrow valleys deeply penetrating, on the other. Southward
from the Pennines there may be mentioned, in the midlands, the small
elevated tract of Charnwood Forest (Bardon Hill, 912 ft.) in
Leicestershire, and Cannock Chase (775 ft.) and the Clent Hills (928
ft.), respectively north and south of the great manufacturing district
of Birmingham and Wolverhampton. Of the western counties, the southern
half of Shropshire, Herefordshire and Monmouthshire are generally hilly.
Among the Shropshire Hills may be mentioned the isolated Wrekin (1335
ft.), Long Mynd (1674 ft.) and the Clee Hills (Brown Clee, 1805 ft.).
The long ridge of the Black Mountain reaches an extreme height of 2310
ft. on the Welsh border of Herefordshire. The Malvern Hills on the other
side of the county, which, owing to their almost isolated position among
lowlands, appear a far more prominent feature, reach only 1395 ft. In
western Monmouthshire, again belonging to the south Welsh system, there
are such heights as Sugar Loaf (1955 ft.) and Coity (1905 ft.).
[Illustration: Map of England and Wales]
In the south midlands of England there are two main ranges of hills,
with axes roughly parallel. The western range is the Cotteswold Hills of
Gloucestershire and the counties adjacent on the east running S.W. and
N.E. Its highest point is Cleeve Cloud (1134 ft.). The uplands of
Northamptonshire continue this range north-eastward, decreasing in
elevation. The eastern range, beginning in Wiltshire, runs E.N.E. as the
White Horse Hills (856 ft. at the highest point), and after the
interruption caused by the gap or narrow valley by which the river
Thames penetrates the hills near Goring, continues N.E. as the Chiltern
Hills (850 ft.). The East Anglian ridge continues the line E.N.E.,
gradually decreasing in altitude. In the south-east of England, the
North and South Downs are both well-defined ranges, but are
characterized by a number of breaches through which rivers penetrate, on
the one hand to the Thames or the North Sea and on the other to the
English Channel. Leith Hill in the North Downs reaches 965 ft., and
Butser Hill in the South Downs 889 ft.; Blackdown and Hindhead, two
almost isolated masses of high ground lying between the two ranges of
the Downs towards their western extremity, are respectively 918 and 895
ft. in height. In the north of Hampshire along its boundary with Surrey
and Berkshire, in the southern half of Wiltshire (where rises the upland
of Salisbury Plain), in Dorsetshire, and the south of Somersetshire, the
hills may be said to run in a series of connected groups. They cannot be
defined as a single range, nor are they named, as a rule, according to
the groups into which they fall, but the general title of the Western
Downs is applied to them. One point only in all these groups exceeds
1000 ft. in altitude, namely, Inkpen Beacon (1011 ft.) in the extreme
south-west of Berkshire, but heights above 900 ft. are not infrequent.
In the northern part of Somersetshire, two ranges, short but well
defined, lie respectively east and west of a low plain which slopes to
the Bristol Channel. These are the Mendips (Black Down, 1068 ft.) and
the Quantocks (Will's Neck, 1261 ft.). The Blackdown Hills, in
south-western Somersetshire and eastern Devonshire, reach 1035 ft. in
Staple Hill in the first-named county. In western Somersetshire and
north Devonshire the elevated mass of Exmoor reaches 1707 ft. in Dunkery
Beacon; and in south Devonshire the highest land in southern England is
found in the similar mass of Dartmoor (High Willhays, 2039 ft.). The
westward prolongation of the great south-western promontory of England,
occupied by the county of Cornwall, continues as a rugged ridge broken
by a succession of depressions, and exceeds a height of 800 ft., nearly
as far as the point where it falls to the ocean in the cliffs of Land's
End.
_Lowlands._--The localities of the more extensive lowlands of England
may now be indicated in their relation to the principal hill-systems,
and in this connexion the names of some of the more important rivers
will occur. In the extreme north-west is the so-called Solway Plain, of
no great extent, but clearly defined between the northern foothills of
the Lake District and the shore of Solway Firth. In Lancashire a flat
coastal strip occurs between the western front of the Pennine Chain and
the Irish Sea, and, widening southward, extends into Cheshire and
comprises the lower valleys of the Mersey and the Dee. In the preceding
review of the English hill-systems it may have been observed that
eastern England hardly enters into consideration. The reason now becomes
clear. From Yorkshire to the flat indented sea-coast north of the Thames
estuary, east of the Pennines and the slight hills indicated as the
Northampton uplands, and in part demarcated southward by the East
Anglian ridge in Huntingdonshire, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, the land,
although divided between a succession of river-systems, varies so little
in level as to be capable of consideration as a single plain. Its
character, however, varies in different parts. The Fens, the flat open
levels in the lower basins of the Witham, Welland, Nene and Great Ouse,
only kept from their former marshy conditions by an extensive system of
artificial drainage, and the similar levels round the head of the Humber
estuary, differ completely in appearance from the higher and firmer
parts of the plain. The coast-land north of the mouth of the Thames is a
low plain; and on the south coast somewhat similar tracts are found in
Romney Marsh, and about the shallow inlets (Portsmouth Harbour and
others) which open from Spithead. The vales of Kent and Sussex are rich
undulating lowlands within the area of the Weald, separated by the
Forest Ridges, and enclosed by the North and South Downs. In the
south-west there is a fairly extensive lowland in south Devonshire
watered by the Exe in its lower course. But the most remarkable plain is
that in Somersetshire, enclosed by the Mendips, the Western Downs,
Blackdown Hills and the Quantocks and entered by the Parrett and other
streams. The midlands, owing to the comparatively slight elevation of
the land, are capable of geographical consideration as a plain. But it
is not a plain in the sense of that of East Anglia. There is no quite
level tract of great extent, excepting perhaps the fertile and beautiful
district watered by the lower Severn and its tributary the Upper or
Warwickshire Avon, overlooked by the Cotteswolds on the one hand and the
Malvern and other hills on the other.
_Coast._--The coast-line of England is deeply indented by a succession
of large inlets, particularly on the east and west. Thus, from north to
south there are, on the east coast, the mouths of the Tyne and the Tees,
the Humber estuary, the Wash (which receives the waters of the Witham,
Welland, Nene and Great Ouse), the Orwell-Stour, Blackwater and
Thames-Medway estuaries. On the west there are Solway Firth, Morecambe
Bay, the estuaries of the Mersey and Dee, Cardigan Bay of the Welsh
coast, and the Bristol Channel and Severn estuary. In this way the land
is so deeply penetrated by the water that no part is more than 75 m.
from the sea. Thus Buckingham appears to be the most inland town in
England, being 75 m. from the estuaries of the Severn, Thames and Wash;
Coleshill, near Birmingham, is also almost exactly 75 m. from the
Mersey, Severn and Wash.
The east and south coasts show considerable stretches of uniform
uninflected coast-line, and except for the Farne Islands and Holy Island
in the extreme north, the flat islands formed by ramifications of the
estuaries on the Essex and north Kent coasts, and the Isle of Wight in
the south, they are without islands. The west coast, on the other hand,
including both shores of the great south-western promontory, is minutely
fretted into capes and bays, headlands and inlets of every size, and an
island-group lies off each of the more prominent headlands from Land's
End northward. The formation of the coast varies from low, shifting
banks of shingle or sand to majestic cliffs, and its character in
different localities has been foreshadowed in the previous consideration
of the hill-systems and lowlands. Thus in the north-east the coast is
generally of no great elevation, but the foothills of the Cheviot and
Pennine systems approach it closely. On the Yorkshire coast the
Cleveland Hills and the high moors are cut off on the seaward side in
magnificent cliffs, which reach the greatest elevation of sea-cliffs on
the English coast (666 ft.). The Yorkshire Wolds similarly terminate
seaward in the noble promontory of Flamborough Head. From this point as
far south as the North Foreland of Kent the coast, like the land, is
almost wholly low, though there are slight cliffs at some points, as
along the coasts of Norfolk and Suffolk, on which the sea constantly
encroaches. On the south coast a succession of cliffs and low shores may
be correlated with the main physical features of the land. Thus in
succession there are the famous white cliffs about Dover, terminating
the North Downs, the low coast of Romney Marsh, projecting seaward in
Dungeness, the cliffs above Hastings, terminating an offshoot of the
Forest Ridges, the low shore between Hastings and Eastbourne, to which
succeeds the lofty Beachy Head, terminating the South Downs. A flat
coast follows as far as Selsey Bill and Spithead, but the south coast
of the Isle of Wight shows a succession of splendid cliffs. The shallow
inlet of Poole Bay is followed by the eminence of St Alban's Head, and
thereafter, right round the south-western promontory of England, the
cliff-bound coast, with its bays and inlets closely beset with hills,
predominates over the low shore-line, exhibits a remarkable series of
different forms, and provides the finest scenery of its kind in England.
The shores of the Severn estuary are low, but the Welsh coast, sharing
the general character of the land, is more or less elevated throughout,
though none of the higher mountain-masses directly approaches the sea.
Low shores correspond to the plains of Cheshire, Lancashire and the
Solway, while the intervening coast is of no great elevation, as only
the foothills of the Lake District approach it with a gradual slope.
+---------------------------+--------+------------+
| Rivers. | Length | Drainage |
| | Miles. | Area sq. m.|
+---------------------------+--------+------------+
| 1. North-east-- | | |
| Tweed[5] | 97 | 1870 |
| Tyne | 80 | 1130 |
| Wear | 60 | 458 |
| Tees | 85 | 708 |
| | | |
| 2. East-- | | |
| Humber system[6] | .. | 9293 |
| Witham | 80 | 1079 |
| Welland | 70 | 760 |
| Nene | 90 | 1077 |
| Ouse (Great) | 160 | 2607 |
| Yare | 60 | 880 |
| Stour (Suffolk-Essex) | 60 | 407 |
| Thames[7] | 209 | 5924 |
| | | |
| 3. South-- | | |
| Stour (Kent) | 40 | 370 |
| Rother | 32 | 312 |
| Arun | 43 | 370 |
| Avon (Hampshire) | 60 | 1132 |
| Exe | 55 | 584 |
| Tamar | 58 | 384 |
| | | |
| 4. Bristol Channel | | |
| (south-west)-- | | |
| Torridge | 45 | 336 |
| Taw | 48 | 455 |
| Parrett | 37 | 562 |
| Severn[8] [9] | 210 | 6850 |
| Usk[9] | 70 | 540 |
| | | |
| 5. North-west-- | | |
| (a) Cheshire-Lancashire--| | |
| Dee[9] | 70 | 813 |
| Mersey[10] | 70 | 1596 |
| Ribble | 65 | 585 |
| (b) Solway-- | | |
| Eden | 70 | 1300 |
+---------------------------+--------+------------+
A great extent of the English coast is constantly undergoing visible
alteration, the sea in some instances receding from the land, and in
others gaining upon it. The whole of Romney Marsh, in Kent and Sussex,
formerly constituted an arm of the sea, where vessels rode in deep
water, carrying produce to ports no longer in existence. Lydd and
Romney, though maritime still in name, retaining some of the ancient
privileges of the Cinque Ports, have become, through changes in the
coast-line, small inland towns; and the same has been the fate of Rye,
Winchelsea, and other places in that district. Again, the Isle of
Thanet, in the north-eastern corner of Kent, has practically ceased to
be an island. The wide estuary of the sea separating it from the
mainland, through which ships sailed from the English Channel into the
Thames, using it as the shortest route from the south to London, has
entirely disappeared, leaving only a flat lowland traversed by branches
of the river Stour to mark its former existence. The sea is encroaching
over a considerable extent of coast-line on the North Sea as well as on
the English Channel. Ravenspur, once an important town of Yorkshire,
where Bolingbroke, afterwards Henry IV., landed in 1399, is now
submerged; and Dunwich and other ancient ports in East Anglia have met
with the same fate. The process of destruction, slow in some places, is
so rapid in others that it can be traced even from month to month--the
incessant work of the waves washing away the soft strata at the base of
the cliffs and leaving the summits unsupported. Many cliffs of the east
coast, from the Humber to the mouth of the Thames, are suffering from
this destructive action, and instances also occur on the south coast. A
royal commission on Coast Erosion was appointed to inquire into this
question in 1906 (see _Report_, 1907 sqq.).
Except along the centre of the Irish Sea, at one point off the Tweed and
one between Devon and Normandy, the depth of water between England and
the nearest land nowhere exceeds 50 fathoms.
_Rivers._--The variations in length of the general slope of the land
towards successive natural divisions of the coast may be illustrated by
a comparative table of the mileage and drainage areas of the principal
English rivers. The mileage does not take account of the lesser
sinuosities of rivers.
With the exception of those in the Lake District (q.v.) the lakes of
England are few and insignificant. A number of small meres occur in a
defined area in Cheshire. (O. J. R. H.)
II. PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY
The object of this section is to give a physical description of England
and Wales according to natural regions, which usually follow the geology
of the country very closely; although the relationship of configuration
and geology is not so simple or so clearly marked as in Scotland.
The land is highest in the west and north, where the rocks also are
oldest, most disturbed, and hardest, and the land surface gradually
sinks towards the east and south, where the rocks become successively
less disturbed, more recent, and softer. The study of the scenery of
England and Wales as a whole, or the study of orographical and
geological maps of the country, allows a broad distinction to be drawn
between the types of land-forms in the west and in the east. This
distinction is essential, and applies to all the conditions of which
geography takes account. The contrasted districts are separated by an
intermediate area, which softens the transition between them, and may be
described separately.
The Western Division is composed entirely of Archaean and Palaeozoic
rocks, embracing the whole range from pre-Cambrian up to Carboniferous.
The outcrops of these rocks succeed each other in order of age in
roughly concentric belts, with the Archaean mass of the island of
Anglesey as a centre, but the arrangement in detail is much disturbed
and often very irregular. Contemporary igneous outbursts are extremely
common in some of the ancient formations, and add, by their resistance
to atmospheric erosion, to the extreme ruggedness of the scenery. The
hills and uplands of ancient rocks do not form regular ranges, but rise
like islands in four distinct groups from a plain of New Red Sandstone
(Permian and Triassic), which separates them from each other and from
the newer rocks of the Eastern Division. Each of the uplands is a centre
for the dispersal of streams; but with only one prominent exception (the
Humber) these reach the sea without crossing into the Eastern Division
of the country.
The Eastern Division, lying to the east of the zone of New Red
Sandstone, may be defined on the west by a slightly curved line drawn
from the estuary of the Tees through Leicester and Stratford-on-Avon to
the estuary of the Severn, and thence through Glastonbury to Sidmouth.
It is built up of nearly uniform sheets of Mesozoic rock, the various
beds of the Jurassic lying above the New Red Sandstone (Triassic), and
dipping south-eastward under the successive beds of the Cretaceous
system. In exactly the same way the whole of the south-east of the
island appears to have been covered uniformly with gently dipping beds
of Tertiary sands and clays, beneath which the Cretaceous strata dipped.
At some period subsequent to this deposition there was a movement of
elevation, which appears to have thrown the whole mass of rocks into a
fold along an anticlinal axis running west and east, which was flanked
to north and south by synclinal hollows. In these hollows the Tertiary
rocks were protected from erosion, and remain to form the London and the
Hampshire Basins respectively, while on the anticlinal axis the whole of
the Tertiary and the upper Cretaceous strata have been dissected away,
and a complex and beautiful configuration has been impressed on the
district of the Weald. The general character of the landscape in the
Eastern Division is a succession of steep escarpments formed by the
edges of the outcropping beds of harder rock, and long gentle slopes or
plains on the dip-slopes, or on the softer layers; clay and hard rock
alternating throughout the series.
The contrast between the lower grounds of the Western and the Eastern
Divisions is masked in many places by the general covering of the
surface with glacial drift, which is usually a stiff clay composed on
the whole of the detritus of the rocks upon which it rests, though
containing fragments of rocks which have been transported from a
considerable distance. This boulder clay covers almost all the low
ground north of the Thames Basin, its southern margin fading away into
washed sands and gravels.
The history of the origin of the land-forms of England, as far as they
have been deduced from geological studies, is exceedingly complicated.
The fact that every known geological formation (except the Miocene) is
represented, proves of itself how long the history has been, and how
multifarious the changes. It must suffice to say that the separation of
Ireland from England was a comparatively recent episode, while the
severance of the land-connexion between England and the continent by the
formation of the Strait of Dover is still more recent and probably
occurred with the human period.
The western division.
_Natural Divisions._--The four prominent groups of high land rising
from the plain of the Red Rocks are: (1) the _Lake District_, bounded
by the Solway Firth, Morecambe Bay and the valleys of the Eden and the
Lune; (2) the _Pennine Region_, which stretches from the Scottish
border to the centre of England, running south; (3) _Wales_, occupying
the peninsula between the Mersey and the Bristol Channel, and
extending beyond the political boundaries of the principality to
include Shropshire and Hereford; and (4) the peninsula of _Cornwall
and Devon_. They are all similar in the great features of their
land-forms, which have been impressed upon them by the prolonged
action of atmospheric denudation rather than by the original order and
arrangement of the rocks; but each group has its own geological
character, which has imparted something of a distinctive individuality
to the scenery. Taken as a whole, the Western Division depends for its
prosperity on mineral products and manufactures rather than on
farming; and the staple of the farmers is live-stock rather than
agriculture. The people of the more rugged and remoter groups of this
division are by race survivors of the early Celtic stock, which, being
driven by successive invaders from the open and fertile country of the
Eastern Division, found refuges in the less inviting but more easily
defended lands of the west. Even where, as in the Pennine region and
the Lake District, the people have been completely assimilated with
the Teutonic stock, they retain a typical character, marked by
independence of opinion approaching stubbornness, and by great
determination and enterprise.
_Lake District._--The Lake District occupies the counties of
Cumberland, Westmorland and North Lancashire. It forms a roughly
circular highland area, the drainage lines of which radiate outward
from the centre in a series of narrow valleys, the upper parts of
which cut deeply into the mountains, and the lower widen into the
surrounding plain. Sheets of standing water are still numerous, and
formerly almost every valley contained a single long narrow
lake-basin; but some of these have been subdivided, drained or filled
up by natural processes. The existing lakes include Windermere and
Coniston, draining south; Wastwater, draining south-west, Ennerdale
water, Buttermere and Crummock water (the two latter, originally one
lake, are now divided by a lateral delta), draining north-west;
Derwent water and Bassenthwaite water (which were probably originally
one lake), and Thirlmere, draining north; Ullswater and Haweswater,
draining north-east. There are, besides, numerous mountain tarns of
small size, most of them in hollows barred by the glacial drift which
covers a great part of the district. The central and most picturesque
part of the district is formed of great masses of volcanic ashes and
tuffs, with intrusions of basalts and granite, all of Ordovician
(Lower Silurian) age. Scafell and Scafell Pike (3162 and 3210 ft.), at
the head of Wastwater, and Helvellyn (3118), at the head of
Ullswater, are the loftiest amongst many summits the grandeur of whose
outlines is not to be estimated by their moderate height. Sedimentary
rocks of the same age form a belt to the north, and include Skiddaw
(3054 ft.); while to the south a belt of Silurian rocks, thickly
covered with boulder clay, forms the finely wooded valleys of Coniston
and Windermere. Round these central masses of early Palaeozoic rocks
there is a broken ring of Carboniferous Limestone, and several patches
of Coal Measures, while the New Red Sandstone appears as a boundary
belt outside the greater part of the district. Where the Coal Measures
reach the sea at Whitehaven, there are coal-mines, and the hematite of
the Carboniferous Limestones has given rise to the active ironworks of
Barrow-in-Furness, now the largest town in the district. Except in the
towns of the outer border, the Lake District is very thinly peopled;
and from the economic point of view, the remarkable beauty of its
scenery, attracting numerous residents and tourists, is the most
valuable of its resources. The very heavy rainfall of the district,
which is the wettest in England, has led to the utilization of
Thirlmere as a reservoir for the water supply of Manchester, over 80
m. distant.
_Pennine Region._--The Pennine Region, the centre of which forms the
so-called Pennine Chain, occupies the country from the Eden valley to
the North Sea in the north, and from the lower Tees, Yorkshire Ouse
and Trent, nearly to the Irish Sea, in the south. It includes the
whole of Northumberland and Durham, the West Riding of Yorkshire, most
of Lancashire and Derbyshire, the north of Staffordshire and the west
of Nottinghamshire. The region is entirely composed of Carboniferous
rocks, the system which transcends all others in the value of its
economic minerals. The coal and iron have made parts of the region the
busiest manufacturing districts, and the centres of densest
population, in the country, or even in the world. The whole region may
be looked upon as formed by an arch or anticline of Carboniferous
strata, the axis of which runs north and south; the centre has been
worn away by erosion, so that the Coal Measures have been removed, and
the underlying Millstone Grit and Carboniferous Limestone exposed to
the influences which form scenery. On both sides of the arch, east and
west, the Coal Measures remain intact, forming outcrops which
disappear towards the sea under the more recent strata of Permian or
Triassic age. The northern part of the western side of the anticline
is broken off by a great fault in the valley of the Eden, and the
scarp thus formed is rendered more abrupt by the presence of a sheet
of intrusive basalt. Seen from the valley, this straight line of lofty
heights, culminating in Crossfell, presents the nearest approach in
England to the appearance of a mountain range. In the north the
Pennine region is joined to the Southern Uplands of Scotland by the
Cheviot Hills, a mass of granite and Old Red Sandstone; and the
northern part is largely traversed by dykes of contemporary volcanic
or intrusive rock. The most striking of these dykes is the Great Whin
Sill, which crosses the country from a short distance south of Durham
almost to the source of the Tees, near Crossfell. The elevated land is
divided into three masses by depressions, which furnish ready means of
communication between east and west. The South Tyne and Irthing
valleys cut off the Cheviots on the north from the Crossfell section,
which is also marked off on the south by the valleys of the Aire and
Ribble from the Kinder Scout or Peak section. The numerous streams of
the region carry off the rainfall down long valleys or dales to the
east and the south, and by shorter and steeper valleys to the west.
The dales are separated from each other by high uplands, which for the
most part are heathery moorland or, at best, hill pastures. The
agriculture of the region is confined to the bottoms of the dales, and
is of small importance. Crossfell and the neighbouring hills are
formed from masses of Carboniferous Limestone, which received its
popular name of Mountain Limestone from this fact. Farther south, such
summits as High Seat, Whernside, Bow Fell, Penyghent and many others,
all over 2000 ft. in height, are capped by portions of the grits and
sandstones, which rest upon the limestone. The belt of Millstone Grit
south of the Aire, lying between the great coal-fields of the West
Riding and Lancashire, has a lower elevation, and forms grassy uplands
and dales; but farther south, the finest scenery of the whole region
occurs in the limestones of Derbyshire, in which the range terminates.
The rugged beauty of the south-running valleys, and especially of
Dovedale, is enhanced by the rich woods which still clothe the slopes.
There are remarkable features underground as well as on the surface,
the caverns and subterranean streams of Yorkshire and Derbyshire being
amongst the deepest that have yet been explored. Compared with the
rugged and picturesque scenery of the Lower Carboniferous rocks, that
of the Coal Measures is, as a rule, featureless and monotonous. The
coal-fields on the eastern side, from the Tyne nearly to the Trent,
are sharply marked off on the east by the outcrop of Permian dolomite
or Magnesian limestone, which forms a low terrace dipping towards the
east under more recent rocks, and in many places giving rise to an
escarpment facing westward towards the gentle slope of the Pennine
dales. To the west and south the Coal Measures dip gently under the
New Red Sandstone, to reappear at several points through the Triassic
plain. The clear water of the upland becks and the plentiful supply of
water-power led to the founding of small paper-mills in remote valleys
before the days of steam, and some of these primitive establishments
still exist. The prosperity and great population of the Pennine
region date from the discovery that pit-coal could smelt iron as well
as charcoal; and this source of power once discovered, the people bred
in the dales developed a remarkable genius for mechanical invention
and commercial enterprise, which revolutionized the economic life of
the world and changed England from an agricultural to an industrial
country. The staple industry of the district in ancient times was
sheep-rearing, and the villages in nearly all the dales carried on a
small manufacture of woollen cloth. The introduction of cotton caused
the woollen manufactures on the western side to be superseded by the
working up of the imported raw material; but woollen manufactures,
themselves carried on now almost entirely with imported raw material,
have continued to employ the energies of the inhabitants of the east.
Some quiet market-towns, such as Skipton and Keighley, remain, but
most of them have developed by manufactures into great centres of
population, lying, as a rule, at the junction of thickly peopled
valleys, and separated from one another by the empty uplands. Such are
Leeds, Bradford, Sheffield, Huddersfield and Halifax on the great and
densely peopled West Riding coal-field, which lies on the eastern
slope of the Pennines. The iron ores of the Coal Measures have given
rise to great manufactures of steel, from cutlery to machinery and
armour-plates. High on the barren crest of the Pennines, where the
rocks yield no mineral wealth, except it be medicinal waters,
Harrogate, Buxton and Matlock are types of health resorts, prosperous
from their pure air and fine scenery. Across the moors, on the western
side of the anticline, the vast and dense population of the Lancashire
coal-field is crowded in the manufacturing towns surrounding the great
commercial centre, Manchester, which itself stands on the edge of the
Triassic plain. Ashton, Oldham, Rochdale, Bury, Bolton and Wigan form
a nearly confluent semicircle of great towns, their prosperity founded
on the underlying coal and iron, maintained by imported cotton. The
Lancashire coal-field, and the portion of the bounding plain between
it and the seaport of Liverpool, contain a population greater than
that borne by any equal area in the country, the county of London and
its surroundings not excepted. In the south-west of the Pennine region
the coal-field of North Staffordshire supports the group of small but
active towns known collectively from the staple of their trade as "The
Potteries." On the north-east the great coal-field of Northumberland
and Durham, traversed midway by the Tyne, supports the manufactures of
Newcastle and its satellite towns, and leaves a great surplus for
export from the Tyne ports.
_Wales._--The low island of Anglesey, which is built up of the
fundamental Archaean rocks, is important as a link in the main line of
communication with Ireland, because it is separated from the mainland
by a channel narrow enough to be bridged, and lies not far out of the
straight line joining London and Dublin. The mainland of Wales rises
into three main highlands, the mountain groups of North, Mid and South
Wales, connected together by land over 1000 ft. in elevation in most
places, but separated by valleys affording easy highways. The streams
of the southern and western slopes are short and many, flowing
directly to the Bristol Channel and the Irish Sea; but the no less
numerous streams of the eastern slopes gather themselves into three
river systems, and reach the sea as the Dee, the Severn and the Wye.
The mountain group of _North Wales_ is the largest and loftiest; its
scenery resembles that of the Scottish Highlands because of the
juxtaposition of ancient Palaeozoic rocks--Cambrian and Ordovician,
often altered into slate--and contemporaneous volcanic outbursts and
igneous intrusions. Here rises the peak of Snowdon (3560 ft.), the
culminating point of South Britain, and near it half a dozen summits
exceed 3000 ft., while Cader Idris, farther south, though slightly
lower, presents a singularly imposing outline. The mild winter climate
has fringed the coast with seaside resorts, the rugged heights attract
tourists in summer, and the vast masses of slate have given rise to
the largest slate quarries in the world. The heavy rainfall of the
upper valleys unfits them for agriculture, and the farms are poor.
There are several lakes: that of Bala being the largest, except the
old lake of Vyrnwy, reconstituted artificially to store the rainfall
for the water-supply of Liverpool, 68 m. distant. The Vyrnwy is
tributary to the Severn; but north of it the streams gather into the
Dee, and flow eventually northward. _Mid Wales_ is built up, for the
most part, of Silurian or Ordovician rocks, practically free from
igneous intrusions except in the south-west. There the resistance of a
series of igneous dykes gives prominence to the Pembroke peninsula, in
which the fine fjord-like harbour of Milford Haven lies far out
towards the Atlantic. The coast north of Pembroke and Merioneth has
been worked into the grand sweep of Cardigan Bay, its surface carved
into gently rounded hills, green with rich grass, which sweep downward
into wide rounded valleys. Plinlimmon (2468 ft.) is the highest of the
hills, and forms a sort of hydrographic centre for the group, as from
its eastern base the Severn and the Wye take their rise--the former
describing a wide curve to east and south, the latter forming a chord
to the arc in its southward course. Mid Wales is mainly a pastoral
country, and very thinly peopled. A group of artificial lakes, one of
them exceeded in area only by Windermere, has been formed in the
valley of the Elan, a tributary of the Wye, for the supply of water to
Birmingham. The group of heights of _South Wales_, running on the
whole from west to east, marks the outcrops of the Old Red Sandstone
and Carboniferous strata which lie within a vast syncline of the
Silurian rocks. The Brecon Beacons of Old Red Sandstone are the
highest (2907 ft.), but the Black Mountain bears a number of
picturesque summits carved out of Millstone Grit and Carboniferous
Limestone, which rise frequently over 2000 ft. Throughout Hereford,
and in part of Monmouthshire, the Old Red Sandstone sinks to a great
undulating plain, traversed by the exquisite windings of the Wye, and
forming some of the richest pasture and fruit lands of England. This
plain formed an easy passage from south to north, and since the time
of the Romans was a strategical line of the greatest importance, a
fact which has left its traces on the present distribution of towns.
Around the western and northern edge of the Old Red Sandstone plain
the underlying Silurian rocks (and even the Cambrian and Archaean in
places) have been bent up so that their edges form hills of singular
abruptness and beauty. Of these are the Malvern Hills, east of
Hereford, and in particular the hills of Shropshire. Wenlock Edge,
running from south-west to north-east, is an escarpment of Silurian
limestone, while the broad upland of Long Mynd, nearly parallel to it
on the north, is a mass of Archaean rock. The Wrekin, the Caradoc and
Cardington Hills are isolated outbursts of pre-Cambrian volcanic
rocks. The outer rim of the Welsh area contains a broken series of
coal-fields, where patches of Carboniferous strata come to the surface
on the edge of the New Red Sandstone plain. Such are the coal-fields
of Flint in the north, the Forest of Wyre and the Forest of Dean,
close to the Severn, on the east. The great coal-field on the south is
a perfect example of a synclinal basin, the Millstone Grit and
Carboniferous Limestone which underlie the Coal Measures appearing all
round the margin. This coal-field occupies practically the whole of
Glamorgan and part of Monmouth, and its surface slopes from the Black
Mountain and Brecon Beacons to the sea as a gently inclined plateau,
scored by deep valleys draining south. Each chief valley has a railway
connecting a string of mining villages, and converging seaward to the
busy ports of Newport, Cardiff and Barry (a town created on a sandy
island by the excavation of a great dock to form an outlet for the
mines). In the north of the field, where the limestone crops out and
supplies the necessary flux, Merthyr Tydfil has become great through
iron-smelting; and in the west Swansea is the chief centre in the
world for copper and tin smelting. The unity and ruggedness of the
highlands of Wales have proved sufficient to isolate the people from
those of the rest of South Britain, and to preserve a purely Celtic
race, still very largely of Celtic speech.
_Cornwall and Devon._--The peninsula of Cornwall and Devon may be
looked upon as formed from a synclinal trough of Devonian rocks, which
appear as plateaus on the north and south, while the centre is
occupied by Lower Carboniferous strata at a lower level. The northern
coast, bordering the Bristol Channel, is steep, with picturesque
cliffs and deep bays or short valleys running into the high land, each
occupied by a little seaside town or village. The plateau culminates
in the barren heathy upland of Exmoor, which slopes gently southward
from a general elevation of 1600 ft., and is almost without
inhabitants. The Carboniferous rocks of the centre form a soil which
produces rich pasture under the heavy rainfall and remarkably mild and
equable temperature, forming a great cattle-raising district. The
Devonian strata on the south do not form such lofty elevations as
those on the north, and are in consequence, like the plain of
Hereford, very fertile and peculiarly adapted for fruit-growing and
cider-making. The remarkable features of the scenery of South Devon
and Cornwall are due to a narrow band of Archaean rock which appears
in the south of the peninsulas terminating in Lizard Head and Start
Point, and to huge masses of granite and other eruptive rocks which
form a series of great bosses and dykes. The largest granite boss
gives relief to the wild upland of Dartmoor, culminating in High
Willhays and Yes Tor. The clay resulting from the weathering of the
Dartmoor granite has formed marshes and peat bogs, and the desolation
of the district has been emphasized by the establishment in its midst
of a great convict prison, and in its northern portion of a range for
artillery practice. The Tamar flows from north to south on the
Devonian plain, which lies between Dartmoor on the east and the
similar granitic boss of Bodmin Moor (where Brown Willy rises to 1345
ft.) on the west. There are several smaller granite bosses, of which
the mass of Land's End is the most important. Most of the Lizard
peninsula, the only part of England stretching south of 50 deg. N., is
a mass of serpentine. The great variety of the rocks which meet the
sea along the south of Cornwall and Devon has led to the formation of
a singularly picturesque coast--the headlands being carved from the
hardest igneous rocks, the bays cut back in the softer Devonian
strata. The fjord-like inlets of Falmouth, Plymouth and Dartmouth are
splendid natural harbours, which would have developed great commercial
ports but for their remoteness from the centres of commerce and
manufactures. China clay from the decomposing granites; tin and copper
ore, once abounding at the contacts between the granite and the rocks
it pierced, were the former staples of wealth, and the mining largely
accounts for the exceptional density of population in Cornwall.
Fishing has always been important, the numerous good harbours giving
security to fishing-boats; and the fact that this coast is the mildest
and almost the sunniest, though by no means the driest, part of Great
Britain has led to the establishment of many health resorts, of
which Torquay is the chief. The old Cornish language of the Celtic
stock became extinct only in the 18th century, and the Cornish
character remains as a heritage of the time when the land had leisure
to mould the life and the habits of the man. Projecting farthest of
all England into the Atlantic, it is not surprising that the West
country has supplied a large proportion of the great naval commanders
in British history, and of the crews of the navy.
[Illustration: Map of ENGLAND & WALES--Section I.]
The midland plain.
Between the separate uplands there extends a plain of Permian and
Triassic rocks, which may conveniently be considered as an
intermediate zone between the two main divisions. To the eye it forms
an almost continuous plain with the belt of Lias clays, which is the
outer border of the Eastern Division; for although a low escarpment
marks the line of junction, and seems to influence the direction of
the main rivers, there is only one plain so far as regards free
movement over its surface and the construction of canals, roads and
railways. The plain usually forms a distinct border along the landward
margins of the uplands of more ancient rock, though to the east of the
Cornwall-Devon peninsula it is not very clear, and its continuity in
other places is broken by inliers of the more ancient rocks, which
everywhere underlie it. One such outcrop of Carboniferous Limestone in
the south forms the Mendip Hills; another of the Coal Measures
increases the importance of Bristol, where it stands at the head of
navigation on the southern Avon. In the north-west a tongue of the Red
rocks forms the Eden valley, separating the Lake District from the
Pennine Chain, with Carlisle as its central town. Farther south, these
rocks form the low coastal belt of Lancashire, edged with the longest
stretches of blown sand in England, and dotted here and there with
pleasure towns, like Blackpool and Southport. The plain sweeps round
south of the Lancashire coal-field, forms the valley of the Mersey
from Stockport to the sea, and farther south in Cheshire the
salt-bearing beds of the Keuper marls give rise to a characteristic
industry. The plain extends through Staffordshire and Worcester,
forming the lower valley of the Severn. The greater part of
Manchester, all Liverpool and Birkenhead, and innumerable busy towns
of medium size, which in other parts of England would rank as great
centres of population, stand on this soil. Its flat surface and low
level facilitate the construction of railways and canals, which form a
closer network over it than in other parts of the country. The great
junction of Crewe, where railways from south-east, south-west, east,
west and north converge, is thus explained. South of the Pennines, the
Red rocks extend eastward in a great sweep through the south of
Derbyshire, Warwick, the west of Leicestershire, and the east of
Nottingham, their margin being approximately marked by the Avon,
flowing south-west, and the Soar and Trent, flowing north-east. South
and east of these streams the very similar country is on the Lias
clay. Several small coal-fields rise through the Red rocks--the
largest, between Stafford and Birmingham, forms the famous "Black
Country," with Wolverhampton and Dudley as centres, where the
manufacture of iron has preserved a historic continuity, for the great
Forest of Arden supplied charcoal until the new fuel from the pits
took its place. This coal-field, ministering to the multifarious metal
manufactures of Birmingham, constitutes the centre of the Midlands.
Smaller patches of the Coal Measures appear near Tamworth and Burton,
while deep shafts have been sunk in many places through the overlying
Triassic strata to the coal below, thus extending the mining and
manufacturing area beyond the actual outcrop of the Coal Measures. A
few small outcrops occur where still more ancient strata have been
raised to the surface, as, for instance, in Charnwood Forest, where
the Archaean rocks, with intrusions of granite, create a patch of
highland scenery in the very heart of the English plain; and in the
Lickey Hills, near Birmingham, where the prominent features are due to
volcanic rocks of very ancient date. The "Waterstones," or Lower
Keuper Sandstones,--forming gentle elevations above the softer marls,
and usually charged with an abundant supply of water, which can be
reached by wells,--form the site of many towns, such as Birmingham,
Warwick and Lichfield, and of very numerous villages. The plain as a
whole is fertile and undulating, rich in woods and richer in pasture:
the very heart of rural England. Cattle-grazing is the chief farm
industry in the west, sheep and horse-rearing in the east; the
prevalence of the prefix "Market" in the names of the rural towns is
noticeable in this respect. The manufacture of woollen and leather
goods is a natural result of the raising of live stock; Leicester,
Coventry and Nottingham are manufacturing towns of the region. The
historic castles, the sites of ancient battles, and the innumerable
mansions of the wealthy, combine to give to central England a certain
aesthetic interest which the more purely manufacturing districts of
the west and north fail to inspire. The midland plain curves northward
between the outcrop of the Dolomite on the west and the Oolitic
heights on the east. It sinks lowest where the estuary of the Humber
gathers in its main tributaries, and the greater part of the surface
is covered with recent alluvial deposits. The Trent runs north in the
southern half of this plain, the Ouse runs south through the northern
half, which is known as the Vale of York, lying low between the
Pennine heights on the west and the Yorkshire moors on the east. Where
the plain reaches the sea, the soft rocks are cut back into the
estuary of the Tees, and there Middlesbrough stands at the base of the
Moors. The quiet beauty of the rural country in the south, where the
barren Bunter pebble-beds have never invited agriculture, and where
considerable vestiges of the old woodland still remain in and near
Sherwood Forest, has attracted so many seats of the landed aristocracy
as to earn for that part the familiar name of "the Dukeries." The
central position of York in the north made it the capital of Roman
Britain in ancient times, and an important railway junction in our
own.
The eastern division.
Five natural regions may be distinguished in the Eastern Division of
England, by no means so sharply marked off as those of the west, but
nevertheless quite clearly characterized. The first is the Jurassic
Belt, sweeping along the border of the Triassic plain from the south
coast at the mouth of the Exe to the east coast at the mouth of the
Tees. This is closely followed on the south-east by the Chalk country,
occupying the whole of the rest of England except where the Tertiary
Basins of London and Hampshire cover it, where the depression of the
Fenland carries it out of sight, and where the lower rocks of the
Weald break through it. Thus the Chalk appears to run in four
diverging fingers from the centre or palm on Salisbury Plain, other
formations lying wedge-like between them. Various lines of reasoning
unite in proving that the Mesozoic rocks of the south rest upon a mass
of Palaeozoic rocks, which lies at no very great depth beneath the
surface of the anticlinal axis running from the Bristol Channel to the
Strait of Dover. The theoretical conclusion has been confirmed by the
discovery of Coal Measures, with workable coal seams, at Dover at a
depth of 2000 ft. below the surface.
The Eastern Division is built up of parallel strata, the edges of the
harder rocks forming escarpments, the sheets of clay forming plains;
and on this account similar features are repeated in each of the
successive geological formations. The rivers exhibit a remarkably
close relation to the geological structure, and thus contrast with the
rivers of the Western Division. There are two main classes of
river-course--those flowing down the dip-slopes at right angles to the
strike, and cutting through opposed escarpments by deep valleys, and
those following the line of strike along a bed of easily eroded rock.
A third class of streams, tributary to the second, flows down the
steep face of the escarpments. By the study of the adjustment of these
rivers to their valleys, and of the relation of the valleys to the
general structure, Professor W. M. Davis has elaborated a theory of
river classification, and a scheme of the origin of surface-features
which is attractive in its simplicity. The Thames is the one great
river of the division, rising on the Jurassic Belt, crossing the Chalk
country, and finishing its course in the Tertiary London Basin,
towards which, in its prevailing west-to-east direction, it draws its
tributaries from north and south. The other rivers are shorter, and
flow either to the North Sea on the east, or to the English Channel on
the south. With the exception of the Humber, they all rise and pursue
their whole course within the limits of the Eastern Division itself.
The Eastern Division is the richest part of England agriculturally, it
is the part most accessible to trade with the Continent, and that
least adapted for providing refuges for small bodies of men in
conflict with powerful invaders. Hence the latest of the conquerors,
the Saxon and other Germanic tribes, obtained an easy mastery, and
spread over the whole country, holding their own against marauding
Northmen, except on the northern part of the east coast; and even
after the political conquest by the Normans, continuing to form the
great mass of the population, though influenced not a little by the
fresh blood and new ideas they had assimilated. The present population
is so distributed as to show remarkable dependence on the physical
features. The chalk and limestone plateaus are usually almost without
inhabitants, and the villages of these districts occur grouped
together in long strings, either in drift-floored valleys in the
calcareous plateaus, or along the exposure of some favoured stratum at
their base. In almost every case the plain along the foot of an
escarpment bears a line of villages and small towns, and on a good map
of density of population the lines of the geological map may be
readily discerned.
_The Jurassic Belt._--The Jurassic belt is occupied by the counties of
Gloucester, Oxford, Buckingham, Bedford, Northampton, Huntingdon,
Rutland, Lincoln and the North Riding of Yorkshire. The rocks of the
belt may be divided into two main groups: the Lias beds, which come
next to the Triassic plain, and the Oolitic beds. Each group is made
up of an alternation of soft marls or clays and hard limestones or
sandstones. The low escarpments of the harder beds of the Lias are the
real, though often scarcely perceptible, boundary between the Triassic
plain and the Jurassic belt. They run along the right bank of the
Trent in its northward course to the Humber, and similarly direct the
course of the Avon southward to the Severn. The great feature of the
region is the long line of the Oolitic escarpment, formed in different
places by the edges of different beds of rock. The escarpment runs
north from Portland Island on the English Channel, curves
north-eastward as the Cotteswold Hills, rising abruptly from the
Severn plain to heights of over 1000 ft.; it sinks to insignificance
in the Midland counties, is again clearly marked in Lincolnshire, and
rises in the North Yorkshire moors to its maximum height of over 1500
ft. Steep towards the west, where it overlooks the low Lias plain as
the Oolitic escarpment, the land falls very gently in slopes of Oxford
Clay towards the Cretaceous escarpments on the south and east.
Throughout its whole extent it yields valuable building-stone, and in
the Yorkshire moors the great abundance of iron ore has created the
prosperity of Middlesbrough, on the plain below. The Lias plain is
rich grazing country, the Oxford Clay forms valuable agricultural
land, yielding heavy crops of wheat. The towns of the belt are
comparatively small, not one attains a population of 75,000, and the
favourite site is on the Lias plain below the great escarpment. They
are for the most part typical rural market-towns, the manufactures,
where such exist, being usually of agricultural machinery, or woollen
and leather goods. Bath, Gloucester, Oxford, Northampton, Bedford,
Rugby, Lincoln and Scarborough are amongst the chief. North of the gap
in the low escarpment in which the town of Lincoln centres, a close
fringe of villages borders the escarpment on the west; and throughout
the belt the alternations of clay and hard rock are reflected in the
grouping of population.
_The Chalk Country._--The dominating surface-feature formed by the
Cretaceous rocks is the Chalk escarpment, the northern edge of the
great sheet of chalk that once spread continuously over the whole
south-east. It appears as a series of rounded hills of no great
elevation, running in a curve from the mouth of the Axe to Flamborough
Head, roughly parallel with the Oolitic escarpment. Successive
portions of this line of heights are known as the Western Downs, the
White Horse Hills, the Chiltern Hills, the East Anglian Ridge, the
Lincolnshire Wolds and the Yorkshire Wolds. The rivers from the gentle
southern slopes of the Oolitic heights pass by deep valleys through
the Chalk escarpments, and flow on to the Tertiary plains within. The
typical scenery of the Chalk country is unrelieved by small streams of
running water; the hills rise into rounded downs, often capped with
fine clumps of beech, and usually covered with thin turf, affording
pasture for sheep. The chalk, when exposed on the surface, is an
excellent foundation for roads, and the lines of many of the Roman
"streets" were probably determined by this fact. The Chalk country
extends over part of Dorset, most of Wiltshire, a considerable portion
of Hampshire and Oxfordshire, most of Hertfordshire and
Cambridgeshire, the west of Norfolk and Suffolk, the east of
Lincolnshire, and the East Riding of Yorkshire. From the upland of
Salisbury Plain, which corresponds to the axis of the anticline
marking the centre of the double fold into which the strata of the
south of England have been thrown, the great Chalk escarpment runs
north-eastward; fingers of Chalk run eastward one each side of the
Weald, forming the North and South Downs, while the southern edge of
the Chalk sheet appears from beneath the Tertiary strata at several
places on the south coast, and especially in the Isle of Wight.
Flamborough Head, the South Foreland, Beachy Head and the Needles are
examples of the fine scenery into which chalk weathers where it fronts
the sea, and these white cliffs gave to the island its early name of
Albion. The Chalk is everywhere very thinly peopled, except where it
is thickly covered with boulder clay, and so becomes fertile, or where
it is scored by drift-filled valleys, in which the small towns and
villages are dotted along the high roads. The thickest covering of
drift is found in the Holderness district of Yorkshire, where, from
the chalk cliffs of Flamborough Head to the sandspit of Spurn Point,
the whole coast is formed of boulder-clay resting on chalk. Of the few
towns in the Chalk country, the interest of which is largely
historical or scholastic, Salisbury, Winchester, Marlborough and
Cambridge are the most distinguished. Reading flourishes from its
position on the edge of the London Tertiary Basin, Croydon is a suburb
of London, and Hull, though on the Chalk, derives its importance from
the Humber estuary, which cuts through the Chalk and the Jurassic
belts, to drain the Triassic plain and the Pennine region. The narrow
strip of Greensands appearing from beneath the Chalk escarpment on its
northern side is crowded with small towns and villages on account of
the plentiful water-supply. The distinction between the low grounds of
the Jurassic belt and the Chalk country is not always very apparent on
the surface, and from the historic point of view it is important to
recognize the individuality of the Eastern plain which extends from
the Vale of York across the Humber and the Wash into Essex. The
Eastern plain thus includes a portion of the Triassic plain in the
north, a portion of the Jurassic and Chalk belts in the middle, and a
portion of the Tertiary plain of the London Basin in the south.
_The Fenland._--The continuity of the belts of Chalk and of the Middle
and Upper Oolites in the Eastern Plain is broken by the shallow
depression of the Wash and the Fenland. The Fenland comprises a strip
of Norfolk, a considerable part of Cambridgeshire, and the Holland
district of Lincoln. Formerly a great inlet with vague borders of
lagoons and marshes, the Fenland has been reclaimed partly by natural
processes, partly by engineering works patiently continued for
centuries. The whole district is flat and low, for the most part
within 15 ft. of sea-level; the seaward edge in many places is below
the level of high tide, and is protected by dykes as in Holland, while
straight canals and ditches carry the sluggish drainage from the land.
The soil is composed for the most part of silt and peat. A few small
elevations of gravel, or of underlying formations, rise above the
level of 25 ft.; these were in former times islands, and now they form
the sites of the infrequent villages. Boston and King's Lynn are
memorials of the maritime importance of the Wash in the days of small
ships. The numerous ancient churches and the cathedrals of Ely and
Peterborough bear witness to the share taken by religious communities
in the reclamation and cultivation of the land.
_The Weald._--The dissection of the great east and west anticline in
the south-east of England has resulted in a remarkable piece of
country, occupying the east of Hampshire and practically the whole of
Sussex, Surrey and Kent, in which each geological stratum produces its
own type of scenery, and exercises its own specific influence on every
natural distribution. The sheet of Chalk shows its cut edges in the
escarpments facing the centre of the Weald, and surrounding it in an
oval ring, the eastern end of which is broken by the Strait of Dover,
so that its completion must be sought in France. From the crest of the
escarpment, all round on south, west and north, the dip-slope of the
Chalk forms a gentle descent outwards, the escarpment a very steep
slope inwards. The cut edges of the escarpment forming the Hog's Back
and North Downs on the north, and the South Downs on the south, meet
the sea in the fine promontories of the South Foreland and Beachy
Head. The Downs are almost without population, waterless and
grass-covered, with patches of beech wood. Their only important towns
are on the coast, e.g. Brighton, Eastbourne, Dover, Chatham, or in the
gaps where rivers from the centre pierce the Chalk ring, as at
Guildford, Rochester, Canterbury, Lewes and Arundel. Within the Chalk
ring, and at the base of the steep escarpment, there is a low terrace
of the Upper Greensand, seldom so much as a mile in width, but in most
places crowded with villages scarcely more than a mile apart, and
ranged like beads on a necklace. Within the Upper Greensand an equally
narrow ring of Gault is exposed, its stiff clay forming level plains
of grazing pasture, without villages, and with few farmhouses even;
and from beneath it the successive beds of the Lower Greensand rise
towards the centre, forming a wider belt, and reaching a considerable
height before breaking off in a fine escarpment, the crest of which is
in several points higher than the outer ring of Chalk. Leith Hill and
Hindhead are parts of this edge in the west, where the exposure is
widest. Several towns have originated in the gaps of the Lower
Greensand escarpment which are continuous with those through the
Chalk: such are Dorking, Reigate, Maidstone and Ashford. Folkestone
and Pevensey stand where the two ends of the broken ring meet the sea.
It is largely a region of oak and pine trees, in contrast to the beech
of the Chalk Downs. The Lower Greensand escarpment looks inwards in
its turn over the wide plain of Weald Clay, along which the Medway
flows in the north, and which forms a fertile soil, well cultivated,
and particularly rich in hops and wheat. The primitive forests have
been largely cleared, the primitive marshes have all been drained, and
now the Weald Clay district is fairly well peopled and sprinkled with
villages. From the middle of this plain the core of Lower Cretaceous
sandstones known as the Hastings Beds emerges steeply, and reaches in
the centre an elevation of 796 ft. at Crowborough Beacon. It is on the
whole a region with few streams, and a considerable portion of the
ancient woodland still remains in Ashdown Forest. The greater part of
the Forest Ridges is almost without inhabitants. Towns are found only
round the edge bordering the Weald Clay, such as Tonbridge, Tunbridge
Wells and Horsham; and along the line where it is cut off by the sea,
e.g. Hastings and St Leonards. The broad low tongue of Romney Marsh
running out to Dungeness is a product of shore-building by the Channel
tides, attached to the Wealden area, but not essentially part of it.
_The London Basin._--The London Basin occupies a triangular depression
in the Chalk which is filled up with clays and gravels of Tertiary and
later age. It extends from the eastern extremity of Wiltshire in a
widening triangle to the sea, which it meets along an irregular line
from Deal to Cromer. It thus occupies parts of Wiltshire, Hampshire,
Surrey, Kent, Berkshire, Hertfordshire, the whole of Middlesex, the
county of London and Essex, and the eastern edge of Suffolk and
Norfolk. The scenery is quiet in its character, but the gravel hills
are often prominent features, as at Harrow and in the northern suburbs
of London; the country is now mainly under grass or occupied with
market and nursery gardens, and many parts, of which Epping Forest is
a fine example, are still densely wooded, the oak being the prevailing
tree. The coast is everywhere low and deeply indented by ragged and
shallow estuaries, that of the Thames being the largest. Shallow
lagoons formed along the lower courses of the rivers of Norfolk have
given to that part of the country the name of the Broads, a district
of low and nearly level land. Apart from the huge area of urban and
suburban London, the London Basin has few large towns. Norwich and
Ipswich, Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Harwich and Colchester may be mentioned
in the north-eastern part, all depending for their prosperity on
agriculture or on the sea; and a fringe of summer resorts on the low
coast has arisen on account of the bracing climate. Reading and
Windsor lie in the western portion, beyond the suburban sphere of
London. The Bagshot Beds in the west form infertile tracts of sandy
soil, covered with heath and pine, where space is available for the
great camps and military training-grounds round Aldershot, and for the
extensive cemeteries at Woking. The London Clay in the east is more
fertile and crowded with villages, while the East Anglian portion of
the basin consists of the more recent Pliocene sands and gravels,
which mix with the boulder clay to form the best wheat-growing soil in
the country.
_The Hampshire Basin._--The Hampshire Basin forms a triangle with
Dorchester, Salisbury and Worthing near the angles, and the rim of
Chalk to the south appears in broken fragments in the Isle of Purbeck,
the Isle of Wight, and to the east of Bognor. On the infertile Bagshot
Beds the large area of the New Forest remains untilled under its
ancient oaks. The London Clay of the east is more fertile, but the
greatness of this district lies in its coast-line, which is deeply
indented, like that of the London Basin. Southampton and Portsmouth
have gained importance through their fine natural harbours, improved
by engineering works and fortifications; Bournemouth and Bognor, from
their favourable position in the sunniest belt of the country, as
health resorts.
_Communications._--The configuration of England, while sufficiently
pronounced to allow of the division of the country into natural
regions, is not strongly enough marked to exercise any very great
influence upon lines of communication. The navigable rivers are all
connected by barge-canals, even across the Pennine Chain. Although the
waterways are much neglected, compared with those of France or of
Germany, they might still be very useful if they were enlarged and
improved and if free competition with railways could be secured. The
main roads laid out as arteries of intercommunication by the Romans,
suffered to fall into neglect, and revived in the coaching days of the
beginning of the 19th century, fell into a second period of
comparative neglect when the railway system was completed; but they
have recovered a very large share of their old importance in
consequence of the development of motor-traffic. Following the Roman
roads, the high roads of the Eastern Division very frequently run
along the crests of ridges or escarpments; but in the Western Division
they are, as a rule, forced by the more commanding relief of the
country to keep to the river valleys and cross the rougher districts
through the dales and passes. The railways themselves, radiating from
the great centres of population, and especially from London, are only
in a few instances much affected by configuration. The Pennine Chain
has always separated the traffic from south to north into an east
coast route through the Vale of York, and a west coast route by the
Lancashire plain. The Midland railway, running through the high and
rugged country between the two, was the last to be constructed. The
most notable bridges over navigable water affording continuous routes
are those across Menai Strait, the Tyne at Newcastle, the Severn at
Severn Bridge and the Manchester Ship Canal. It is more usual to
tunnel under such channels, and the numerous Thames tunnels, the
Mersey tunnel between Liverpool and Birkenhead, and the Severn tunnel,
the longest in the British Islands (4-1/2 m.), on the routes from
London to South Wales, and from Bristol to the north of England, are
all important. The Humber estuary is neither bridged nor tunnelled
below Goole.
_Density of Population._--The present distribution of population over
England and Wales shows a dense concentration at all large seaports,
in the neighbourhood of London, and on the coal-fields where
manufactures are carried on. Agricultural areas are very thinly
peopled; purely pastoral districts can hardly be said to have any
settled population at all. There are very few dwellings situated at a
higher level than 1000 ft., and on the lower ground the Chalk and the
Oolitic limestones, where they crop out on the surface, are extremely
thinly peopled, and so as a rule are areas of alluvial deposits and
the Tertiary sands. But, on the other hand, the broad clay plains of
all formations, the Cretaceous sandstones, and the Triassic plain, are
peopled more densely than any other district without mineral wealth or
sea trade.
_Political Divisions._--In the partition of England and Wales into
counties, physical features play but a small part. The forty ancient
counties, remnants of various historical groupings and partings, are
occasionally bounded by rivers. Thus the Thames divides counties along
nearly its whole length, forming the southern boundary of four and the
northern boundary of three. Essex and Suffolk, Suffolk and Norfolk,
Cornwall and Devon, Durham and Yorkshire, Lancashire and Cheshire, are
all separated by rivers, while rivers form some part of the boundaries
of almost every county. Still, it is noteworthy that the Severn and
Trent nowhere form continuous county boundaries. Watersheds are rarely
used as boundaries for any distance; but, although slightly
overlapping the watershed on all sides, Yorkshire is very nearly
coincident with the basin of the Ouse. The boundaries of the parishes,
the fundamental units of English political geography, are very often
either rivers or watersheds, and they frequently show a close relation
to the strike of the geological strata. The hundreds, or groups of
parishes, necessarily share their boundaries, and groups of hundreds
are often aggregated to form larger subdivisions of counties. A wider
grouping according to natural characteristics may now be recognized
only in the cases of Wales, East Anglia, Wessex and such less definite
groups as the Home Counties around London or the Midlands around
Birmingham. Configuration is only one out of many conditions modifying
distributions, and its effects on England as a whole appear to be
suggestive rather than determinative. (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.
[Illustration: Map of ENGLAND.
Legend:
_Recent & Pleistocene_ _Old Red Sandstone & Devonian_
_Tertiary_ _Silurian_
_Cretaceous_ _Ordovician_
_Jurassic_ _Cambrian_
_Trias_ _Metamorphic Group_
_Permian_ _Volcanic Rocks_
_Coal Measures, Carboniferous_ _Basic Intrusive Rocks_
_Millstone Grit Series & Culm_ _Granite & Acid Intrusive Rocks_
_Lower Carboniferous_]
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 the Lake 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
Climate.
_Temperature._--The mean annual temperature of the whole of England
and Wales (reduced to sea-level) is about 50 deg. F., varying from
something over 52 deg. in the Scilly Isles to something under 48 deg.
at the mouth of the Tweed. The mean annual 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 deg.. 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 deg., the temperature on
the east coast from north of the Humber to the Thames is under 38
deg., the coldest winters being experienced in the Fenland. In the
hottest month (July) the mean temperature of England and Wales is
about 61.5 deg., 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
deg.; the mean temperature along the south coast is 62 deg., and that
at the mouth of the Tweed a little under 59 deg.. 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 deg. 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.
[Illustration: Map of ENGLAND & WALES--Section II.]
_Winds._--The average barometric pressure over England is about
29.94 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 Britonum_ gives
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 suffix _don_ often goes back to the Celtic
_dun_, 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 element _chester_--(L. _castrum_, a fort), e.g. Ebchester,
Silchester, Grantchester. Porchester is entirely Latin, but may not
have been formed till Saxon times. The form _caster_ is 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 form _cester_:--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 Celtic _Lindum_ and
the Latin _colonia_.
_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. _dun_ [Celtic], a hill),
e.g. Huntingdon, Seckington, Edington; _-ey_, _-ea_, _-y_ (O.E. _ig_,
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. _ham_, a home, and _hamm_, 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. _leah_,
meadow), e.g. Leigh, Stoneleigh, Whalley; _-lade_ (O.E. _lad_, 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 Latin origin), 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. _tun_,
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.
_kiorr_, marshy ground), e.g. Redcar, The Carrs, Muker; _-fell_ (O.N.
_fjall_, mountain), e.g. Scafell; _-force_, _-foss_ (O.N. _fors_,
waterfall). High Force, Wilberfoss; _-garth_ (O.N. _garar_,
enclosure), e.g. Hoggarths; _-gill_ (O.N. _gil_, a deep narrow glen),
e.g. Skelgill, Dungeon Ghyll; _-holm(e)_ (O.N. _holmr_, 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. _skale_, hut, shed), e.g. Seascale; _-skew_
(O.N. _skogr_, forest), e.g. Litherskew; _-thorpe_ (O.N. _porp_,
village), e.g. Thorpe, Osgathorp; _-thwaite_ (O.N. _pveit_, a piece of
land), e.g. Rosthwaite; _-toft_ (O.N. _topt_, a green knoll), e.g.
Toft, Langtoft; _-with_ (O.N. _viar_, 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 Theydon _Bois_, 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. Thorpe _Mandeville_,
_Helion_ Bumstead, Higham _Ferrers_, Swaffham _Bulbeck_, Stoke
_Gifford_, Shepton _Mallet_; similarly names like Lyme _Regis_,
_King's_ Sutton, _Monks'_ Kirby, Zeal _Monachorum_, Milton _Abbas_,
_Bishop's_ Waltham, _Prior's_ Dean, Huish _Episcopi_ date 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 2-1/2 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:--
+------------------+-------------+--------------+--------------+
| Dates of | | Increase at |Decennial Rate|
| Enumeration. | Population. | each Census. | of Increase |
| | | | per Cent. |
+------------------+-------------+--------------+--------------+
| 1801, March 10th | 8,892,536 | . . | . . |
| 1811, May 27th | 10,164,256 | 1,271,720 | 14.00 |
| 1821, May 28th | 12,000,236 | 1,835,980 | 18.06 |
| 1831, May 30th | 13,896,797 | 1,896,561 | 15.80 |
| 1841, June 7th | 15,914,148 | 2,017,351 | 14.27 |
| 1851, March 31st | 17,927,609 | 2,013,461 | 12.65 |
| 1861, April 8th | 20,066,224 | 2,138,615 | 11.90 |
| 1871, April 3rd | 22,712,266 | 2,646,042 | 13.21 |
| 1881, April 4th | 25,974,439 | 3,262,173 | 14.36 |
| 1891, April 6th | 29,002,525 | 3,028,086 | 11.65 |
| 1901, April 1st | 32,527,843 | 3,525,318 | 12.17 |
+------------------+-------------+--------------+--------------+
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 Wales[11] shows 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 of their resources during the 19th century.
Thus the preceding counties[12] showed an increase, under normal
conditions, exceeding 10% during the ten years 1891-1901, the
percentage of increase in 1871-1891 being given for comparison.
+---------------------------+-------------------------+
| | Increase per cent. |
| Counties. +------------+------------+
| | 1871-1891. | 1891-1901. |
+---------------------------+------------+------------+
| Middlesex | 47.42 | 45.11 |
| Essex | 31.54 | 39.60 |
| Glamorganshire (S. Wales) | 30.72 | 25.10 |
| Surrey | 25.03 | 24.78 |
| Northumberland | 14.42 | 19.19 |
| Worcestershire | 12.12 | 18.49 |
| Nottinghamshire | 19.30 | 18.09 |
| Durham | 21.67 | 16.62 |
| Leicestershire | 17.43 | 16.46 |
| Kent | 13.15 | 15.95 |
| Hampshire | 12.73 | 15.33 |
| Monmouthshire | 12.08 | 14.97 |
| Yorkshire (E. Riding) | 14.31 | 13.49 |
| Northamptonshire | 11.40 | 13.27 |
| Warwickshire | 12.78 | 12.95 |
| Staffordshire | 12.15 | 12.92 |
| Derbyshire | 15.52 | 12.81 |
| Yorkshire (W. Riding) | 15.36 | 12.70 |
| Cheshire | 14.62 | 12.56 |
| Lancashire | 17.92 | 12.05 |
| Hertfordshire | 5.08 | 10.91 |
+---------------------------+------------+------------+
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:--
+--------------------+-------------------------+------------+
| |Decrease or Increase(+). | Decrease. |
| +------------+------------+ 1891-1901. |
| | 1871-1881. | 1881-1891. | |
+--------------------+------------+------------+------------+
| Huntingdonshire | 8.29 | 5.51 | 7.04 |
| Rutland | 1.55 | 3.73 | 5.59 |
| Westmorland | 1.25 | +2.96 | 2.73 |
| Oxfordshire | +1.27 | +3.64 | 1.70 |
| Herefordshire | 3.26 | 4.02 | 1.62 |
+--------------------+------------+------------+------------+
Urban and rural districts.
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 agricultural 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 a _maximum_ of 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.
+-------------+---------------------------+---------------------+
| | Percentage of | Excess of Estimated |
| Year. +-------------+-------------+ over Enumerated |
| | Increase by | Decrease by | Population. |
| | Births. | Deaths. | |
+-------------+-------------+-------------+---------------------+
| 1851-1861 | 36.19 | 23.58 | 122,111 |
| 1861-1871 | 37.56 | 23.98 | 78,968 |
| 1871-1881 | 37.89 | 22.80 | 164,307 |
| 1881-1891 | 34.24 | 20.27 | 601,389 |
| 1891-1901 | 31.57 | 19.18 | 68,330 |
+-------------+-------------+-------------+---------------------+
_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."[13] The
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. | Increase |
| +-----------+-----------+ per cent. |
| | 1891. | 1901. | |
+---------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| London * | 4,228,317 | 4,536,541 | 7.3 |
| Liverpool | 629,548 | 684,958 | 8.8 |
| Manchester | 505,368 | 543,872 | 7.6 |
| Birmingham | 478,113 | 522,204 | 9.2 |
| Leeds | 367,505 | 428,968 | 16.7 |
| Sheffield | 324,243 | 380,793 | 17.4 |
| Bristol | 289,280 | 328,945 | 13.7 |
| Bradford | 265,728 | 279,767 | 5.3 |
| West Ham ** | 204,903 | 267,358 | 30.5 |
| Hull | 200,472 | 240,259 | 19.8 |
| Nottingham | 213,877 | 239,743 | 12.1 |
| Salford | 198,139 | 220,957 | 11.5 |
| Newcastle-upon-Tyne | 186,300 | 215,328 | 15.6 |
| Leicester | 174,624 | 211,579 | 21.2 |
| Portsmouth | 159,278 | 188,133 | 18.1 |
| Bolton | 146,487 | 168,215 | 14.8 |
| Cardiff (Wales) | 128,915 | 164,333 | 27.5 |
| Sunderland | 131,686 | 146,077 | 10.9 |
| Oldham | 131,463 | 137,246 | 4.4 |
| Croydon ** | 102,695 | 133,895 | 30.4 |
| Blackburn | 120,064 | 127,626 | 6.3 |
| Brighton | 115,873 | 123,478 | 6.6 |
| Willesden ** | 61,265 | 114,811 | 87.4 |
| Rhondda (Wales) | 88,351 | 113,735 | 28.7 |
| Preston | 107,573 | 112,989 | 5.0 |
| Norwich | 100,970 | 111,733 | 10.7 |
| Birkenhead | 99,857 | 110,915 | 11.1 |
| Gateshead | 85,692 | 109,888 | 28.2 |
| Plymouth | 88,931 | 107,636 | 21.0 |
| Derby | 94,146 | 105,912 | 12.5 |
| Halifax | 97,714 | 104,936 | 7.4 |
| Southampton | 82,126 | 104,824 | 27.6 |
| Tottenham ** | 71,343 | 102,541 | 43.7 |
| Leyton ** | 63,106 | 98,912 | 56.7 |
| South Shields | 78,391 | 97,263 | 24.1 |
| Burnley | 87,016 | 97,043 | 11.5 |
| East Ham ** | 32,712 | 96,018 | 193.5 |
| Walthamstow ** | 46,346 | 95,131 | 105.3 |
| Huddersfield | 95,420 | 95,047 | 0.4 decr. |
| Swansea (Wales) | 91,034 | 94,537 | 3.8 |
| Wolverhampton | 82,662 | 94,187 | 13.9 |
| Middlesborough | 75,532 | 91,302 | 20.9 |
| Northampton | 75,075 | 87,021 | 15.9 |
| Walsall | 71,789 | 86,430 | 20.4 |
| St Helens | 72,413 | 84,410 | 16.6 |
| Rochdale | 76,161 | 83,114 | 9.1 |
+---------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
* 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 thousand in 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:--
+---------+---------------+-------------+
| | Marriage- | Value, |
| Years. | Rate. | Exports and |
| | | Imports. |
+---------+---------------+-------------+
| | | L s. d. |
| 1895 | 15.0 | 17 19 3 |
| 1896 | 15.8 | 18 14 1 |
| 1897 | 16.0 | 18 14 3 |
| 1898 | 16.3 | 19 0 5 |
| 1899 | 16.5 | 20 1 8 |
+---------+---------------+-------------+
The marriage-rate declined, subsequently to the year last quoted in
this table, to 15.6 in 1903. (O. J. R. H.)
_Religion._--In attempting to give a concise account of the religious
conditions of England we are confronted from the outset with the absence
of any trustworthy statistics. A religious census, such as is customary
in other countries, has not been taken since 1851; nor is it probable
that such a census would be any true indication of the actual religious
beliefs of the population. Still less satisfactory, from this
standpoint, is the attempt to compile statistics of religious belief
from the registrar-general's report on the number of marriages
celebrated in the places of worship of the various denominations; for
among those who are practically attached to no religious body, and even
some Nonconformists, a prejudice survives in favour of having their
marriages celebrated and their funerals conducted by the clergy of the
Established Church. Nor is the test of "sittings" provided by the
various denominations, nor even the number of their communicants, a
trustworthy test of the relative number of their adherents. In Wales,
for instance, the rivalry of the sects has multiplied chapel
accommodation out of all proportion to the population; while everywhere
it happens that churches, at one time crowded every Sunday, have been
emptied by the shifting of population or other causes. As for the test
of communicancy, it is untrustworthy because the insistence on communion
as the pledge of membership varies with the different denominations and
even with different sections of opinion within those denominations. Any
statistics of this nature, then, however useful they may be as a general
indication, must not be treated as conclusive.
The Church of England.
Whatever disputes there may be as to the relative strength of the
various churches and sects, there can be no questioning the fact that
the dominant religion in England is Protestant Christianity.
Protestantism, indeed, since the Act of Settlement in 1689, has been of
the essence of the Constitution, the sovereign forfeiting his or her
crown _ipso facto_ by acknowledging the authority of the pope, by
accepting "the Romish religion," or by marrying a Roman Catholic; and
though of late years efforts have been made to modify or to abrogate
this provision, the fact that such efforts have met with widespread
opposition shows that it still represents the general attitude of the
British nation. Protestantism, however, is a generic term which in
England covers a great variety of opinions, and a large number of rival
religious organizations. The state church, the Church of England as by
law established, represents the tradition of a time when church and
state were regarded as two aspects of one divinely ordered organism. In
law every subject of the state is also a member of the Established
Church, and can lay claim to its ministrations so long as he or she
obeys the ecclesiastical law, which is also the law of the state. No
Englishman, whatever his opinions, can be excommunicated without due
process of law. The Church of England is thus theoretically coextensive
with the English nation, each unit of which is legally assumed to belong
to it unless proof be brought to the contrary. To state the theory is,
however, to risk giving an entirely false impression of the facts. In
practice the Church of England is no longer regarded as coextensive with
the state; nor is nonconformity any longer, as it once was, an offence
against the law. Since the abolition of the Test Acts and the
emancipation of the Catholics no Englishman has suffered any civil
disability owing to his religion[14]; and the progress of democracy has
given to the great so-called "Free Churches" a political power that
rivals that of the Established Church. In the matter of the estimation
of their relative strength the main grievance of the Nonconformists is
that the law classes as members of the Church of England that enormous
floating population which is really conscious of no ecclesiastical
allegiance at all.
The Church of England, both in constitution and doctrine, represents in
general the mean between Roman Catholicism on the one hand and the more
advanced forms of Protestantism on the other (see EPISCOPACY). Though
its doctrine was reformed in the 16th century and the spiritual
supremacy of the pope was repudiated, the continuity of its organic life
was not interrupted, and historically as well as legally it is the same
church as that established before the Reformation. The ecclesiastical
system is episcopal, the whole of England (including for this purpose
Wales) being divided into two provinces, Canterbury and York, and 37
bishoprics (including the primatial sees of Canterbury and York). These
again are subdivided into 14,080 parishes (1901), the smallest
ecclesiastical units, which are grouped for certain administrative
purposes into 810 rural deaneries. The sovereign is by law the supreme
governor of the church, both in things spiritual and temporal, and he
has the right to nominate to vacant sees. In the case of sees of old
foundation this is done by means of the conge d'elire (q.v.), in that of
others by letters patent.[15] The bishops hold their temporalities as
baronies, for which they do homage in the ancient form, and are
spiritual peers of parliament. Only 26, however, have the right to seats
in the House of Lords, of whom five--viz. the two archbishops and the
bishops of London, Durham and Winchester--always sit, the others taking
their seats in order of seniority of consecration. Under the bishops the
affairs of the dioceses are managed by archdeacons (q.v.) and rural
deans (see ARCHPRIEST and DEAN). The cathedral churches are governed by
chapters consisting of a dean, canons and prebendaries (see CATHEDRAL).
The deaneries are in the gift of the crown, canonries and prebends
sometimes in that of the crown, sometimes in that of the bishops. The
parish clergy, with a few rare exceptions (when they are elected by the
ratepayers), are appointed by patronage. The right of presentation to
some 8500 benefices or "livings" is in the hands of private persons; the
right is regarded in law as property and is, under certain restrictions
for the avoidance of gross simony, saleable (see ADVOWSON). The
patronage of the remaining benefices belongs in the main to the crown,
the bishops and cathedral chapters, the lord chancellor, and the
universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
In spite of the fact that the Church of England is collectively one of
the wealthiest in Christendom, a large proportion of the "livings" are
extremely poor. To understand this and other anomalies it is necessary to
bear in mind that the church is not, like the established Protestant
churches of Germany, an elaborately organized state department, nor is it
a single corporation with power to regulate its internal polity. It is a
conglomeration of corporations. Even the incumbent of a parish is in law
a "corporation sole," his benefice a freehold; and until the
establishment in 1836, by act of parliament, of the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners (q.v.) nothing could be done to adjust the inequalities in
the emoluments of the clergy resulting from the natural rise and fall of
the value of property in various parts of the country. Even more
extraordinary is the effect of the singular constitution of the church on
its discipline. An incumbent, once inducted, can only be disturbed by
complicated and extremely costly processes of law; in effect, except in
cases of gross misconduct, he is only checked--so far as ecclesiastical
order is concerned--by his oath of canonical obedience to the "godly"
monitions of his bishop; and, since these monitions are difficult and
costly to enforce, while their "godliness" may be a matter of opinion, an
incumbent is practically himself the interpreter of the law as applied to
the doctrine and ritual of his particular church. The result has been the
development within the Established Church of a most startling diversity
of doctrine and ritual practice, varying from what closely resembles that
of the Church of Rome to the broadest Liberalism and the extremest
evangelical Protestantism. This broad comprehensiveness, which to
outsiders looks like ecclesiastical anarchy, is the characteristic note
of the Church of England; it may be, and has been, defended as consonant
with Christian charity and suited to the genius of a people not
remarkable for logical consistency; but it makes it all the more
difficult to say what the religion of Englishmen actually is, even within
the English Church.
The following is a list of the archiepiscopal and episcopal sees of
England and Wales--the latter arranged in alphabetical order,--with date
of their establishment and amount of emoluments:--
Year of Annual
Foundation. Emoluments.
Province of Canterbury--
Canterbury (archbishopric) 597 L15,000
Bangor c. 550 4,200
Bath and Wells 1139 5,000
Birmingham 1904 3,500
Bristol 1897* 3,000
Chichester 1075 4,200
Ely 1109 5,500
Exeter 1050 4,200
Gloucester 1541 4,300
Hereford 676 4,200
Lichfield 669 4,200
Lincoln 1067 4,500
Llandaff c. 550 4,200
London 605 10,000
Norwich 1094 4,500
Oxford 1542 5,000
Peterborough 1541 4,500
Rochester 604 3,800
St Albans 1877 3,200
St Asaph c. 550 4,200
St David's c. 550 4,500
Salisbury 1075 5,000
Southwark 1904 3,000
Southwell 1884 3,500
Truro 1876 3,000
Winchester c. 650 6,500
Worcester c. 680 4,200
Province of York--
York (archbishopric) 625 10,000
Carlisle 1133 4,500
Chester 1541 4,200
Durham 995 7,000
Liverpool 1880 4,200
Manchester 1847 4,200
Newcastle 1882 3,500
Ripon 1836 4,200
Sodor and Man 1154 1,500
Wakefield 1888 3,000
* Modern refoundation.
The following are suffragan or assistant bishoprics (the names of the
dioceses to which each belongs being given in brackets): Dover, Croydon
(Canterbury), Beverley, Hull, Sheffield (York), Stepney, Islington,
Kensington (London), Jarrow (Durham), Guildford, Southampton, Dorking
(Winchester), Barrow-in-Furness (Carlisle), Crediton (Exeter), Grantham
(Lincoln), Burnley (Manchester), Thetford, Ipswich (Norwich), Reading
(Oxford), Leicester (Peterborough), Richmond, Knaresborough (Ripon),
Colchester, Barking (St Albans), Swansea (St David's), Woolwich,
Kingston-on-Thames (Southwark), Derby (Southwell), St Germans (Truro).
See also ENGLAND, CHURCH OF; ANGLICAN COMMUNION; ECCLESIASTICAL
JURISDICTION; VESTMENTS; MASS.
+------------------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+-----------+----------+
| | Sittings. | Commun- | Ministers | Local | Sunday |
| | | icants.|(Pastoral).| Preachers.| Scholars.|
+------------------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+-----------+----------+
| Baptists[16] | 1,421,742 | 424,741 | 2134 | 5,748 | 590,321 |
| Congregationalists (1907) | 1,801,447 | 498,953 | 3197 | 5,603 | 729,347 |
| Presbyterian Church of England[17] | 173,047 | 85,755 | 323 | . . | 98,258 |
| Society of Friends | . . | 17,442 | . . | . . | 62,347 |
| Moravians | 10,100 | 2,999 | 34 | . . | 4,542 |
| Wesleyan Methodists[18] | 2,500,000 | 620,350 | 2658 | 20,119 |1,039,437 |
| Primitive Methodists[16] | 1,017,690 | 205,407 | 1101 | 15,963 | 477,114 |
| United Methodist Church[19] | 738,840 | 158,095 | 833 | 5,577 | 315,993 |
| Wesleyan Reform Union | 47,435 | 8,717 | 19 | 508 | 23,008 |
| Independent Methodists | 33,000 | 9,732 | . . | 375 | 28,387 |
| Welsh Calvinistic Methodist | 472,089 | 185,935 | 900 | 361 | 187,484 |
| Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion | 12,347 | 2,469 | 26 | . . | 3,040 |
| Reformed Episcopal Church | 6,000 | 1,090 | 28 | . . | 2,600 |
| Free Church of England | 8,140 | 1,352 | 24 | . . | 4,196 |
+------------------------------------+-----------+---------+-----------+-----------+----------+
Other Protestant communions.
The number of "denominations" by whom buildings were certified for
worship up to 1895 was 293 (see list in _Whitaker's Almanack_, 1886, p.
252), but in many instances such "denominations" consisted of two or
three congregations only, in some cases of a single congregation. The
more important nonconformist churches are fully dealt with under their
several headings. The above table, however, based on that in the
_Statesman's Year-Book_ for 1908, and giving the comparative statistics
of the chief nonconformist churches, may be useful for purposes of
comparison. It may be prefaced by stating that, according to returns
made in 1905, the Church of England provided sitting accommodation in
parish and other churches for 7,177,144 people; had an estimated number
of 2,053,455 communicants, 206,873 Sunday-school teachers, and 2,538,240
Sunday scholars. There were 14,029 incumbents (rectors, vicars, and
perpetual curates), 7500 curates, i.e. assistant clergy, and some 4000
clergy on the non-active list.
Besides the bodies enumerated in the table there are other churches
concerning which similar statistics are lacking, but which, in several
cases, have large numbers of adherents. The Unitarians are an important
body with (1908) 350 ministers and 345 places of worship. Most numerous,
probably, are the adherents of the Salvation Army, which with a
semi-military organization has in Great Britain alone over 60,000
officers, and "barracks," i.e. preaching stations, in almost every town.
The Brethren, generally known, from their place of origin, as the
Plymouth Brethren, have "rooms" and adherents throughout England; the
Catholic Apostolic Church ("Irvingites") have some 80 churches; the New
Jerusalem Church (Swedenborgians) had (1908) 75 "societies"; the
Christian Scientists, the Christadelphians, the British Israelites and
similar societies, such as the New and Latter House of Israel, the
Seventh Day Baptists, deserve mention. The Latter Day Saints (Mormons)
had (1908) 82 churches in Great Britain.
Roman Catholics.
Roman Catholicism in England has shown a tendency to advance, especially
among the upper and upper-middle classes. The published lists of
"converts" are, however, no safe index to actual progress; for no
equivalent statistics are available for "leakage" in the opposite
direction. The membership of the Roman Catholic Church in England is
estimated at about 2,200,000. But though the growth of the church
relatively to the population has not been particularly startling, there
can be no doubt that, since the restoration of the Roman Catholic
hierarchy in 1851, its general political and religious influence has
enormously increased. A notable feature in this has been the great
development of monastic institutions, due in large measure to the
settlement in England of the congregations expelled from France. The
Roman Catholic Church in England is organized in 15 dioceses, which are
united in a single province under the primacy of the archbishop of
Westminster. In December 1907 there were 1736 Roman Catholic churches
and stations, and the number of the clergy was returned at 3524 (see
ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH).
[Illustration: Map of ENGLAND & WALES--Section III.]
Jews.
The Jews in Great Britain, chiefly found in London and other great
towns, number (1907) about 196,000 and have some 200 synagogues; at the
head of their organization is a chief Rabbi resident in London.
Finally it may be mentioned that a small number of Englishmen, chiefly
resident in Liverpool and London, have embraced Islam; they have a
mosque at Liverpool. Various foreign churches which have numbers of
adherents settled in England have also branch churches and organizations
in the country, notably the Orthodox Eastern Church,--with a
considerable number of adherents in London, Liverpool and
Manchester,--the Lutheran, and the Armenian churches. (W. A. P.)
VII. COMMUNICATIONS
_Roads._--In England and Wales the high-roads, or roads on which wheeled
vehicles can travel, are of two classes: (1) the main roads, or great
arteries along which the main vehicular traffic of the country passes;
and (2) ordinary highways, which are by-roads serving only local areas.
The length of the main roads is about 22,000 m., and that of ordinary
highways about 96,000. The highways of England, the old coaching roads,
are among the best in the world, being generally of a beautiful
smoothness and well maintained; they vary, naturally, in different
districts, but in many even the local roads are superior to some main
roads in other countries. The supersession of the stage coach by the
railway took a vast amount of traffic away from the main roads, but
their proper maintenance did not materially suffer; and a larger
accession of traffic took place subsequently on the development of the
cycle and the motor-vehicle.
The system of road-building by private enterprise, the undertakers being
rewarded by tolls levied from vehicles, persons or animals using the
roads, was established in England in 1663, when an act of Charles II.
authorized the taking of such tolls at "turnpikes" in Hertfordshire and
Cambridgeshire. A century later, in 1767, the authorization was extended
over the whole kingdom by an act of George III. In its fulness the
system lasted just sixty years, for the first breach in it was made by
an act of George IV., in 1827, by which the chief turnpikes in London
were abolished. Further acts followed in the same direction, leading to
the gradual extinction, by due compensation of the persons interested,
of the old system, the maintenance of the roads being vested in
"turnpike trusts and highway boards," empowered to levy local rates. The
last turnpike trust ceased to exist on the 5th of November 1895, and the
final accounts in connexion with its debt were closed in 1898-1899.
Toll-gates are now met with only at certain bridges, where the right to
levy tolls is statutory or by prescription. By the Local Government Act
of 1888 the duty of maintaining main roads was imposed on the county
councils, but these bodies were enabled to make arrangements with the
respective highway authorities for their repair. Under the Local
Government Act of 1894 the duties of all the highway authorities were
transferred to the rural district councils on or before the 31st of
March 1899.
It was not until the close of the 18th century, when the period of
road-building activity already indicated set in, that English roads were
redeemed from an extraordinarily bad condition. The roads were until
then, as a rule, merely tracks, deeply worn by ages of traffic into the
semblance of ditches, and, under adverse weather conditions, impassable.
Travellers also had the risk of assault by robbers and highwaymen. As
early as 1285 a law provided for the cutting down of trees and bushes on
either side of highways, so as to deprive lawless men of cover.
Instances of legislation as regards the upkeep of roads are recorded
from time to time after this date, but (to take a single illustration)
even in the middle of the 18th century the journey from the village, as
it was then, of Paddington to London by stage occupied from 2-1/2 to 3
hours. But from 1784 to 1792 upwards of 300 acts were passed dealing
with the construction of new roads and bridges.
_Railways._--The history and development of railways in England, their
birthplace, and in Ireland and Scotland, with illustrative statistics,
are considered under the heading UNITED KINGDOM. The following list
indicates the year of foundation, termini, chief offices and
geographical sphere of the chief railways of England and Wales.
1. _Railways with Termini in London._
(a) NORTHERN.
_Great Northern_ (1846).--Terminus and offices, King's Cross. Main
line--Peterborough, Grantham, Newark, Doncaster; forming, with the
North-Eastern and North British lines, the "East Coast" route to
Scotland. Serving also the West Riding of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire,
Nottingham and other towns of the midlands, and Manchester (by running
powers over the Great Central metals). This company has so extensive a
system of running powers over other railways, and of lines held
jointly with other companies, that few of its more important express
trains from London complete their journeys entirely on the company's
own lines.
_Midland_ (1844, an amalgamation of the former North Midland, Midland
Counties, Birmingham & Derby, and other lines).--Terminus, St Pancras;
offices, Derby. Main line--Bedford, Leicester, Sheffield, Leeds and
Carlisle, affording the "Midland" route to Scotland. Serving also
Nottingham, Derby, and the principal towns of the midlands and West
Riding, and Manchester. West and North line from Bristol, Gloucester
and Birmingham to Leicester and Derby. Also an Irish section, the
Belfast and Northern Counties system being acquired in 1903. Docks at
Heysham, Lancashire; and steamship services to Belfast, &c.
_London & North-Western_ (1846, an amalgamation of the London &
Birmingham, Grand Junction, and Manchester & Birmingham
lines).--Terminus and offices, Euston. Main line--Rugby, Crewe,
Warrington, Preston, Carlisle; forming, with the Caledonian system,
the "West Coast" route to Scotland. Serves also Manchester, Liverpool
and all parts of the north-west, North Wales, Birmingham and the
neighbouring midland towns, and by joint-lines, the South Welsh
coal-fields. Maintains docks at Garston on the Mersey, a steamship
traffic with Dublin and Greenore from Holyhead, and, jointly with the
Lancashire & Yorkshire Company, a service to Belfast, &c., from
Fleetwood.
_Great Central_ (1846; until 1897, when an extension to London was
undertaken, called the Manchester, Sheffield &
Lincolnshire).--Terminus, Marylebone; offices, Manchester. Main
line--Rugby, Nottingham, Leicester, Sheffield, Manchester. The former
main line runs from Manchester and Sheffield east to Retford, thence
serving Grimsby and Hull, with branches to Lincoln, &c. The main line
reached from London by joining the line of the Metropolitan railway
near Aylesbury and following it to Harrow. Subsequently an alternative
route out of London was constructed between Neasden and Northolt,
where it joins another line, of the Great Western railway, from Acton,
and continues as a line held jointly by the two companies through
Beaconsfield and High Wycombe. Here it absorbs the old Great Western
line as far as Prince's Risborough, and continues thence to Grendon
Underwood, effecting a junction with the original main line of the
Great Central system. This line was opened for passenger traffic in
April 1906. The Great Central company owns docks at Grimsby.
(b) EASTERN.
_Great Eastern_ (1862).--Terminus and offices, Liverpool Street.
Serving Essex, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk. Joint-line with Great
Northern from March to Lincoln and Doncaster. Passenger steamship
services from Harwich to the Hook of Holland, Antwerp, Rotterdam, &c.
_London, Tilbury & Southend_ (1852).--Terminus and offices, Fenchurch
Street. Serving places on the Essex shore of the Thames estuary,
terminating at Shoeburyness.
(c) WESTERN.
_Great Western_ (1835, London to Bristol).--Terminus and offices,
Paddington. Main line--Reading, Didcot, Swindon, Bath, Bristol,
Taunton, Exeter, Plymouth, Penzance. Numerous additional main
lines--Reading to Newbury, Weymouth and the west, a new line opened in
1906 between Castle Cary and Langport effecting a great reduction in
mileage between London and Exeter and places beyond; Didcot, Oxford,
Birmingham, Shrewsbury, Chester with connexions northward, and to
North Wales; Oxford to Worcester, and Swindon to Gloucester and the
west of England; South Welsh system (through route from London via
Wootton Bassett or via Bristol, and the Severn tunnel), Newport,
Cardiff, Swansea, Milford. Steamship services to the Channel Islands
from Weymouth to Waterford, Ireland from Milford, and to Rosslare,
Ireland, from Fishguard, the route last named being opened in 1906.
The line constructed jointly with the Great Central company (as
detailed in the description above) was extended in 1910 from Ashendon
to Aynho, to form a short route to the great centres north of Oxford.
_London & South-Western_ (1839, incorporating the London & Southampton
railway of 1835).--Terminus and offices, Waterloo. Main line--Woking,
Basingstoke, Salisbury, Yeovil, Exeter, Plymouth; Woking, Guildford
and Portsmouth; Basingstoke, Winchester, Southampton, Bournemouth, &c.
Extensive connexions in Surrey, Hampshire and the south-west, as far
as North Cornwall. This company owns the great docks at Southampton,
and maintains passenger services from that port to the Channel
Islands, Havre, St Malo and Cherbourg.
(d) SOUTHERN.
_London, Brighton & South Coast_ (1846).--Termini, Victoria and London
Bridge. Serving all the coast stations from Hastings to Portsmouth,
with various lines in eastern Surrey and in Sussex. Maintains a
service of passenger steamers between Newhaven and Dieppe.
_South Eastern & Chatham_ (under a managing committee, 1899, of the
South-Eastern company, 1836, and the London, Chatham & Dover company,
1853).--Termini--Victoria, Charing Cross, Holborn Viaduct, Cannon
Street. Offices, London Bridge Station. Various lines chiefly in Kent.
Steamship services between Folkestone and Boulogne, Dover and Calais,
&c.
2. _Provincial Railways._
The two most important railway companies not possessing lines to
London are the North-Eastern and the Lancashire & Yorkshire.
_North Eastern_ (1854, amalgamating a number of systems).--Offices,
York. Main line--Leeds, Normanton and York to Darlington, Durham,
Newcastle and Berwick-on-Tweed. Connecting with the Great Northern
between Doncaster and York, and with the North British at Berwick, it
forms part of the "East Coast" route to Scotland. Serving all ports
and coast stations from Hull to Berwick, also Carlisle, &c. Owning
extensive docks at Hull, Middlesbrough, South Shields, the
Hartlepools, Blyth, &c.
_Lancashire & Yorkshire_ (1847, an amalgamation of a number of local
systems).--Offices, Manchester. Main line--Manchester, Rochdale,
Tormorden, Wakefield and Normanton, with branches to Halifax,
Bradford, Leeds, Huddersfield and other centres of the West Riding.
Extensive system in south Lancashire, connecting Manchester with
Preston and Fleetwood (where the docks and steamship services to
Ireland are worked jointly with the London & Northwestern company),
Southport, Liverpool, &c.
Among further provincial systems there should be mentioned:--
_Cambrian._--Offices, Oswestry. Whitchurch, Oswestry, Welshpool to
Barmouth and Pwllheli, Aberystwyth, &c.
_Cheshire Lines_, worked by a committee representative of the Great
Central, Great Northern and Midland Companies, and affording important
connexions between the lines of these systems and south Lancashire and
Cheshire (Godley, Stockport, Warrington, Liverpool; Manchester and
Liverpool; Manchester and Liverpool to Southport; Godley and
Manchester to Northwich and Chester, &c.).
_Furness._--Offices, Barrow-in-Furness. Carnforth, Barrow, Whitehaven,
with branches to Coniston, Windermere (Lakeside), &c. Docks at Barrow.
_North Staffordshire._--Offices, Stoke-upon-Trent. Crewe and the
Potteries, Macclesfield, &c., to Uttoxeter and Derby.
_Cross-Country Connexions._--While London is naturally the principal
focal point of the English railway system, the development of through
connexions between the chief lines by way of the metropolis is very
small. Some through trains are provided between the North-Western and
the London, Brighton & South Coast lines via Willesden Junction,
Addison Road and Clapham Junction; and a through connexion by way of
Ludgate Hill has been arranged between main line trains of the
South-Western and the Great Northern railways, but otherwise
passengers travelling through London have generally to make their own
way from one terminus to another. Certain cross-country routes,
however, are provided to connect the systems of some of the companies,
among which the following may be noticed.
(1) Through connexions with the continental services from Harwich, and
with Yarmouth and other towns of the East coast, are provided from
Yorkshire, Lancashire, &c., by way of the Great Northern and Great
Eastern Joint line from Doncaster and Lincoln to March.
(2) Through connexions between the systems of the South-Eastern &
Chatham and the Great Western companies are provided via Reading.
(3) Through connexions between the systems of the Great Central and
the Great Western companies are provided by the line connecting
Woodford and Banbury.
(4) Through connexions between the Midland and the South-Western
systems are provided (a) by the Midland and South-Western Junction
line connecting Cheltenham on the north-and-west line of the Midland
with Andover Junction on the South-Western line; and (b) by the
Somerset & Dorset line, connecting the same lines between Bath,
Templecombe and Bournemouth.
(5) The line from Shrewsbury to Craven Arms and Hereford, giving
connexion between the north and the south-west, and Wales, is worked
by the North-Western and Great Western companies.
Canals and rivers.
_Inland Navigation._--The English system of inland navigation is
confined principally to the following districts: South Lancashire, the
West Riding of Yorkshire, the Midlands, especially about Birmingham,
the Fen district and the Thames basin (especially the lower part). All
these districts are interconnected. The condition of inland
navigation, as a whole, is not satisfactory. The Fossdyke in
Lincolnshire, connecting the river Trent at Torksey with the Witham
near Lincoln, and now belonging to the Great Northern and Great
Eastern joint railways, is usually indicated as the earliest extant
canal in England, inasmuch as it was constructed by the Romans for the
purpose of drainage or water-supply, and must have been used for
navigation at an early period. But the history of canal-building in
England is usually dated from about 1760, and from the construction,
at the instance of Francis, Duke of Bridgewater, of the Bridgewater
canal in South Lancashire, now belonging to the Manchester Ship Canal
Company. The activity in canal-building which prevailed during the
later years of the 18th century was, in a measure, an earlier
counterpart of the first period of railway development, which,
proceeding subsequently along systematized lines not applied to
canal-construction, and providing obvious advantages in respect of
speed, caused railways to withdraw much traffic from canals. Some
canals and river navigations have consequently become derelict, or are
only maintained with difficulty and in imperfect condition. The inland
navigation system suffers from a want of uniformity in the size of
locks, depth of water, width of channels and other arrangements, so
that direct intercommunication between one canal and another is often
impossible in consequence; moreover, although the canals, like
railways, are owned by many separate bodies, hardly any provision has
been made, as it has in the case of railways, for such facilities as
the working of through traffic over various systems at an inclusive
charge. Lastly, the railway companies themselves have acquired control
of about 30% of the total mileage of canals in England and Wales, and
in many cases this has had a prejudicial effect on the prosperity of
canals. Notwithstanding these disabilities, there has been in modern
times a new development in the trade of some canals, born of a
realization that for certain classes of goods water-transport is
cheaper than the swifter rail-transport. Various proposals have been
made for the establishment of a single control over all inland
waterways.
The lower or estuarine courses of some of the English rivers as the
Thames, Tyne, Humber, Mersey and Bristol Avon, are among the most
important waterways in the world, as giving access for seaborne
traffic to great ports. From the Mersey the Manchester Ship Canal runs
to Manchester. The manufacturing districts of South Lancashire and the
West Riding of Yorkshire are traversed and connected by several canals
following transverse valleys of the Pennine Chain. The main line of
the Aire and Calder navigation runs from Goole by Castleford to Leeds,
whence the Leeds and Liverpool canal, running by Burnley and
Blackburn, completes the connexion between the Humber and the Mersey.
Other canals are numerous, among which may be mentioned the Sheffield
and South Yorkshire, connecting Sheffield with the Trent. The Trent
itself affords an extensive navigation, from which, at Derwent mouth,
the Trent and Mersey Canal runs near Burton and Stafford, and through
the Potteries, to the Bridgewater Canal and so to the Mersey. This
canal is owned by the North Staffordshire railway company. The river
Weaver, a tributary of the Mersey, affords a waterway of importance to
the salt-producing towns of Cheshire. The system of the Shropshire
Union railways and canal company, which is connected by lease with the
London & North-Western railway company, carries considerable traffic,
especially in the neighbourhood of Ellesmere Port. In the Black
Country and neighbourhood the numerous ramifications of the Birmingham
Canal navigations bear a large mineral traffic. This system is
connected with the rivers Severn and Trent and the canal system of the
country at large, and is controlled by the London & North-Western
company. The principal line of navigation from the Thames northward to
the midlands is that of the Grand Junction, which runs from Brentford,
is connected through London with the port of London by the Regent's
Canal, and follows closely the main line of the North-Western railway.
It connects with the Oxford Canal at Braunston in Northamptonshire,
and through this with canals to Birmingham and the midlands, and
continues to Leicester. Both the Severn up to Stourport and the Thames
up to Oxford have a fair traffic, but the Thames and Severn Canal is
not much used. There is some traffic on the navigable drainage cuts
and rivers of the Fens, but beyond these, in a broad consideration of
the waterways of England from the point of view of their commercial
importance, it is unnecessary to go.
See H. R. De Salis, _Bradshaw's Canals and Navigable Rivers of England
and Wales_ (London, 1904); _Report_ of Royal Commission on Canals
(London, 1909).
_Oversea Communications._--The chief ports for continental passenger
traffic are as follows:--
_Harwich_ to Amsterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg, Hook of Holland, Rotterdam
(Great Eastern railway); to Copenhagen and Esbjerg (Royal Danish mail
route).
_Queenborough_ to Flushing; (Zeeland Steamship company).
_Dover_ to Calais (South-Eastern & Chatham railway); to Ostend
(Belgian Royal mail steamers).
_Folkestone_ to Boulogne (South Eastern & Chatham railway).
_Newhaven_ to Dieppe (London, Brighton & South Coast railway).
_Southampton_ to Cherbourg, Havre, St Malo (South-Western railway).
The chief ports for trans-Atlantic traffic are Liverpool and
Southampton, and special trains are worked in connexion with the
steamers to and from London. The great development of harbour
accommodation at Dover early in the 20th century brought
trans-Atlantic traffic to this port also. Southampton and Liverpool
are the two greatest English ports for all oceanic passenger traffic;
but London has also a large traffic, both to European and to foreign
ports. The passenger traffic to the Norwegian ports, always very heavy
in summer, is carried on chiefly from Hull and Newcastle.
VIII. INDUSTRIES
_Agriculture._--In the agricultural returns for Great Britain, issued
annually by the government, the area of England (apart from Wales) has
been divided into two sections, "arable" and "grass," corresponding with
a former division into "corn counties" and "grazing counties," except
that Leicestershire is included not in the "grass" but in the "arable"
section. Most of the eastern part of England is "arable," while the
western and northern part is "grass," the boundary between the sections
being the western limit of Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire,
Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, and of the East Riding of
Yorkshire.
The division is thus as follows:--
_Grass Counties._ _Arable Counties._
Northumberland. Yorkshire, East Riding.
Cumberland. Lincolnshire.
Durham. Nottingham.
Yorkshire, North and West Ridings. Rutland.
Westmorland. Huntingdonshire.
Lancashire. Warwickshire.
Cheshire. Leicestershire.
Derbyshire. Northamptonshire.
Staffordshire. Cambridgeshire.
Shropshire. Norfolk.
Worcestershire. Suffolk.
Herefordshire. Bedfordshire.
Monmouthshire. Buckinghamshire.
Gloucestershire. Oxfordshire.
Wiltshire. Berkshire.
Dorsetshire. Hampshire.
Somersetshire. Hertfordshire.
Devonshire. Essex.
Cornwall. Middlesex.
Surrey.
Kent.
Sussex.
The average area under cultivation of all the counties is about .76 of
the whole area. The counties having the greatest area under
cultivation (ranging up to about nine-tenths of the whole) may be
taken to be--Leicestershire, the East Riding of Yorkshire,
Lincolnshire, Huntingdonshire, Rutland, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire
and Cambridgeshire. Those with the smallest proportional cultivated
area are Westmorland, Middlesex, Northumberland, Surrey, Cumberland,
the North and West Ridings of Yorkshire, Lancashire, Durham and
Cornwall. Geographical considerations govern these conditions to a
very great extent; thus the counties first indicated lie almost
entirely within the area of the low-lying and fertile Eastern Plain,
while the smallest areas of cultivation are found in the counties
covering the Pennine hill-system, with its high-lying uncultivated
moors. In the case of Cornwall and Cumberland the physical conditions
are similar to these; but in that of Middlesex and Surrey the
existence of large urban areas belonging or adjacent to London must be
taken into account. These also affect the proportion of cultivated
areas in the other home counties. The presence of a widespread urban
population must also be remembered in the case of Lancashire and the
West Riding of Yorkshire.
Distribution of crops.
The geographical distribution of the principal crops, &c., may now be
followed. The grain crops grown in England consist almost exclusively
of wheat, barley and oats. Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex,
Cambridgeshire and the East Riding of Yorkshire are especially
productive in all these; the North and West Ridings of Yorkshire
produce a notable quantity of barley and oats; and the oat-crops in
the following counties deserve mention--Devonshire, Hampshire,
Lancashire, Cumberland, Cornwall, Cheshire and Sussex. There is no
county, however, in which the single crop of wheat or barley stands
pre-eminently above others, and in the case of the upland counties of
Cumberland, Westmorland and Derbyshire, the metropolitan county of
Middlesex, and Monmouthshire, these crops are quite insignificant. In
proportion to their area, the counties specially productive of wheat
are Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and
Essex; and of barley, Norfolk, Suffolk and the East Riding of
Yorkshire. In fruit-growing, Kent takes the first place, but a good
quantity is grown in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Essex, in
Worcestershire and other western counties, where, as in Herefordshire,
Somerset and Devon, the apple is especially cultivated and cider is
largely produced. Kent is again pre-eminent in the growth of hops;
indeed this practice and that of fruit-growing give the scenery of the
county a strongly individual character. Hop-growing extends from Kent
into the neighbouring parts of Sussex and Surrey, where, however, it
is much less important; it is also practised to a considerable degree
in a group of counties of the midlands and west--Herefordshire,
Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Shropshire. Market-gardening is
carried on most extensively on suitable lands in the neighbourhood of
the great areas of urban population; thus the open land remaining in
Middlesex is largely devoted to this industry. From the Channel and
Scilly Islands, vegetables, especially seasonable vegetables, and also
flowers which, owing to the peculiar climatic conditions of these
islands, come early to perfection, are imported to the London market.
Considering the crops not hitherto specified, it may be indicated that
turnips and swedes form the chief green crops in most districts;
potatoes, mangels, beans and peas are also commonly grown, Beyond the
three chief grain crops, only a little rye is grown. The cultivation
of flax is almost extinct, but it is practised in a few districts,
such as the East and West Ridings of Yorkshire.
Livestock.
The counties in which the greatest proportion of the land is devoted
to permanent pasture may be judged roughly from the list of "grass
counties" already given. Derbyshire, Leicestershire, the midland
counties generally, and Somersetshire, have the highest proportion,
and the counties of the East Anglian seaboard the lowest. But with
lands thus classified heath, moor and hill pastures are not included;
and the greatest areas of these are naturally found in the counties of
the Pennines and the Lake District, especially in Northumberland,
Cumberland, Westmorland and the North and West Ridings of Yorkshire.
There is also plenty of hill-pasture in the south-western counties
(from Hampshire and Berkshire westward), especially in Devonshire,
Cornwall and Somersetshire, and also in Monmouthshire and along the
Welsh marches, on the Cotteswold Hills, &c. In all these localities
sheep are extensively reared, especially in Northumberland, but on the
other hand in Lincolnshire the numbers of sheep are roughly equal to
those in the northern county. Other counties in which the numbers are
especially large are Devonshire, Kent, Cumberland and the North and
West Ridings of Yorkshire. Cattle are reared in great numbers in
Lincolnshire, Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire, Devonshire,
Somersetshire and Cornwall; but the numbers of both cattle and sheep
are in no English county (save Middlesex) to be regarded as
insignificant. Pigs are bred most extensively in Suffolk, Norfolk and
Lincolnshire and in Somersetshire.
Woodlands.
It is often asserted that the scenery of rural England is of its kind
unrivalled. Except in open lands like the Fens, the peculiarly rich
appearance of the country is due to the closely-divided fields with
their high, luxuriant hedges, and especially to the profuse growth of
trees. There is not, however, any large continuous forested tract.
Certain areas still bear the name of forest where there is now none;
the term here possesses an historical significance, in many cases
indicating former royal game-preserves. Great areas of England were
once under forest. The clearing of land for agricultural purposes, the
use of wood for the prosecution of the industries of an increasing
population, and other causes, have led to the gradual disforesting of
large tracts. There are still, however, some small well-defined
woodland areas. The New Forest in Hampshire, the Forest of Dean in
Gloucestershire, and Epping Forest, which is preserved as a public
recreation-ground by the City of London, are the most notable
instances. The counties comprising the greatest proportional amount of
woodland fall into two distinct groups--Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and
Kent, with Berkshire and Buckinghamshire; Monmouth, Herefordshire and
Gloucestershire. Cambridgeshire, lying almost wholly within the area
of the Fens, has the smallest proportional area of woodland of any
English county.
The number of persons engaged in agriculture in England and Wales was
found by the census of 1901 to be 1,192,167; the total showing a
steady decrease (e.g. from 1,352,389 in 1881), which is especially
marked in the case of females. But the decrease lies mainly in the
number of agricultural labourers; the number of farmers is not notably
affected, and the increasing substitution of machinery for manual
labour must be taken into consideration. The average size of holdings
in England may be taken approximately as 66 acres, the average in 1903
being 66.1, whereas in 1895 it was 65.3.
(See also the article AGRICULTURE.)
[Illustration: Map of ENGLAND & WALES--Section IV.]
Sea fisheries.
_Fisheries._--All the seas round Britain are rich in fish, and there
are important fishing stations at intervals on all the English coasts,
but those on the east coast are by far the most numerous. On an
estimate of weight and value of the fish landed, Grimsby at the mouth
of the Humber in Lincolnshire, stands pre-eminent as a fishing port.
For example, the fish landed there in 1903 were of nearly four times
the value of those landed at Hull, which was the second in order of
all the English stations. Next in importance stand Lowestoft, Yarmouth
and North Shields, Boston and Scarborough, and, among a large number
of minor fishing stations, Hartlepool and Ramsgate. Great quantities
of fish are also landed at the riverside market of Billingsgate in
London, but the conditions here are exceptional, the landings being
effected by carrier steamers, plying from certain of the fishing
fleets, and not taking part in the actual process of fishing. On the
south coast Newlyn ranks in the same category with Boston; at Plymouth
considerable catches are landed; and Brixham ranks alongside the last
ports named on the east coast. The chief fishing centres of the
English Channel are thus seen to belong to the coast of Devonshire and
Cornwall. On the west coast the Welsh port of Milford takes the first
place, while Swansea and Cardiff have a considerable fishing industry,
surpassed, however, by that of Fleetwood in Lancashire. Liverpool also
ranks among the more important centres. As a comparison of the
production of the east, south and west coast fisheries, an average may
be taken of the annual catches recorded over a term of years. In the
ten years 1894-1903 this average was 6,985,588 cwt. for the east coast
stations, 669,759 cwt. for those of the south coast, and 884,932 for
those of the west (including the Welsh stations).
Distinctions may be drawn, as will be seen, between the nature and
methods of the fisheries on the various coasts, and the relative
prosperity of the industry from year to year cannot be considered as a
whole. Thus in the period considered the recorded maximum weight of
fish landed at the east coast ports was 9,539,114 cwt. in 1903 (the
value being returned as L5,721,105); whereas on the south coast it was
736,599 cwt. in 1899, and on the west 1,117,164 cwt. in 1898.
Considered as a whole, the individual fish, by far the most important
in the English fisheries, is the herring, for which Yarmouth and
Lowestoft are the chief ports. The next in order are haddock, cod and
plaice, and the east coast fisheries return the greatest bulk of these
also. But whereas the south coast has the advantage over the west in
the herring and plaice fisheries, the reverse is the case in the
haddock and cod fisheries, haddock, in particular, being landed in
very small quantities at the south coast ports. Mackerel, however, are
landed principally at the southern ports, and the pilchard is taken
almost solely off the south-western coast. A fish of special
importance to the west coast fisheries is the hake. Among shell-fish,
crabs and oysters are taken principally off the east coast; the oyster
beds in the shallow water off the north Kent and Essex coasts, as at
Whitstable and Colchester, being famous. Lobsters are landed in
greatest number on the south coast.
The number of vessels of every sort employed in fishing was returned
in 1903 as 9721, and the number of persons employed as 41,539, of whom
34,071 were regular fishermen. The development of the steam
trawling-vessel is illustrated by the increase in numbers of these
vessels from 480 in 1893 to 1135 in 1903. They belong chiefly to North
Shields, Hull, Grimsby, Yarmouth and Lowestoft. There are a
considerable number on the west coast, but very few on the south.
These vessels have a wide range of operations, pursuing their work as
far as the Faeroe Islands and Iceland on the one hand, and the Bay of
Biscay and the Portuguese coast on the other.
Freshwater fisheries.
The English freshwater fisheries are not of great commercial
importance, nor, from the point of view of sport, are the salmon and
trout fisheries as a whole of equal importance with those of Scotland,
Ireland or Wales. The English salmon and trout fisheries may be
geographically classified thus: (1) _North-western division_, Rivers
Eden, Derwent, Lune, Ribble: (2)_North-eastern_, Coquet, Tyne, Wear,
Tees, &c.; (3) _Western_, Dee, Usk, Wye, Severn; (4) _South-western_,
Taw, Torridge, Camel, Tamar, Dart, Exe, Teign, &c.; (5) _Southern_,
Avon and Stour (Christchurch) and the Itchin and other famous trout
streams of Hampshire. The rivers of the midlands and east are of
little importance to salmon-fishers, though the Trent carries a few,
and in modern times attempts have been made to rehabilitate the Thames
as a salmon river. The trout-fishing in the upper Thames and many of
its tributaries (such as the Kennet, Colne and Lea) is famous. But
many of the midland, eastern and south-eastern rivers, the Norfolk
Broads, &c., are noted for their coarse fish.
_Mining._--Although the conditions of mining have, naturally,
undergone a revolutionary development in comparatively modern times,
yet some indications of England's mineral wealth are found at various
periods of early history. The exploitation of tin in the south-west is
commonly referred back to the time of the Phoenician sea-traders, and
in the first half of the 13th century England supplied Europe with
this metal. At a later period tin and lead were regarded as the
English minerals of highest commercial value; whereas to-day both, but
especially lead, have fallen far from this position. The Roman working
of lead and iron has been clearly traced in many districts, as has
that of salt in Cheshire. The subsequent development of the iron
industry is full of interest, as, while extending vastly, it has
entirely lapsed in certain districts. However long before it may have
been known to a few, the use of coal for smelting iron did not become
general till the later part of the 18th century, and down to that
time, iron-working was confined to districts where timber was
available for the supply of the smelting medium, charcoal. Thus the
industry centred chiefly upon the Weald (Sussex and Kent), the Forest
of Dean in Gloucestershire, and the Birmingham district; but from the
first district named it afterwards wholly departed, following the
development of the coal-fields. These have, in some cases, a record
from a fairly early date; thus, an indication of the Northumberland
coal-supply occurs in a charter of 1234, and the Yorkshire coal-field
is first mentioned early in the following century. But how little this
source of wealth was developed appears from an estimate of the total
production of coal, which gives in 1700 only 2,612,000 tons, and, in
1800, 10,080,000 tons, against the returned total (for the United
Kingdom) of 225,181,300 tons in 1900.
The chief minerals raised in England, as stated in the annual home
office report on mines and quarries, appear in order of value, thus:
coal, iron ore, clay and shale, sandstone, limestone, igneous rocks,
salt, tin ore. Coal surpasses all the other minerals to such an extent
that, taking the year 1903 as a type, when the total value of the
mineral output was very nearly L70,000,000, that of coal is found to
approach L61,000,000.
Coal-fields.
The position of the various principal coal-fields has been indicated
in dealing with the physical geography of England, but the grouping of
the fields adopted in the official report may be given here, together
with an indication of the counties covered by each, and the percentage
of coal to the total bulk raised in each county. These figures are
furnished as a general demonstration of the geographical distribution
of the industry, but are based on the returns for 1903.
+----------------+-----------------------------+-------------+
| Coal-fields. | Counties. | Percentage. |
+----------------+-----------------------------+-------------+
| Northern | Durham | 22.37 |
| | Northumberland | 7.48 |
+----------------+-----------------------------+-------------+
| | Yorkshire (West Riding)[20] | 17.76 |
| Yorkshire, &c. | Derbyshire | 9.40 |
| | Nottinghamshire | 5.41 |
+----------------+-----------------------------+-------------+
| Lancashire | Lancashire | 15.26 |
| and Cheshire | Cheshire | 0.25 |
|................| Leicestershire | 1.31 |
| | Shropshire | 0.50 |
| Midland[21] | Staffordshire | 8.10 |
| | Warwickshire | 2.12 |
| | Worcestershire | 0.44 |
+----------------+-----------------------------+-------------+
| | Cumberland | 1.37 |
| | Gloucestershire[22] | 0.87 |
| Small detached | Somersetshire | 0.62 |
| | Westmorland | 0.07 |
| | Yorkshire (North Riding)[20]| .. |
+----------------+-----------------------------+-------------+
| | Monmouthshire[23] | 6.67 |
+----------------+-----------------------------+-------------+
The coal-fields on the eastern flank of the Pennines, therefore,
namely, the Northern and the Yorkshire, are seen to be by far the most
important in England. The carrying trade in coal is naturally very
extensive, and may be considered here. The principal ports for the
shipping of coal for export, set down in order of the amount shipped,
also fall very nearly into topographical groups, thus:--Newcastle,
South Shields and Blyth in the Northern District; Newport in
Monmouthshire; Sunderland in the Northern District, Hull, Grimsby and
Goole on the Humber, which forms the eastern outlet of the Yorkshire
coal-fields; Hartlepool, in the Northern District, and Liverpool. The
tonnage annually shipped ranges from about 4-1/2 millions of tons in
the case of Newcastle to some half a million in the case of Liverpool;
but the export trade of Cardiff in South Wales far surpasses that of
any English port, being more than three times that of Newcastle in
1903. The coastwise carrying trade is also important, the bulk being
shared about equally by Sunderland, Newcastle, South Shields and
Cardiff, while Liverpool has also a large share. Of the whole amount
of coal received coastwise at English and Welsh ports (about 13-1/2
million tons), London received considerably over one-half (nearly 8
million tons in 1903). The railways having the heaviest coal traffic
are the North-Eastern, which monopolizes the traffic of Northumberland
and Durham; the Midland, commanding the Derbyshire, Yorkshire and East
Midland traffic, and some of the Welsh; the London & North Western,
whose principal sources are the Lancashire, Staffordshire and South
Welsh districts; the Great Western and the Taff Vale (South Welsh),
with the Great Central, Lancashire & Yorkshire and Great Northern
systems.
In the face of railway competition, several of the canals maintain a
fair traffic in coal, for which they are eminently suitable--the
system of the Birmingham navigation, the Aire and Calder navigation of
Yorkshire, and the Leeds and Liverpool navigation have the largest
shares in this trade.
Iron.
The richest iron-mining district in England and in the United Kingdom
is the Cleveland district of the North Riding of Yorkshire. It
produces over two-fifths of the total amount of ore raised in the
Kingdom, and not much less than one-half of that raised in England.
The richness of the ore (about 30% of metal) is by no means so great
as the red haematite ore found in Cumberland and north Lancashire
(Furness district, &c.). Here the percentage is over 50, but the ore,
though the richest found in the kingdom, is less plentiful, about
1-1/2 million tons being raised in 1903 as against more than 5-1/2
millions in Cleveland. There is also a considerable working of brown
iron ore at various points in Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire and
Leicestershire; with further workings of less importance in
Staffordshire and several other districts. The total amount of ore
raised in England is about 12-1/2 million tons, but it is not so high,
in some iron-fields, as formerly. Some of the lesser deposits have
been worked out, and even in the rich Furness fields it has been found
difficult to pursue the ore. The import of ore (the bulk coming from
Spain) has consequently increased, and the ports where the principal
import trade is carried on are those which form the principal outlets
of the iron-working districts of Cleveland and Furness, namely
Middlesbrough and Barrow-in-Furness.
The geographical distribution of the remaining more important English
minerals may be passed in quicker review. Of the metals, the
production of copper is a lapsing industry, confined to Cornwall. For
the production of lead the principal counties are Derbyshire, Durham
and Stanhope, but the industry is not extensive, and is confined to a
few places in each county. Quarrying for limestone, clay and sandstone
is general in most parts. For limestone the principal localities are
in Durham, Derbyshire and Yorkshire, while for chalk-quarrying Kent is
pre-eminent among a group of south-eastern counties, including
Hampshire, Sussex and Surrey, with Essex. Fireclay is largely raised
from coal-mines, while, among special clays, there is a considerable
production of china and potter's clays in Cornwall, Devonshire and
Dorsetshire. As regards igneous rocks, the Charnwood Forest quarries
of Leicestershire, and those of Cornwall, are particularly noted for
their granite. Slate is worked in Cornwall and Devon, and also in
Lancashire and Cumberland, where, in the Lake District, there are
several large quarries. Salt, obtained principally from brine but also
as rock-salt, is an important object of industry in Cheshire, the
output from that county and Staffordshire exceeding a million tons
annually. In Worcestershire, Durham and Yorkshire salt is also
produced from brine.
The total number of persons in any way occupied in connexion with
mines and quarries in England and Wales in 1901 was 805,185; the
number being found to increase rapidly, as from 528,474 in 1881.
Coal-mines alone occupied 643,654, and to development in this
direction the total increase is chiefly due. The number of ironstone
and other mines decreased in the period noticed from 55,907 to 31,606.
_Manufacturing Industries._--There are of course a great number of
important industries which have a general distribution throughout the
country, being more or less fully developed here or there in accordance
with the requirements of each locality. But in specifying the principal
industries of any county, it is natural to consider those which have an
influence more than local on its prosperity. In England, then, two broad
classes of industry may be taken up for primary consideration--the
textile and the metal. Long after textile and other industries had been
flourishing in the leading states of the continent, in the Netherlands,
Flanders and France, England remained, as a whole, an agricultural and
pastoral country, content to export her riches in wool, and to import
them again, greatly enhanced in value, as clothing. It is not to be
understood that there were no manufacturing industries whatever. Rough
cloth, for example, was manufactured for home consumption. But from
Norman times the introduction of foreign artisans, capable of
establishing industries which should produce goods fit for distant sale,
occupied the attention of successive rulers. Thus the plantation of
Flemish weavers in East Anglia, especially at the towns of Worstead (to
which is attributed the derivation of the term worsted) and Norwich,
dates from the 12th century. The industry, changing locality, like many
others, in sympathy with the changes in modern conditions, has long been
practically extinct in this district. Then, when religious persecution
drove many of the industrial population of the west of Europe away from
the homes of their birth, they liberally repaid English hospitality by
establishing their own arts in the country, and teaching them to the
inhabitants. Thus religious liberty formed part of the foundation of
England's industrial greatness. Then came the material agent, machinery
propelled by steam. The invention of the steam engine, following quickly
upon that of the carding machine, the spinning jenny, and other
ingenious machinery employed in textile manufactures, gave an
extraordinary impulse to their development, and, with them, that of
kindred branches of industry. At the basis of all of them was England's
wealth in coal. The vast development of industries in England during the
19th century may be further correlated with certain events in the
general history of the time. Insular England was not affected by the
disturbing influences of the Napoleonic period in any such degree as was
continental Europe. Such conditions carried on the work of British
inventors in helping to develop industries so strongly that
manufacturers were able to take full advantage of the opportunities
offered by the American Civil War (in spite of the temporary disability
it entailed upon the cotton industry) and by the Franco-German War.
These wars tended to paralyse industries in the countries affected,
which were thus forced to English markets to buy manufactured
commodities. That England, not possessing the raw material, became the
seat of the cotton manufacture, was owing to the ingenuity of her
inventors. It was not till the later part of the 18th century, when a
series of inventions, unparalleled in the annals of industry, followed
each other in quick succession, that the cotton manufacture took real
root in the country, gradually eclipsing that of other European nations,
although a linen manufacture in Lancashire had acquired some prominence
as early as the 16th century. But though the superior excellence of
their machinery enabled Englishmen to start in the race of competition,
it was the discovery of the new motive power, drawn from coal, which
made them win the race. In 1815 the total quantity of raw cotton
imported into the United Kingdom was not more than 99 millions of
pounds, which amount had increased to 152 millions of pounds in 1820,
and rose further to 229 millions in 1825, so that there was considerably
more than a doubling of the imports in ten years.
Textiles.
The geographical analysis of the cotton industry in England is simple.
It belongs almost entirely to south Lancashire--to Manchester and the
great industrial towns in its neighbourhood. The industry has extended
into the adjacent parts of Cheshire, the West Riding of Yorkshire and
Derbyshire. The immediate neighbourhood of a coal-supply influenced
the geographical settlement of this industry, like others; and the
importance to the manufacture of a moist climate, such as is found on
the western slope of the Pennines (in contradistinction to the
eastern), must also be considered. The excess of the demand of the
factories over the supply of raw material has become a remarkable
feature of the industry in modern times.
The distribution of the woollen industries peculiarly illustrates the
changes which have taken place since the early establishment of
manufacturing industries in England. It has been seen how completely
the industry has forsaken East Anglia. Similarly, this industry was of
early importance along the line of the Cotteswold Hills, from Chipping
Camden to Stroud and beyond, as also in some towns of Devonshire and
Cornwall, but though it survives in the neighbourhood of Stroud, the
importance of this district is far surpassed by that of the West
Riding of Yorkshire, where the woollen industry stands pre-eminent
among the many which, as already indicated, have concentrated there.
As the cotton industry has in some degree extended from Lancashire
into the West Riding, so has the woollen from the West Riding into a
few Lancastrian towns, such as Rochdale. Among other textile
industries attaching to definite localities may be mentioned the silk
manufacture of eastern Staffordshire and Cheshire, as at Congleton and
Macclesfield; and the hosiery and lace manufactures of
Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire.
Metal-working.
The metal-working industries also follow a geographical distribution,
mainly governed by the incidence of the coal-fields, as well as by
that of the chief districts for the production of iron-ore already
indicated, such as the Cleveland and Durham and the Furness districts.
But the district most intimately connected with every branch of this
industry, from engineering and the manufacture of tools, &c., to
working in the precious metals, is the "Black Country" and Birmingham
district of Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. Apart from
this district, large quantities of iron and steel are produced in the
manufacturing areas of Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire,
and here, as in the Black Country, are found certain centres
especially noted for the production of an individual class of goods,
such as Sheffield for its cutlery. There is, further, a large
engineering industry in the London district; and important
manufactures of agricultural implements are found at many towns of
East Anglia and in other agricultural localities. Birmingham and
Coventry may be specially mentioned as centres of the motor and cycle
building industry. The establishment of their engineering and other
workshops at certain centres by the great railway companies has
important bearing on the concentration of urban population. For
example, by this means the London & North Western and the Great
Western companies have created large towns in Crewe and Swindon
respectively.
Certain other important industries may be localized. Thus, the
manufacture of china and pottery, although widespread, is primarily
identified with Staffordshire, where an area comprising Stoke and a
number of contiguous towns actually bears the name of the Potteries
(q.v.). Derby has a similar fame, while the manufacture of glass,
important in Leeds and elsewhere in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and
in the London district, centres peculiarly upon a single town in South
Lancashire--St Helens. Finally, the bootmakers of Northamptonshire (at
Wellingborough, Rushden, &c.), and the straw-plaiters of Bedfordshire
(at Luton and Dunstable), deserve mention among localized industrial
communities.
_Occupations of the People._--The occupations of the people may be so
considered as to afford a conception of the relative extent of the
industries already noticed, and their importance in relation to other
occupations. The figures to be given are those of the census of 1901,
and embrace males and females of 10 years of age and upwards. The
textile manufactures occupied a total of 994,668 persons, of which the
cotton industry occupied 529,131. A high proportion of female labour is
characteristic of each branch of this industry, the number of females
employed being about half as many again as that of males (the proportion
was 1.47 to 1 in 1901). The metal industries of every sort occupied
1,116,202; out of which those employed in engineering (including the
building of all sorts of vehicles) numbered 741,346. Of the other broad
classes of industry already indicated, the manufacture of boots and
shoes occupied 229,257, and the pottery and glass manufactures 90,193.
For the rest, the numbers of persons occupied in agriculture has been
quoted as 1,192,167; and of those occupied in mining as 805,185. Among
occupations not already detailed, those of the male population include
transport of every sort (1,094,301), building and other works of
construction (1,042,864), manufacture of articles of human consumption,
lodging, &c. (774,291), commerce, banking, &c. (530,685), domestic
service, &c. (304,195), professional occupations (311,618). The service
of government in every branch occupied 171,687. Female workers were
occupied to the number of 1,664,381 in domestic service generally.
Tailoring and the textile clothing industries and trade generally
occupied 602,881; teaching 172,873; nursing and other work in
institutions 104,036; and the civil service, clerkships and similar
occupations 82,635.
IX. TERRITORIAL DIVISIONS, &C.
For various administrative and other purposes England and Wales have
been divided, at different times from the Saxon period onwards, into a
series of divisions, whose boundaries have been adjusted as each
purpose demanded, without much attempt to establish uniformity.
Therefore, although the methods of local government are detailed below
(Section X.), and other administrative arrangements are described under
the various headings dealing with each subject, it is desirable to give
here, for ease of reference and distinction, a schedule of the various
areas into which England and Wales are divided. The areas here given,
excepting the Poor Law Union, are those utilized in the Census Returns
(see the General Report, 1901).
_England and Wales; Areas._
County (ancient or geographical).
Parliamentary / Division.
Areas \ Borough.
/ Administrative County.
| County Borough. \ (City,
Administrative | Municipal Borough. > town)
Areas < Urban District (other than borough). /
| Rural District.
| Civil Parish.
\ Poor Law Union.
/ County Court Circuit.
Judicial Areas < County Court District.
\ Petty Sessional Division
Ecclesiastical / Province.
Areas < Diocese.
\ Parish
/ Division.
Registration < County.
Areas | District.
\ Subdistrict.
The ancient counties were superseded for most practical purposes by the
administrative counties created by the Local Government Act of 1888. The
ancient division, however, besides being maintained in general speech
and usage, forms the basis on which the system of distribution of
parliamentary representation now in force was constructed. The
Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 made a new division of the country into
county and borough constituencies. All the English counties, with the
exception of Rutland, are divided into two or more constituencies, each
returning one member, the number of English county parliamentary areas
being 234. In Wales eight smaller or less populous counties form each
one parliamentary constituency, while the four larger are divided, the
number of Welsh county parliamentary areas being 19. The number of
county areas for parliamentary purposes in England and Wales is thus
253, and the total number of their representatives is the same. Outside
the county constituencies are the parliamentary boroughs. Of these there
are 135 in England, one of them, Monmouth district, being made up of
three contributory boroughs, while many are divided into several
constituencies, the number of borough parliamentary areas in England
being 205, of which 61 are in the metropolis. Of the 205 borough
constituencies, 184 return each one member, and 21 return each two
members, so that the total number of English borough members is 226.
Besides the county and borough members there are in England five
university members, namely, two for Oxford, two for Cambridge and one
for London. In Wales there are 10 borough parliamentary areas, all of
which, except Merthyr Tydfil and Swansea town division, consist of
groups of several contributory boroughs. Each Welsh borough constituency
returns one member, except Merthyr Tydfil, which returns two, so that
there are eleven Welsh borough members.
The administrative counties, created in 1888, number 62, each having a
county council. They sometimes coincide in area with the ancient
counties of the same name, but generally differ, in a greater or less
degree, for the following reasons--(1) in some cases an ancient county
comprises (approximately) two or more administrative counties, in the
formation of which names of some ancient divisions were preserved,
thus:--
_Ancient County._ _Administrative County._
Cambridgeshire / Cambridge.
\ Isle of Ely.
Hampshire / Southampton.
\ Isle of Wight.
/ Parts of Holland.
Lincolnshire < Parts of Kesteven.
\ Parts of Lindsey.
Northamptonshire / Northampton.
\ Soke of Peterborough.
Suffolk / East Suffolk.
\ West Suffolk.
Sussex / East Sussex.
\ West Sussex.
/ East Riding.
Yorkshire < North Riding.
\ West Riding.
The Scilly Islands, which form part of the ancient county of Cornwall,
without being ranked as an administrative county, are provided with a
county council and have separate administration. (2) The administrative
county of London has an area taken entirely from the counties of
Middlesex, Kent and Surrey. (3) All boroughs which on June 1, 1888, had
a population of not less than 50,000, boroughs which were already
counties having a population of not less than 20,000, and a few others,
were formed into separate administrative areas, with the name of county
boroughs. Of these there were originally 61, but their number
subsequently increased. (4) Provision was made by the act of 1888 for
including entirely within one administrative county each of such urban
districts as were situated in more than one ancient county.
The various urban and rural districts are described below (Section X.).
The _Civil Parish_ is defined (Poor Law Amendment Act 1866) as "a place
for which a separate poor-rate is or can be made," but the parish
council has local administrative functions beyond the administration of
the poor law. The civil parish has become more or less divorced in
relationship from the _Ecclesiastical Parish_ (a division which probably
served in early times for administrative purposes also), owing to
successive independent alterations in the boundaries of both (see
PARISH). _Poor-law unions_ are groups of parishes for the local
administration of the Poor Laws. Within the unions the local poor-law
authorities are the _Board of Guardians_. In rural districts the
functions of these boards are, under the Local Government Act of 1894,
performed by the district councils, and in other places their
constitution is similar to that of the urban and district councils (see
POOR LAW).
_Registration districts_ are generally, but not invariably, coextensive
with unions of the same name. These districts are divided into
sub-districts, within which the births and deaths are registered by
registrars appointed for that purpose. _Registration counties_ are
groups of registration districts, and their boundaries differ more or
less from those both of the ancient and the administrative counties. In
England and Wales there are eleven registration divisions, consisting of
groups of registration counties (see REGISTRATION). (O. J. R. H.)
X. LOCAL GOVERNMENT
The Reform Act of 1832 was the real starting-point for the overhauling
of English local government. For centuries before, from the reign of
Edward III., under a number of statutes and commissions, the
administrative work in the counties had been in the hands of the country
gentlemen and the clergy, acting as justices of the peace, and sitting
in petty sessions and quarter sessions. Each civil or "poor law" parish
was governed by the vestry and the overseers of the poor, dating from
the Poor Law of 1601; the vestry, which dealt with general affairs,
being presided over by the rector, and having the churchwardens as its
chief officials. In 1782 Gilbert's Act introduced the grouping of
parishes for poor law purposes, and boards of guardians appointed by the
justices of the peace. The municipal boroughs (246 in England and Wales
in 1832) were governed by mayor, aldermen, councillors and a close body
of burgesses or freemen, a narrow oligarchy. Reform began with the Poor
Law Amendment Act of 1834, grouping the parishes into Unions, making the
boards of guardians mainly elective, and creating a central poor law
board in London. The Municipal Corporations Act followed in 1835, giving
all ratepayers the local franchise. And as a result of the failure of
the Public Health Board established in 1848, the royal commission of
1869-1871 led to the establishment in 1871 of the Local Government Board
as a central supervising body. Meanwhile, the school boards resulting
from the Education Act of 1870 brought local government also into the
educational system; and the Public Health Act of 1875 put further duties
on the local authorities. By 1888 a new state of chaos had grown up as
the result of the multiplication of bodies, and the new Redistribution
Act of 1885 paved the way for a further reorganization of local matters
by the Local Government Act of 1888, followed by that of 1894. In
London, which required separate treatment, a similar process had been
going on. The Metropolis Management Act of 1855 established (outside the
city) two classes of parishes--the first class with vestries of their
own, the second class grouped under district boards elected by the
component vestries; and the Metropolitan Board of Works (abolished in
1888), elected by the vestries and the district boards, was made the
central authority.
In 1867 the Metropolitan Asylums Board took over its work from the
metropolitan boards of guardians. See further CHARITY AND CHARITIES,
PUBLIC HEALTH, EDUCATION, JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, VESTRY, &c.
The system of local government now existing in England (see also the
article LOCAL GOVERNMENT) may be said to have been founded in 1888, when
the Local Government Act of that year was passed. Since then the entire
system of the government of districts and parishes has been reorganized
with due regard to the preceding legislation. The largest area of local
government is the county; next to that the sanitary district, urban or
rural, including under this head municipal boroughs, all of which are
urban districts. The parish is, speaking generally, the smallest area,
though, as will hereafter be seen, part of a parish may be a separate
area for certain purposes; and there may be united districts or parishes
for certain purposes. It will be convenient to follow this order in the
present article. But before doing so, it should be pointed out that all
local bodies in England are to some extent subject to the control of
central authorities, such as the privy council, the home office, the
Board of Agriculture, the Board of Trade, the Board of Education or the
Local Government Board.
The county and the county council.
_The Administrative County._--The administrative county includes all
places within its area, with two important exceptions. The first of
these consists of the county borough. The second is the quarter sessions
borough, which forms part of the county for certain specified purposes
only. But the county includes all other places, such as liberties and
franchises, which before 1888 were exempt from contribution to county
rate. For each administrative county a county council is elected. For
purposes of election the entire county is divided into divisions
corresponding to the wards of a municipal borough, and one councillor is
elected for each electoral division.
County council elections.
The electors are the county electors, i.e. in a borough the persons
enrolled as burgesses, and in the rest of the county the persons who are
registered as county electors, i.e. those persons who possess in a
county the same qualification as burgesses must have in a borough, and
are registered.
The qualification of a burgess or county elector is substantially the
occupation of rated property within the borough or county, residence
during a qualifying period of twelve months within the borough or
county, and payment of rates for the qualifying property. A person so
qualified is entitled to be enrolled as a burgess, or registered as a
county elector (as the case may be), unless he is alien, has during
the qualifying period received union or parochial relief or other
alms, or is disentitled under some act of parliament such as the
Corrupt Practices Act, the Felony Act, &c. The lists of burgesses and
county electors are prepared annually by the overseers of each parish
in the borough or county, and are revised by the revising barrister at
courts holden by him for the purpose in September or October of each
year. When revised they are sent to the town clerk of the borough, or
to the clerk of the peace of the county, as the case may be, by whom
they are printed. The lists are conclusive of the right to vote at an
election, although on election petition involving a scrutiny the vote
of a person disqualified by law may be struck off, notwithstanding the
inclusion of his name in a list of voters.
The qualification of a county councillor is similar to that required
of a councillor in a municipal borough, with some modifications. A
person may be qualified in any one of the following ways: viz. by
being (1) enrolled as a county elector, and possessed of a property
qualification consisting of the possession of real or personal
property to the amount of L1000 in a county having four or more
divisions, or of L500 in any other county, _or_ the being rated to the
poor rate on an annual value of L30 in a county having four or more
divisions, or of L15 in any other county; (2) enrolled in the
non-resident list, and possessed of the same property qualification
(the non-resident list contains the names of persons who are qualified
for enrolment in all respects save residence in the county or within 7
m. thereof, and are actually resident beyond the 7 m. and within 15
m.); (3) entitled to elect to the office of county councillor (for
this qualification no property qualification is required, but the
office of a councillor elected on this qualification only becomes
vacant if for six months he ceases to reside within the county); (4) a
peer owning property in the county; (5) registered as a parliamentary
voter in respect of the ownership of property in the county. Clerks in
holy orders and ministers of religion are not disqualified as they are
for being borough councillors, but in other respects the persons
disqualified to be elected for a county are the same as those
disqualified to be elected for a borough. Such disqualifications
include the holding of any office or place of profit under the council
other than the office of chairman, and the being concerned or
interested in any contract or employment with, by or on behalf of
the council. Women, other than married women, are eligible.
[Illustration: Map of ENGLAND & WALES--Section V.]
County councillors are elected for a term of three years, and at the
end of that time they retire together. The ordinary day of election is
the 8th March, or some day between the 1st and 8th March fixed by the
council. Candidates are nominated in writing by a nomination paper
signed by a proposer and seconder, and subscribed by eight other
assenting county electors of the division; and in the event of there
being more valid nominations than vacancies a poll has to be taken in
the manner prescribed by the Ballot Act 1872. Corrupt and illegal
practices at the election are forbidden by a statute passed in the
year 1894, which imposes heavy penalties and disqualifications for the
offences which it creates. These offences include not only treating,
undue influence, bribery and personation, but certain others, of which
the following are the chief. Payment on account of the conveyance of
electors to or from the poll; payment for any committee room in excess
of a prescribed number; the incurring of expenses in and about the
election beyond a certain maximum; employing, for the conveyance of
electors to or from the poll, hackney carriages or carriages kept for
hire; payments for bands, flags, cockades, &c.; employing for payment
persons at the election beyond the prescribed number; printing and
publishing bills, placards or posters which do not disclose the name
and address of the printer or publisher; using as committee rooms or
for meetings any licensed premises, or any premises where food or
drink is ordinarily sold for consumption on the premises, or any club
premises where intoxicating liquor is supplied to members. In the
event of an illegal practice, payment, employment or hiring, committed
or done inadvertently, relief may be given by the High Court, or by an
election court, if the validity of the election is questioned on
petition; but unless such relief is given (and it will be observed
that it cannot be given for a _corrupt_ as distinguished from an
illegal practice), an infringement of the act may void the election
altogether. The validity of the election may be questioned by election
petition. Indeed, this is the only method when it is sought to set
aside the election on any of the usual grounds, such as corrupt or
illegal practices, or the disqualification of the candidate at the
date of election. Election petitions against county councillors and
members of other local bodies (borough councillors, urban and rural
district councillors, members of school boards and boards of
guardians) are classed together as municipal election petitions, and
are heard in the same way, by a commissioner who must be a barrister
of not less than fifteen years' standing. The petition is tried in
open court at some place within the county, the expenses of the court
being provided in the first instance by the Treasury, and repaid out
of the county rates, except in so far as the court may order them to
be paid by either of the parties. If a candidate is unseated a casual
vacancy is created which has to be filled by a new election. A county
councillor is required to accept office by making and subscribing a
declaration in the prescribed form that he will duly and faithfully
perform the duties of the office, and that he possesses the necessary
qualification. The declaration may be made at any time within three
months after notice of election. If the councillor does not make it
within that time, he is liable to a fine the amount of which, if not
determined by bye-law of the council, is L25 in the case of an
alderman or councillor, and L50 in the case of the chairman. Exemption
may, however, be claimed on the ground of age, physical or mental
incapacity, previous service, or payment of the fine within five
years, or on the ground that the claimant was nominated without his
consent. If during his term of office a member of the council becomes
bankrupt, or compounds with his creditors, or is (except in case of
illness) continuously absent from the county, being chairman for more
than two months, or being alderman or councillor for more than six
months, his office becomes vacant by declaration of the council. In
the case of disqualification by absence, the same fines are payable as
upon non-acceptance of office, and the same liability arises on
resignation. Acting without making the declaration, or without being
qualified at the time of making the declaration, or after ceasing to
be qualified, or after becoming disqualified, involves liability to a
fine not exceeding L50, recoverable by action.
Chairman, &c.
The councillors who have been elected come into office on the 8th
March in the year of election. The first quarterly meeting of the
newly-elected council is held on the 16th or on such other day within
ten days after the 8th as the county council may fix. The first
business at that meeting is the election of the chairman, whose office
corresponds to that of the mayor in a borough. He is elected for the
ensuing year, and holds office until his successor has accepted
office. The chairman must be a fit person, elected by the council from
their own body or from persons qualified to be councillors. He may
receive such remuneration as the council think reasonable. He is by
virtue of his office a justice of the peace for the county. Having
elected the chairman, the meeting proceeds to the election of
aldermen, whose number is one-third of the number of councillors,
except in London, where the number is one-sixth. An alderman must be a
councillor or a person qualified to be a councillor. If a councillor
is elected he vacates his office of councillor, and thus creates a
casual vacancy in the council. In every third year one-half of the
whole number of aldermen go out of office, and their places are filled
by election, which is conducted by means of voting papers. It will be
observed, therefore, that while a county councillor holds office for
three years, a county alderman holds office for six. The council may
also appoint a vice-chairman who holds office during the term of
office of the chairman; in London the council have power to appoint a
paid deputy chairman.
Officers.
It may be convenient at this point to refer to the officers of the
county council. Of these, the chief are the clerk, the treasurer, and
the surveyor. Before 1888 the clerk of the peace was appointed in a
county by the _custos rotulorum_. He held office for life during good
conduct, and had power to act by a sufficient deputy. Under the act of
1888 existing clerks of the peace became clerks of the councils of
their counties, holding office by the same tenure as formerly, except
in the county of London, where the offices were separated. Thereafter
a new appointment to the offices of clerk of the peace and clerk of
the county council was to be made by the standing joint-committee, at
whose pleasure he is to hold office. The same committee appoint the
deputy-clerk, and fix the salaries of both officers. The clerk of the
peace was formerly paid by fees which were fixed by quarter sessions,
but he is now generally, if not in every case, paid by salary, the
fees received by him being paid into the county fund. The county
council may also employ such other officers and servants as they may
think necessary.
Business.
Subject to a few special provisions in the Local Government Act of
1888, the business of the county council is regulated by the
provisions laid down in the Municipal Corporations Act 1882, with
regard to borough councils. There are four quarterly meetings in every
year, the dates of which may be fixed by the council, with the
exception of that which must be held on the 16th March or some day
within ten days after the 8th of March as already noticed when
treating of elections. Meetings are convened by notices sent to
members stating the time and place of the meeting and the business to
be transacted. The chairman, or in his absence the vice-chairman, or
in the absence of both an alderman or councillor appointed by the
meeting, presides. All questions are determined by the votes of the
majority of those present and voting, and in case of equality of votes
the chairman has a casting vote. Minutes of the proceedings are taken,
and if signed by the chairman at the same or the next meeting of the
council are evidence of the proceedings. In all other respects the
business of the council is regulated by standing orders which the
council are authorized to make. Very full power is given to appoint
committees, which may be either general or special, and to them may be
delegated, with or without restrictions or conditions, any of their
powers or duties except that of raising money by rate or loan. Power
is also given to appoint joint-committees with other county councils
in matters in which the two councils are jointly interested, but a
joint-committee so appointed must not be confounded with the standing
joint-committee of the county council and the quarter sessions, which
is a distinct statutory body and is elsewhere referred to. The finance
committee is also a body with distinct duties.
Relation of county to boroughs.
In order to appreciate some of the points relating to the finance of a
county council, it is necessary to indicate the relations between an
administrative county and the boroughs which are locally situated within
it. The act of 1888 created a new division of boroughs into three
classes; of these the first is the county borough. A certain number of
boroughs which either had a population of not less than 50,000, or were
counties of themselves, were made counties independent of the county
council and free from the payment of county rate. In such boroughs the
borough council have, in addition to their powers under the Municipal
Corporations Act 1882, all the powers of a county council under the
Local Government Act. They are independent of the county council, and
their only relation is that in some instances they pay a contribution to
the county, e.g. for the cost of assizes where there is no separate
assize for the borough. The boroughs thus constituted county boroughs
enumerated in the schedule to the Local Government Act 1888 numbered
sixty-one, but additional ones are created from time to time.
The larger quarter sessions boroughs, i.e. those which had, according to
the census of 1881, a population exceeding 10,000, form part of the
county, and are subject to the control of the county council, but only
for certain special purposes. The reason for this is that while in
counties the powers and duties under various acts were entrusted to the
county authority, in boroughs they were exercised by the borough
councils. In the class of boroughs now under consideration these powers
and duties are retained by the borough council; the county council
exercise no jurisdiction within the borough in respect of them, and the
borough is not rated in respect of them to the county rate. The acts
referred to include those relating to the diseases of animals,
destructive insects, explosives, fish conservancy, gas meters,
margarine, police, reformatory and industrial schools, riot (damages),
sale of food and drugs, weights and measures. But for certain purposes
these boroughs are part of the county and rateable to county rate, e.g.
main roads, cost of assizes and sessions, and in certain cases pauper
lunatics. The county councillors elected for one of these boroughs may
not vote on any matter involving expenditure on account of which the
borough is not assessed to county rate.
The third class of boroughs comprises those which have a separate court
of quarter sessions, but had according to the census of 1881 a
population of less than 10,000. All such boroughs form part of the
county for the purposes of pauper lunatics, analysts, reformatory and
industrial schools, fish conservancy, explosives, and, of course, the
purposes for which the larger quarter sessions boroughs also form part
of the county, such as main roads, and are assessed to county rate
accordingly. And in a borough, whether a quarter sessions borough or
not, which had in 1881 a population of less than 10,000, all the powers
which the borough council formerly possessed as to police, analysts,
diseases of animals, gas meters, and weights and measures cease and are
transferred to the county council, the boroughs becoming in fact part of
the area of the county for these purposes.
It will be seen, therefore, that for some purposes, called in the act
general county purposes, the entire county, including all boroughs other
than county boroughs, is assessed to the county rate; while for others,
called special county purposes, certain boroughs are now assessed. This
explanation is necessary in order to appreciate what has now to be said
about county finance. But before leaving the consideration of the area
of the county it may be added that all liberties and franchises are now
merged in the county and subject to the jurisdiction of the county
council.
Finance.
The county council is a body corporate with power to hold lands. Its
revenues are derived from various sources which will presently be
mentioned, but all receipts have to be carried to the county fund,
either to the general county account if applicable to general county
purposes, or to the special county account if applicable to special
county purposes. The county council may, with the consent of the Local
Government Board, borrow money on the security of the county fund or any
of its revenues, for consolidating the debts of the county; purchasing
land or buildings; any permanent work or other thing, the cost of which
ought to be spread over a term of years; making advances in aid of the
emigration or colonization of inhabitants of the county; and any purpose
for which quarter sessions or the county council are authorized by any
act to borrow. If, however, the total debt of the council will, with the
amount proposed to be borrowed, exceed one-tenth of the annual rateable
value of the property in the county, the money cannot be borrowed unless
under a provisional order made by the Local Government Board and
confirmed by parliament. The period for which a loan is made is fixed by
the county council with the consent of the Local Government Board, but
may not exceed thirty years, and the mode of repayment may be by equal
yearly or half-yearly instalments of principal or of principal and
interest combined, or by means of a sinking fund invested and applied in
accordance with the Local Government Acts. The loans authorized may be
raised by debentures or annuity certificates under these acts, or by the
issue of county stock, and in some cases by mortgage.
The county council must appoint a finance committee for regulating and
controlling the finance of the county, and the council cannot make any
order for the payment of money out of the county fund save on the
recommendation of that committee. Moreover, the order for payment of
any sum must be made in pursuance of an order of the council signed by
three members of the finance committee present at the meeting of the
council, and countersigned by the clerk. The order is directed to the
county treasurer, by whom authorized payments are then made.
The accounts of the receipts and expenditure of the county council are
made up for the twelve months ending the 31st March in each year, and
are audited by a district auditor. The form in which the accounts must
be made up is prescribed by the Local Government Board. The auditor is
a district auditor appointed by the Local Government Board under the
District Auditors Act 1879, and in respect of the audit the council is
charged with a stamp duty, the amount of which depends on the total of
the expenditure comprised in the financial statement. Before each
audit the auditor gives notice of the time and place appointed, and
the council publish the appointment by advertisement. A copy of the
accounts has to be deposited for public inspection for seven days
before the audit. The auditor has the fullest powers of investigation;
he may require the production of any books or papers, and he may
require the attendance before him of any person accountable. Any owner
of property or ratepayer may attend the audit and object to the
accounts, and either on such objection or on his own motion the
auditor may disallow any payment and surcharge the amount on the
persons who made or authorized it. Against any allowance or surcharge
appeal lies to the High Court if the question involved is one of law,
or to the Local Government Board, who have jurisdiction to remit a
surcharge if, in the circumstances, it appears to them to be fair and
equitable to do so. It will be seen that this is really an effective
audit.
Revenue of county council.
The sources of revenue of the council are the exchequer contribution,
income from property and fees, and rates. Before 1888 large grants of
money had been made annually to local authorities in aid of local
taxation. Such grants represented a contribution out of taxation for
the most part arising out of property other than real property, while
local taxation fell on real property alone. By the act of 1888 it was
provided that for the future such annual grants should cease, and that
other payments should be made instead thereof. The commissioners of
Inland Revenue pay into the Bank of England, to an account called "the
local taxation account," the sums ascertained to be the proceeds of
the duties collected by them in each county on what are called local
taxation licences, which include licences for the sale of intoxicating
liquor, licences on dogs, guns, establishment licences, &c. The amount
so ascertained to have been collected in each county is paid under
direction of the Local Government Board to the council of that county.
The commissioners of Inland Revenue also pay into the same account a
sum equal to 1-1/2% on the net value of personal property in respect
of which estate duty is paid. Under the Local Taxation (Customs and
Excise) Act 1890, certain duties imposed on spirits and beer (often
referred to as "whisky money") are also to be paid to "the local
taxation account." The sums so paid in respect of the duties last
above mentioned, and in respect of the estate duty and spirits and
beer additional duties, are distributed among the several counties in
proportion to the share which the Local Government Board certify to
have been received by each county during the financial year ending the
31st March 1888, out of the grants theretofore made out of the
exchequer in aid of local rates. The payments so made out of "the
local taxation account" to a county council are paid to the county
fund, and carried to a separate account called "the Exchequer
contribution account." The money standing to the credit of this
account is applied: (i.) in paying any costs incurred in respect
thereof or otherwise chargeable thereon; (ii.) in payment of the sums
required by the Local Government Act 1888 to be paid in substitution
for local grants; (iii.) in payment of the new grant to be made by the
county council in respect of the costs of union officers; and (iv.) in
repaying to "the general county account" of the county fund the costs
on account of general county purposes for which the whole area of the
county (including boroughs other than county boroughs) is liable to be
assessed to county contribution. Elaborate provision is made for the
distribution of the surplus (if any), with a view to securing a due
share being paid to the quarter sessions boroughs.
The payments which the county council have to make in substitution for
the local grants formerly made out of Imperial funds include payments
for or towards the remuneration of the teachers in poor-law schools
and public vaccinators; school fees paid for children sent from a
workhouse to a public elementary school; half of the salaries of the
medical officer of health and the inspector of nuisances of district
councils; the remuneration of registrars for births and deaths; the
maintenance of pauper lunatics; half of the cost of the pay and
clothing of the police of the county, and of each borough maintaining
a separate police force. In addition to the grants above mentioned,
the county council is required to grant to the guardians of every
poor-law union wholly or partly in their county an annual sum for the
costs of the officers of the union and of district schools to which
the union contributes. Another source is the income of any property
belonging to the council, but the amount of this is usually small. The
third source of revenue consists of the fees received by the different
officers of the county councils or of the joint-committee. For
example, fees received by the clerk of the peace, inspectors of
weights and measures, and the like. These fees are paid into the
county fund, and carried either to "the general county account" or, if
they have been received in respect of some matter for which part only
of the county is assessed, then to the special account to which the
rates levied for that purpose are carried. The remaining source of
income of a county council is the county rate, the manner of levying
which is hereafter stated.
[Illustration: Map of ENGLAND & WALES--Section VI.]
Powers transferred from quarter sessions.
Of the powers and duties of county councils, it may be convenient to
treat of these first, in so far as they are transferred to or conferred
on them by the Local Government Act 1888, under which they were created,
and afterwards in so far as they have been conferred by subsequent
legislation. Before the passing of the Local Government Act 1888, the
only form of county government in England was that of the justices in
quarter sessions (q.v.). Quarter sessions were originally a judicial
body, but being the only body having jurisdiction over the county as a
whole, certain powers were conferred and certain duties imposed upon
them with reference to various matters of county government from time to
time. The principal object of the act of 1888 was to transfer these
powers and duties from the quarter sessions to the new representative
body--the county council; and it may be said that substantially the
whole of the administrative business of quarter sessions was thus
transferred.
The subjects of such transfer include (i.) the making, assessing and
levying of county, police, hundred and all rates, and the application
and expenditure thereof, and the making of orders for the payment of
sums payable out of any such rate, or out of the county stock or
county fund, and the preparation and revision of the basis or standard
for the county rate. With regard to the county rate, a few words of
description may be sufficient here. The council appoint a committee
called a county rate committee, who from time to time prepare a basis
or standard for county rate, that is to say, they fix the amount at
which each parish in the county shall contribute its quota to the
county rate. As a general rule the poor-law valuations are followed,
but this is not universally the case, some county councils adopting
the assessment to income tax, schedule A, and others forming an
independent valuation of their own. The overseers of any parish
aggrieved by the basis may appeal against it to quarter sessions, and
it is to be noticed that this appeal is not interfered with, the
transfer of the duties of justices relating only to administrative and
not to judicial business. When a contribution is required from county
rate, the county council assess the amount payable by each parish
according to the basis previously made, and send their precept to the
guardians of the unions comprising the several parishes in the county,
the guardians in their turn requiring the overseers of each parish to
provide the necessary quota of that parish out of the poor rate, and
the sum thus raised goes into the county fund. The police rate is made
for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the county police. It is
made on the same basis as the county rate, and is levied with it. The
hundred rate is seldom made, though in some counties it may be made
for purposes of main roads and bridges chargeable to the hundred as
distinguished from the county at large; (ii.) the borrowing of money;
(iii.) the passing of the accounts of, and the discharge of the county
treasurer; (iv.) shire halls, county halls, assize courts, the judges'
lodgings, lock-up houses, court houses, justices' rooms, police
stations and county buildings, works and property; (v.) the licensing
under any general act of houses and other places for music or for
dancing, and the granting of licences under the Racecourses Licensing
Act 1879; (vi.) the provision, enlargement, maintenance and management
and visitation of, and other dealing with, asylums for pauper
lunatics; (vii.) the establishment and maintenance of, and the
contribution to, reformatory and industrial schools; (viii.) bridges
and roads repairable with bridges, and any powers vested by the
Highways and Locomotives Amendment Act 1878 in the county authority.
It may be observed that bridges have always been at common law
repairable by the county, although, with regard to bridges erected
since the year 1805, these are not to be deemed to be county bridges
repairable by the county unless they have been erected under the
direction or to the satisfaction of the county surveyor. The
common-law liability to repair a bridge extends also to the road or
approaches for a distance of 300 ft. on each side of the bridge. Of
the powers vested in the county authority under the Highway Act 1878,
the most important are those relating to main roads, which are
specially noticed hereafter; (ix.) the tables of fees to be taken by
and the costs to be allowed to any inspector, analyst or person
holding any office in the county other than the clerk of the peace and
the clerks of the justices; (x.) the appointment, removal and
determination of salaries of the county treasurer, the county
surveyor, the public analysts, any officer under the Explosives Act
1875, and any officers whose remuneration is paid out of the county
rate, other than the clerk of the peace and the clerks of the
justices; (xi.) the salary of any coroner whose salary is payable out
of the county rate, the fees, allowances and disbursements allowed to
be paid by any such coroner, and the division of the county into
coroners' districts and the assignments of such districts; (xii.) the
division of the county into polling districts for the purposes of
parliamentary elections, the appointment of the places of election,
the places of holding courts for the revision of the lists of voters,
and the costs of, and other matters to be done for the registration of
parliamentary voters; (xiii.) the execution as local authority of the
acts relating to contagious diseases of animals, to destructive
insects, to fish conservancy, to wild birds, to weights and measures,
and to gas meters, and of the Local Stamp Act 1869; (xiv.) any matters
arising under the Riot (Damages) Act 1886. Under this act compensation
is payable out of the police rate to any person whose property has
been injured, stolen or destroyed by rioters; (xv.) the registration
of rules of scientific societies, the registration of charitable
gifts, the certifying and recording of places of religious worship,
the confirmation and record of the rules of loan societies. These
duties are imposed under various statutes.
In addition to the business of quarter sessions thus transferred,
there was also transferred to the county council certain business of
the justices of the county out of session, that is to say, in petty or
special sessions. This business consists of the licensing of houses or
places for the public performance of stage plays, and the execution,
as local authority, of the Explosives Act 1875. Power was given by the
act to the Local Government Board to provide, by means of a
provisional order, for transferring to county councils any of the
powers and duties of the various central authorities which have been
already referred to; but although such an order was at one time
prepared, it has never been confirmed, and nothing has been done in
that direction.
Police.
Apart from the business thus transferred to county councils, the act
itself has conferred further powers or imposed further duties with
reference to a variety of other matters, some of which must be
noticed. But before passing to them it is necessary here to call
attention to one important subject of county government which has not
been wholly transferred to the county council, namely, the police. It
was matter of considerable discussion before the passing of the act
whether the police should remain under the control of the justices, or
be transferred wholly to the control of the county council. Eventually
a middle course was taken. The powers, duties and liabilities of the
quarter sessions and justices out of session with respect to the
county police were vested in the quarter sessions and the county
council jointly, and are now exercised through the standing
joint-committee of the two bodies. That committee consists of an equal
number of members of the county council and of justices appointed by
the quarter sessions, the number being arranged between the two bodies
or fixed by the secretary of state. The committee are also charged
with the duties of appointing or removing the clerk of the peace, and
they have jurisdiction in matters relating to justices' clerks, the
provision of accommodation for quarter sessions or justices out of
session, and the like, and their expenses are paid by the county
council out of the county fund. The standing joint-committee have
power to divide their county into police districts, and, when required
by order in council, are obliged to do so. In such a case, while the
general expenditure in respect of the entire police force is defrayed
by the county at large, the local expenditure, i.e. the cost of pay,
clothing and such other expenses as the joint-committee may direct, is
defrayed at the cost of the particular district for which it is
incurred (see also POLICE).
County coroners.
Among the powers and duties given to county councils by the Local
Government Act 1888, the first to be mentioned, following the order in
the act itself, is that of the appointment of county coroners. The
duties of a coroner are limited to the holding of inquiries into cases
of death from causes suspected to be other than natural, and to a few
miscellaneous duties of comparatively rare occurrence, such as the
holding of inquiries relating to treasure trove, and acting instead of
the sheriff on inquiries under the Lands Clauses Act, &c., when that
officer is interested and thereby disabled from holding such
inquiries. (For the history of the office of coroner, which is a very
ancient one, see that title.) The county council may appoint any fit
person, not being a county alderman or county councillor, to fill the
office, and in the case of a county divided into coroners' districts,
may assign him a district. It has been decided, however, that the
power hereby conferred does not extend to the appointment of a coroner
for a liberty or other franchise who would not under the old law have
been appointed by the freeholders. It may be mentioned that though a
coroner may have a district assigned to him, he is nevertheless a
coroner for the entire county throughout which he has jurisdiction.
Main roads.
It was provided by the Highway Act 1878 that every road which was
disturnpiked after the 31st of December 1870 should be deemed to be a
main road, the expenses of the repair and maintenance of which were to
be contributed as to one-half thereof by the justices in quarter
sessions, then the county authority. By another section of the same
act it was provided that where any highway in a county was a medium of
communication between great towns, or a thoroughfare to a railway
station, or otherwise such that it ought to be declared a main road,
the county authority might declare it to be a main road, and thereupon
one-half the expense of its maintenance would fall upon the county at
large. Once a road became a main road it could only cease to be such
by order of the Local Government Board. As already stated, the powers
of the quarter sessions under the act of 1878 were transferred to the
county council under the Local Government Act of 1888, and that body
alone has now power to declare a road to be a main road. But the act
of 1888 made some important changes in the law relating to the
maintenance of main roads. It declared that thereafter not only the
half but the whole cost of maintenance should be borne by the county.
Provision is made for the control of main roads in urban districts
being retained by the urban district council. In urban districts where
such control has not been claimed, and in rural districts, the county
council may either maintain the main roads themselves or allow or
require the district councils to do so. The county council must in any
case make a payment towards the costs incurred by the district
council, and if any difference arises as to the amount of it, it has
to be settled by the Local Government Board. In Lancashire the cost of
main roads falls upon the hundred, as distinguished from the county at
large, special provision being made to that effect. Special provision
has also been made for the highways in the Isle of Wight and in South
Wales, where the roads were formerly regulated by special acts, and
not by the ordinary Highway Acts.
Rivers pollution prevention.
The county council have the same power as a sanitary authority to
enforce the provisions of the Rivers Pollution Prevention Acts in
relation to so much of any stream as passes through or by any part of
their county. Under these acts a sanitary authority is authorized to
take proceedings to restrain interference with the due flow of a
stream or the pollution of its waters by throwing into it the solid
refuse of any manufactory or quarry, or any rubbish or cinders, or any
other waste or any putrid solid matter. They may also take proceedings
in respect of the pollution of a stream by any solid or liquid sewage
matter. They have the same powers with respect to manufacturing and
mining pollutions, subject to certain restrictions, one of which is
that proceedings are not to be taken without the consent of the Local
Government Board. The county council may not only themselves institute
proceedings under the acts, but they may contribute to the costs of
any prosecution under the acts instituted by any other county or
district council. The Local Government Board is further empowered by
provisional order to constitute a joint-committee representing all the
administrative counties through or by which a river passes, and confer
on such committee all or any of the powers of a sanitary authority
under the acts.
Parliamentary and legal costs.
A county council has the same power of opposing bills in parliament
and of prosecuting or defending any legal proceedings necessary for
the promotion or protection of the interests of the inhabitants of a
county as are conferred on the council of a municipal borough by the
Borough Funds Act 1872, with this difference, that in order to enable
them to oppose a bill in parliament at the cost of the county rate, it
is not necessary to obtain the consent of the owners and ratepayers
within the county. The power thus conferred is limited to opposing
bills. The council are not authorized to promote any bill, and
although they frequently do so, they incur the risk that if the bill
should not pass the members of the council will be surcharged
personally with the costs incurred if they attempt to charge them to
the county rate. Of course if the bill passes, it usually contains a
clause enabling the costs of promotion to be paid out of the county
rate. It must not be supposed, however, that the county council have
no power to institute or defend legal proceedings or oppose bills save
such as is expressly conferred upon them by the Local Government Act.
In this respect they are in the same position as all other local
authorities, with respect to whom it has been laid down that they may
without any express power in that behalf use the funds at their
disposal for protecting themselves against any attack made upon their
existence as a corporate body or upon any of their powers or
privileges.
By-laws.
The county council have also the same powers as a borough council of
making by-laws for the good government of the county and for the
suppression of nuisances not already punishable under the general law.
This power has been largely acted upon throughout England, and the
courts of law have on several occasions decided that such by-laws
should be benevolently interpreted, and that in matters which directly
arise and concern the people of the county, who have the right to
choose those whom they think best fitted to represent them, such
representatives may be trusted to understand their own requirements.
Such by-laws will therefore be upheld, unless it is clear that they
are uncertain, repugnant to the general law of the land, or manifestly
unreasonable. It may be mentioned that, while by-laws relating to the
good government of the county have to be confirmed by the secretary of
state, those which relate to the suppression of nuisances have to be
confirmed by the Local Government Board. Such confirmation, however,
though necessary to enable the council to enforce them, does not
itself confer upon them any validity in point of law.
Medical officers.
The county council have power to appoint and pay one or more medical
officers of health, who are not to hold any other appointment or
engage in private practice without the express written consent of the
council. The council may make arrangements whereby any district
council or councils may have the services of the county medical
officer on payment of a contribution towards his salary, and while
such arrangement is in force the duty of the district council to
appoint a medical officer is to be deemed to have been satisfied.
Every medical officer, whether of a county or district, must now be
legally qualified for the practice of medicine, surgery and midwifery.
Besides this, in the case of a county, or of any district or
combination of districts of which the population exceeds 50,000, the
medical officer must also have a diploma in public health, unless he
has during the three consecutive years before 1892 been medical
officer of a district or combination having a population of more than
20,000, or has before the passing of the act been for three years a
medical officer or inspector of the Local Government Board.
Alterations of local areas.
The only other powers and duties of a county council arising under the
Local Government Act itself which it is necessary to notice are those
relating to alterations of local areas. It may be convenient here to
state that certain alterations of areas can only be effected through
the medium of the Local Government Board after local inquiry. These
cases include the alteration of the boundary of any county or borough,
the union of a county borough with a county, the union of any counties
or boroughs or the division of any county, the making of a borough
into a county borough. In these cases the order of the Local
Government Board is provisional only, and must be confirmed by
parliament. The powers of a county council to make orders for the
alteration of local areas are as follows: When a county council is
satisfied that a prima facie case is made out as respects any county
district not a borough, or as respects any parish, for a proposal for
all or any of the things hereafter mentioned, they may hold a local
inquiry after giving such notice in the locality and to such public
departments as may be prescribed from time to time by the orders of
the Local Government Board. The things referred to include the
alteration of the boundary of the district or parish; the division or
union thereof with any other district or districts, parish or
parishes; the conversion of a rural district or part thereof into an
urban district or vice versa. In these cases, after the local inquiry
above referred to has been held, the county council, being satisfied
that the proposal is desirable, may make an order for the same
accordingly. The order has to be submitted to the Local Government
Board, and that board must hold a local inquiry in order to determine
whether the order should be confirmed or not, if the council of any
district affected by it, or one-sixth of the total number of electors
in the district or parish to which it relates, petition against it.
The Local Government Board have power to modify the terms of the order
whether it is petitioned against or not, but if there is no petition,
they are bound to confirm, subject only to such modifications. Very
large powers are conferred upon county councils for the purpose of
giving full effect to orders made by them under these provisions. A
considerable extension of the same powers was made by the Local
Government Act 1894, which practically required every council to take
into consideration the areas of sanitary districts and parishes within
the entire administrative county, and to see that a parish did not
extend into more than one sanitary district; to provide for the
division of a district which did extend into more than one district
into separate parishes, so that for the future the parish should not
be in more than one county district; and to provide for every parish
and rural sanitary district being within one county. An enormous
number of orders under the act of 1894 was made by county councils,
and, speaking generally, it will now be found that no parish extends
into more than one county or county district. Other powers and duties
of the county council under the act of 1894 will be noticed hereafter.
Of the statutes affecting county councils passed subsequent to 1888
mention need only be made of the chief.
Education.
Previous to the Education Act 1902, county councils had certain
optional powers under the Technical Instruction Acts to supply or aid
the supply of technical or manual instruction. Their duties in respect
to education were, however, much enlarged by the act of 1902. That act
abolished the old school boards and school attendance committees, and
substituted a single authority for all kinds of schools and for all
kinds of education. The county council or the council of a county
borough is now in every case the local education authority, except
that non-county boroughs with a population of over 10,000, and urban
districts with a population of over 20,000, may be the local education
authorities for elementary education only, but they may relinquish
their powers in favour of the county council. For higher education
county councils and county boroughs are the sole education
authorities, except that non-county boroughs and urban councils are
given a concurrent power of levying a rate for higher education not
exceeding 1d. in the L. Under the act, an education committee must be
established by all authorities. The majority of the members of the
committee are appointed by the council, usually out of their own body,
and the remainder are appointed by the council on the nomination or
recommendation of other bodies. Some of the members of the committee
must be women. All matters relating to the exercise of the powers of
the education authority (except those of rating and borrowing) must be
referred to the committee, and before exercising any of their powers
the council must (except in cases of emergency) receive and consider
the report of the education committee with respect to the matter in
question. As to higher education the local education authority must
consider the educational needs of their area and take such steps as
seem to them desirable, after consultation with the Board of
Education, to supply or aid the supply of education other than
elementary, and to promote the general co-ordination of all forms of
education. For this purpose they are authorized to levy a rate not
exceeding 2d. in the L, except with the consent of the Local
Government Board. They must also devote to the same purpose the sums
received by them in respect of the residue of the English share of the
local taxation (customs and excise) duties already referred to. See
further EDUCATION and TECHNICAL EDUCATION.
Midwives.
Under the Midwives Act 1902, every council of a county or county
borough is the local supervising authority over midwives within its
area. The duty of the local supervising authority is to exercise
general supervision over all midwives practising within their area in
accordance with rules laid down in the act; to investigate charges of
malpractices, negligence or misconduct on the part of a midwife, and
if a prima facie case be established, to report it to the Central
Midwives Board; to suspend a midwife from practice if necessary to
prevent the spread of infection; to report to the central board the
name of any midwife convicted of an offence; once a year (in January)
to supply the central board with the names and addresses of all
midwives practising within their area and to keep a roll of the names,
accessible at all reasonable times for public inspection; to report at
once the death of any midwife or change in name and address. The local
supervising authority may delegate their powers to a committee
appointed by them, women being eligible to serve on it. A county
council may delegate its powers under the act to a district council.
Lunatics.
Part of the business transferred from quarter sessions to the council
was that which related to pauper lunatics, but the whole subject of
lunacy was consolidated by an act of the year 1890, which again has
been amended by a later act. The councils of all administrative
counties and county boroughs and the councils of a few specified
quarter sessions boroughs, which before 1890 were independent areas
for purposes of the Lunacy Acts, are local authorities for the
purposes of the Lunacy Acts, and each of them is under an obligation
to provide asylum accommodation for pauper lunatics. This
accommodation may be provided by one council or by a combination of
two or more, and such council or combination may provide one or more
asylums. The county council exercise their powers through a visiting
committee, consisting of not less than seven members, or, in the case
of a combination, of a number of members appointed by each council in
agreed proportions. In the case of a combination the expenses are
defrayed by the several councils in such proportion as they may agree
upon, and the proportion may be fixed with reference to either the
accommodation required by each council or the population of the
district. A county borough may also, instead of providing an asylum of
its own, contract with the visiting committee of any asylum to receive
the pauper lunatics from the borough. Private patients may be
accommodated in the asylums provided by a county council, and received
upon terms fixed by the visiting committee. The expenses of lunatic
asylums are defrayed in the following manner: The guardians from whose
union a lunatic is sent have to pay a fixed weekly sum, which may not
exceed 14s. a week. A larger charge is made for lunatics received from
unions outside the county, as these do not, of course, contribute
anything towards the provision or up-keep of the asylum itself. In
addition to the payments by guardians, there is a contribution of 4s.
a week from "the exchequer contribution account" already mentioned,
and the remaining expenses are defrayed out of the county rate.
Allotments.
Under the Allotments Acts 1887 to 1907, it is the duty of a county
council to ascertain the extent to which there is a demand for
allotments in the urban districts and parishes in the county, or would
be a demand if suitable land were available, and the extent to which
it is reasonably practicable, having regard to the provisions of the
acts, to satisfy any such demand, and to co-operate with authorities,
associations or persons best qualified to assist, and to take such
steps as may be necessary. The powers of the Local Government Board
under the Allotments Acts were transferred by the act of 1907 to the
Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, and by the same act the powers and
duties of rural district councils were transferred to parish councils.
The county council under these acts has compulsory powers of purchase
or hire if they are unable to acquire land by agreement and on
reasonable terms. If an objection is made to an order for compulsory
purchase or hire, the order will not be confirmed by the Board of
Agriculture until after a local inquiry has been held. If the Board of
Agriculture is satisfied, after holding a local inquiry, that a county
council have failed to fulfil their obligations as to allotments, the
board may transfer all and any of the powers of the county council to
the Small Holdings Commissioners.
Small holdings.
By the Small Holdings and Allotments Act 1907, Small Holdings
Commissioners are appointed by the Board of Agriculture to ascertain
the extent of the demand for small holdings, and confer with county
councils as to how best to provide them. Local authorities are
required to furnish information and give assistance to the
commissioners, who report to the board. If the board, after
considering the report, consider it desirable, they require the county
council concerned to prepare a scheme for the provision of small
holdings; if the county council decline to prepare a scheme, the board
may direct the commissioners to do so. A county council may also
prepare a scheme on its own initiative. When a scheme has been
confirmed, the county council must carry out the obligations imposed
on it within a prescribed time; if they make default the board may
direct the commissioners to assume all the powers of the county
council, and the county council must repay to the board the expenses
the commissioners may incur. A county council may delegate, by
arrangement, to the council of any borough or urban district in the
county their powers in respect of the act. A small holding is defined
by the act as one which exceeds 1 acre, but must not exceed 50 acres
or L50 annual value. Every county council must establish a small
holdings and allotments committee, to which must be referred all
matters relating to the exercise and performance by the council of
their powers and duties as to small holdings and allotments.
Hospitals.
Under the Isolation Hospitals Acts 1893 and 1901, a county council may
provide for the establishment of isolation hospitals for the reception
of patients suffering from infectious diseases on the application of
any local authority within the county, or on the report of the medical
officer of the county that hospital accommodation is necessary and has
not been provided, or it may take over hospitals already provided by a
local authority. The council by their order constitute a hospital
district and form a committee for its administration. The committee
have power to purchase land, erect a hospital, provide all necessary
appliances, and generally administer a hospital for the purposes above
mentioned.
Parish councils.
The powers and duties of a county council under the Local Government