Part 5

_Temperature._--The mean annual temperature of the whole of England and Wales (reduced to sea-level) is about 50° F., varying from something over 52° in the Scilly Isles to something under 48° at the mouth of the Tweed. The mean 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°. The influence of the western ocean is very strongly marked, the temperature falling steadily from west to east. Thus while the temperature in the west of Cornwall is 44°, the temperature on the east coast from north of the Humber to the Thames is under 38°, the coldest winters being experienced in the Fenland. In the hottest month (July) the mean temperature of England and Wales is about 61.5°, and the westerly wind then exercises a cooling effect, the greatest heat being found in the Thames basin immediately around London, where the mean temperature of the month exceeds 64°; the mean temperature along the south coast is 62°, and that at the mouth of the Tweed a little under 59°. In the centre of the country along a line drawn from London to Carlisle the mean temperature in July is found to diminish gradually at an average rate of 1° per 60 m. The coasts are cooler than the centre of the country, but the west coast is much cooler than the east, modified continental conditions prevailing over the North Sea. The natural effect of the heating of the air in summer and the cooling of the air in winter by contact with the land is largely masked in England on account of the strength of the prevailing south-westerly wind carrying oceanic influence into the heart of the country. This effect is well seen in the way in which the wind blowing directly up the Severn estuary is directed along the edges of the Oolitic escarpment north-eastward, thus displacing the centre of cold in winter to the east coast, and the centre of heat in summer to the lower Thames, from the position which both centres would occupy, if calms prevailed, in a belt running from Birmingham to Buckingham. As to how far the narrow portion of the North Sea modifies the influence of the European continent, there seems reason to believe that the prevailing winds blowing up the English Channel carry oceanic conditions some distance inland, along those parts of the continent nearest to England. The Mersey estuary, being partly sheltered by Ireland and North Wales, does not serve as an inlet for modifying influences to the same extent as the Bristol Channel; and as the wind entering by it blows squarely against the slope of the Pennine Chain, it does not much affect the climate of the midland plain.

[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. _kiörr_, marshy ground), e.g. Redcar, The Carrs, Muker; _-fell_ (O.N. _fjäll_, mountain), e.g. Scafell; _-force_, _-foss_ (O.N. _fors_, waterfall). High Force, Wilberfoss; _-garth_ (O.N. _garðr_, enclosure), e.g. Hoggarths; _-gill_ (O.N. _gil_, a deep narrow glen), e.g. Skelgill, Dungeon Ghyll; _-holm(e)_ (O.N. _hólmr_, island), e.g. Axholme, Durham (earlier Dunholm); _keld_ (O.N. _kelda_, well, spring), e.g. Threlkeld, Keld; _-lund_ (O.N. _lundr_, grove), e.g. Snelland, Timberland, Lound; _-how_ (O.N. _haugr_, hill), e.g. Greenhow; _-scale_ (O.N. _skále_, hut, shed), e.g. Seascale; _-skew_ (O.N. _skógr_, forest), e.g. Litherskew; _-thorpe_ (O.N. _þorp_, village), e.g. Thorpe, Osgathorp; _-thwaite_ (O.N. _þveit_, a piece of land), e.g. Rosthwaite; _-toft_ (O.N. _topt_, a green knoll), e.g. Toft, Langtoft; _-with_ (O.N. _viðr_, a wood), e.g. Blawith, Stowiths.

Tarn (a mountain pool), grain and sike (mountain streams) are also Scandinavian terms.

_Norman._--Norman influence has not been very great in English place-nomenclature. The number of places with pure French names is extremely limited; a few such are Beaulieu, Belvoir, Beauchief, Beaudesert, Beaufort, Beaumont, also 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 2½ millions in little over fifty years. This rate of increase was not only continued, but came to be greatly exceeded.

Since the first census of 1801, regular enumerations of the people of England and Wales have been taken every ten years. The results of these enumerations are published in separate volumes for each county, in a volume of summary tables, and in a general report. In the summaries England and Wales are treated as one, and this treatment is followed here. The following table gives the total numbers of the population of England and Wales at each census, together with the absolute increase, and growth per cent, during each decennial period:--

+------------------+-------------+--------------+--------------+ | 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:--