ENGLAND AND WALES. 



T7 NGLAND, comprehending Wales, is bounded 

 JLL on the north by Scotland, from which it is 

 chiefly separated by the Solway Firth, the Cheviot 

 Hills, and the river Tweed ; on the east, by the 

 German Ocean ; on the south, by the English 

 Channel ; on the west, by St George's Channel and 

 the Irish Sea. The space thus included is rather 

 irregular in form, and lies between lat. 50 and 55 

 45' north, and between long. 5 41' west and i 46' 

 east. Measuring along the second meridian, from 

 St Alban's Head on the south to Berwick on the 

 north, its length is 362 miles ; its breadth, from 

 Land's End to North Foreland, in Kent, 330 

 miles ; from St David's Head, in Pembroke, to 

 Lowestoft, in Suffolk, 300 ; from Lancaster Bay 

 to Bridlington Bay, in Yorkshire, no; and from 

 the Solway Firth to Tynemouth, only 64 miles. 



SUPERFICIAL FEATURES. 



Northern Division. If we draw a line from the 

 mouth of the Mersey, by the Peak of Derby, to 

 the mouth of the H umber, the country between 

 this line and the Scottish border may be properly 

 called the northern division of England. This 

 district is traversed towards the west coast by the 

 range of hills called the Pennine chain, which, 

 starting from the Cheviots, runs south for about 

 180 miles, and ends with the Peak of Derby. It 

 forms the water-shed between the east and the 

 west of the north of England. The chief rivers 

 on the west are the Ribble and the Mersey, in 

 Lancashire ; on the east, the Tyne, the Wear, the 

 Tees, the Ouse, and the H umber. The Cumber- 

 land Hills are an offshoot of this range. To the 

 east of the Pennine chain, from the Tees to Don- 

 caster, a length of 180 miles, lies the fertile Plain 

 of York. 



Western Division. A line drawn from the 

 mouth of the Dee, by the eastern border of the 

 English counties of Shropshire, Herefordshire, 

 and Monmouth, to the mouth of the Severn, will 

 mark the natural border of this division of Eng- 

 land. It is traversed by the Cambrian range of 

 hills, running, like the Pennine, north and south, 

 and keeping still nearer than it does to the western 

 shore. The summits of Snowdon, Cader Idris, 

 and Plinlimmon mark its course. Snowdon (3557 

 feet) is the highest mountain in England. It is 

 said that Scotland can be seen from the top. Plin- 

 limmon is the boundary rock between North 

 and South Wales. On the west of the Cambrian 

 range, there is nothing that can be called a 

 river. On the east are the Wye and the Usk, 

 running into the Bristol Channel. The Malvern 

 Hills, dividing Herefordshire from Worcestershire, 

 form a water-shed between the Wye and the 

 Severn, which has its source in Plinlimmon, and 

 also flows into the Bristol Channel. Wales, the 

 whole of which is comprehended in this division, is 

 generally rugged and mountainous like the Scotch 

 Highlands. Its population and dialect are Celtic. 

 67 



Eastern Division. -It extends from the mouth 

 of the Humber to the mouth of the Thames, com- 

 prising four littoral counties and Cambridgeshire ; 

 or, at least, it may be fairly held to comprehend 

 the greater part of this county. It is a low plain, 

 the most level part of which is the Fen district, 

 on the west and south of the Wash. A large part 

 of this tract is called the Bedford Level, having 

 been drained at the instance of the Duke of Bed- 

 ford, in the reign of Charles I. The rivers in this 

 district are inconsiderable, and almost stagnant. 

 The chief ones are the Witham, Welland, Nen, 

 and Great Ouse, flowing into the Wash ; and 

 the Yare, with its branches, the Wensum and 

 Waveney, in Norfolk. This is the district of 

 England most advanced in agriculture. Norfolk 

 produces the best barley, and Essex competes 

 with Kent in producing the best wheat in Eng- 

 land. 



Midland Division. It extends from Middlesex 

 to Cheshire, embracing both of these counties. It 

 is bounded on the south by the Thames, and in 

 other quarters by the boundary-lines of the other 

 divisions, as already indicated. It is an undulat- 

 ing plain, with an average elevation of from 200 

 to 400 feet. There is no hill in it 1000 feet high. 

 In Leicestershire, near the centre of the district, 

 is Bardon Hill, 850 above the level of the sea, and 

 not more than 200 above the level of the surround- 

 ing country, yet it commands a view of Lincoln 

 Cathedral, the Derbyshire Peak, of the Wrekin 

 near Shrewsbury, and of the Malvern Hills; the 

 whole comprising nearly one quarter of England. 

 The Trent and the Severn are the principal rivers 

 by which this district is drained. 



Southern Division. This comprises all the 

 country south of the Thames and the estuary of 

 the Severn. In Cornwall and Devon, the inland 

 districts are mountainous and rocky. The Downs, 

 North and South, are elevated tracts, covered with 

 turf or short grass, stretching from Devonshire to 

 Sussex. The highest point, 930 feet above the 

 sea, is in Dorsetshire. Between the termination 

 of the Downs and the borders of Kent, lies the 

 Weald, a flat and fertile tract. Gloucestershire is 

 traversed by the Cots wold Hills, which form the 

 water-shed between the Severn and the Thames. 

 A branch of the range, called the Mendip Hills, 

 traverses Somersetshire. Salisbury Plain, which 

 lies chiefly in the south of Wiltshire, is a bare 

 tract of country, with a general elevation of about 

 500 feet. Its extent is about 20 miles by 15. 

 The peninsula between the Bristol and English 

 Channels is generally a hilly country. Dartmoor, 

 in Devonshire, is a granite table-land, with an 

 area of 100,000 acres, covered in a great part by 

 marsh and peat The highest summits on this 

 moor are upwards of 2000 feet. The rivers of the 

 southern district are small. The Medway, in 

 Kent, and the Avon to be distinguished from the 

 Upper Avon at Tewkesbury, and the Lower Avon 

 at Bristol in Wiltshire, are the most considerable. 



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