ENGLAND AND WALES. 



each was composed of a double ring of stones, 

 the outer ring having a diameter of 270 feet, and 

 consisting of 30 stones, the inner ring a diameter 

 of 1 66 feet, and 12 stones. In the centre of one 

 of the small circles stood a stone upwards of 20 

 feet high ; and in the other, three such pillars 

 with a flat stone on the ground in front of them, 

 which is generally held to have been the altar. 

 From this great inclosure there proceeded two 

 stone avenues with gentle curves, one towards the 

 south-east, the' other towards the south-west. 

 They were upwards of a mile long each, with a 



ireadth of 45 feet ; one of them, which termin- 



:ed in a double oval, had 258 stones ; the 

 ier appeared to terminate in a single stone. 



nother Druidical circle of great note is that 

 of Stonehenge, upon Salisbury Plain, a district 

 also presenting many tumuli and other vestiges 

 of the Britons. The Stonehenge temple, in its 

 perfection, consisted of 140 stones, arranged in 

 two concentric circles, the outermost 108 feet in 

 diameter, with similar stones laid flatwise along 

 he tops of the upright stones. The blocks which 

 .ain are from 18 to 20 feet high, and about 7 

 t broad. Within the inner circle are two oval 

 iges, supposed to have formed the cell, and 



hich consist of stones about 30 feet in height. 



Roman remains are now rare, and nearly oblit- 

 erated. The roads formed by this people have, in 

 some instances, been changed into our present com- 

 paratively broad and well-formed ways ; in other 

 cases, slight traces of their original pavement, 

 which generally consisted of large stones forming 

 a causeway, are to be found. Between Newcastle 

 and Carlisle are the remains of the two walls built 

 respectively by the Emperors Adrian and Severus 

 in 1 20 and 210, to keep out the northern bar- 

 barians : the first being a high mound of earth, 

 and the second a rampart of stone, 68 miles long, 

 running parallel to the first. All the towns the 

 names of which terminate in Chester or cester, are 

 considered as having been originally Roman sta- 

 tions. Near St Albans are the remains of the 

 walls which once surrounded the Roman town of 

 Verulamium, the site of the town itself having 

 long been subjected to the plough. In making 

 excavations in London and other places, remains 

 of Roman buildings temples, baths, &c. are 

 frequently brought to light, proving that Roman 

 civilisation had made considerable progress in our 

 island. In Uriconium the British Pompeii, as it 

 is named the most important of the excavations 

 extend southward from the wall called in the neigh- 

 bourhood the ' Old Wall,' which is built of small 

 squared stones, with a layer of red tiles at inter- 

 vals, in a similar style to that which is found in the 

 Roman city of Silchester. It is on the southern 

 side of the Old Wall that the principal discoveries 

 have been made discoveries which shew to us 

 the arts and customs of the days of Constantine. 

 We see the pillars of the hypocausts, the marks 

 on the walls of the flue-tiles through which the 

 heat ascended, and even the soot left by the 

 fires. Coins and skeletons have been found, 

 with other evidence indicative of the manner in 

 which the city was destroyed being supposed 

 to have been burnt by Scandinavian pirates. 



Several of the small churches built soon after 

 the introduction of Christianity still exist, and 

 continue to be used as parish churches. The 

 larger churches connected with monastic establish- 



ments, and the cathedrals which were the seats of 

 bishops, took their rise at a later period, chiefly 

 during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. This 

 was a time when an enthusiasm existed for found- 

 ing and endowing monasteries and churches. To 

 it we are indebted for many superb minsters, the 

 solemn beauty of which continues to be a proud 

 possession of our land. Westminster Abbey, York 

 Minster, and the cathedrals of Winchester, Lin- 

 coln, Gloucester, Canterbury, Lichfield, and Salis- 

 bury, may be instanced as particularly august 

 specimens of the Gothic style, in which all ecclesi- 

 astical structures were then built. There are also 

 many ruinous remains of the great abbeys of the 

 middle ages : those of Tintern, near Monmouth ; 

 Glastonbury, near Wells ; and Bury St Edmunds, 

 are of famed beauty. A kindred class of structures 

 exist in what are called crosses, which consist 

 generally of an elegant tapering Gothic erection 

 with a small shrine below, and were in most in- 

 stances erected to hallow the spot on which the 

 remains of venerated persons rested on their way 

 to the tomb. 



Of the huge castles built by the Norman nobility 

 and by the sovereigns during the first few cen- 

 turies after the Conquest, many specimens still 

 exist, but few which are not in ruins. Conway and 

 Caernarvon Castles, which, with several others, 

 were raised to overawe the then independent prin- 

 cipality of Wales, are noble specimens. 



CITIES TOWNS PORTS. 



The Metropolis. London, the capital of the 

 British empire, stands on both banks of the 

 Thames, about 60 miles from the sea. The dome 

 of St Paul's is in latitude 51 30' 48" N. and in 

 longitude 5' 48" W. The decennial returns of 

 the present century give the progress of the popu- 

 lation of London as follows : 



1801 864,845 



1811 1,009,546 i ..,- 



1821 1,225,694 I 1851 



1831 1,474,069 



1,870,727 



3,362,236 



In 1861, it was 2,719,126; in 1871, it had increased 

 to 3,132,599. At the census in April 1881, the 

 figures (revised and corrected) were as follow : 

 City of London, 50,652 ; Registrar - general's 

 London, 3,816,483 ; Local Management London, 

 as also School-board London, 3,834,354; Police 

 London, 4,716,009. 



For parliamentary purposes, London is divided 

 into the City of London and 29 parliamentary 

 boroughs, returning together 62 members to par- 

 liament. Before the Act of 1885 there were only 

 nine boroughs besides the City. or floor-law pur- 

 poses, London is divided into forty unions. The 

 ' Metropolitan Buildings Act' of 1855 divides it into 

 56 districts. The City of London spoken of by 

 Londoners simply as the City is the heart of the 

 mighty commerce of England's capital indeed, it 

 may fairly be said to be the centre of the finance 

 operations and trade of the world. The bustle and 

 traffic of its streets are wholly inconceivable by 

 any one who has not seen them. While it is esti- 

 mated that nearly 700,000 persons enter the City 

 every day, not more than a tenth of this number 

 remain in it over the night, and this proportion 

 is decreasing, from the conversion of dwelling- 

 houses into commercial establishments. It is 



M 



