ENGLAND. 



679 



ic*. its length ; according to some, one of these chains ex- 

 *" ".'""*' tends from Dorsetshire to Kent, while the other is re- 

 presented as stretching from the isle of Portland to the 

 Wolds. According to others, the three loftiest and 

 most naked ridges of the south-eastern quarter of the 

 island, commence on Salisbury plain, an amazing ex- 

 tent of high and chalky land, stretching 25 miles east 

 to Winchester, and 28 miles west to Weymouth ; its 

 breadth, in some places, being from 35 to 40 miles. 

 The first of the ridges that takes its rise from this quar- 

 ter, after intersecting Hampshire and Sussex, terminates 

 at Beachyhead; that part of it which lies in Sussex, 

 forms the famous South Downs, which are nearly 50 

 miles long, and about five or six broad. The second 

 ridge extends to the eastern shore of Kent, and forms 

 the Surrey hills or downs, little less celebrated for the 

 goodness of their sheep-pasture than the South Downs. 

 A little to the east of Farnham, in this county, they are 

 merely a narrow ridge, called the Hogsback; but as 

 they penetrate more deeply into it, their breadth be- 

 comes considerable ; their southern side, in general, is 

 steep; their northern, gently sloping. The third range, 

 which, by some, is supposed to take its rise on the 

 Wiltshire downs, crosses Oxfordshire, &c. into Norfolk. 

 The hills of Gogmagog in Cambridgeshire, belong to 

 this range. The Chiltcrn hills, another upland tract of 

 considerable elevation, extend from Tring in Hertford- 

 shire to Henley in Oxfordshire. 



Morclands. The most extensive and celebrated morelands are 

 those of Northumberland ; of the five counties, as Mr 

 Marshall denominates them ; of Lancashire; the eastern 

 and western morelands of Yorkshire ; and the more- 

 Of North- lands of Staffordshire. The more lands of Northumber- 

 luuberknd. land may be divided into the western and the southern ; 

 the latter, however, unite with, and therefore projierly 

 belong to the morelands of the five counties, according 

 to Mr Marshall's arrangement. The western more- 

 lands occupy more than one-third of the surface of the 

 county. The north Tyne rises in their north-western 

 quarter, and runs nearly through the middle of them. 

 The morelands of the five counties, of Durham, Nor- 

 thumberland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, and the 

 northern part of Yorkshire, form one united mass of 

 mountain heights, which is separated, on the north, 

 from the main body of the Northumberland morelands, 

 by the valley of the Irthing, and on the south by the 

 valley of the Greta, from the western morelands of 

 Yorkshire. The morelands of Lancashire are separated 

 into two divisions, by the valley of the Kibble. The 

 northern division is insulated, being separated from the 

 western morelands of Yorkshire by Craven, and the 

 district which intervenes between Craven and Lons- 

 dale. This district forms their boundary on the north ; 

 on the west, they are bounded by the cultivated lands 

 of Lancashire. The southern division of the morelands 

 unites itself with die southern range of the mountains 

 of the north of England, which has been already de- 

 scribed. The eastern morelands of Yorkslu're are 

 bounded, on the west, by the vale of York; on the east, 

 by the sea coast district of the north riding of this coun- 

 ty ; on the north, by the vale of Stockton ; and on the 

 south, by the limestone lands of east Yorkshire. Their 

 extent, if the vallies which lie among them are taken in- 

 to the calculation, may be about 400 or 500 square miles. 

 The elevation of this minor class of English mountains 

 is much below that of the Cumberland mountains. 

 Their surface is tame, their soil poor, and in natural 

 economy they resemble the morelands of Northumber- 

 land and Durham, rather than those of the west riding 

 of Yorkshire. 



Of the five 



Of Lanca- 

 shire. 



/I, -r. ;.u.di 



rfYork- 



The western morelands of Yorkshire, which form a 

 tract of black, heathy mountains, are bounded on the 

 north by the valley of the Greta ; on the south, they are 

 divided from the more southern mountains of the 

 north of England, which have been already mentioned, 

 by the manufacturing district, and by the valley of 

 the Ayre ; on the north-west, they extend into West- 

 moreland and Cumberland ; on the west and south- 

 west, their boundary is formed by the district of Craven, 

 which contains the mountains of Ingleborough and 

 Whernside, already described as forming part of the 

 great northern chain on the east : these morelands 

 shelve down to the cultivated lands that constitute the 

 western bank of the vale of York. The elevation of 

 the western boundaries of these mountains is very con- 

 siderable ; inferior, indeed, to the elevation of the Cum- 

 berland mountains, but much greater than the eleva- 

 tion of the eastern morelands of Yorkshire. Their sur- 

 face, however, is tame, merely swelling : from this cha- 

 racter, indeed, must be excepted their western margin, 

 which is much broken, and strongly featured. 



The morelands of Staffordshire lie on the northern 

 part of that county, to the north of a line drawn from 

 Uttoxeter to Newcastle under Lyne. Their elevation 

 must be considerable, as some of the numerous streams 

 which take their rise in this tract of country run into 

 opposite seas. That part of them which lies between 

 Cheadle and Oak-Moor, consists of an immense num- 

 ber of rude heaps of gravel, thrown together without 

 order or form, into sudden swells and deep glens. To 

 the north of Oak Moor the calcareous part of the more- 

 lands begins, reaching in length from the Weaverhills 

 to Longner, and in breadth from Dove to Morridge, 

 and including fifty or sixty square miles. This is the 

 best part of the morelands ; the worst part lies north- 

 east of Mole Cop, and west of Leek. The summit of 

 some of the hills in this district terminate in huge tre- 

 mendous cliffs, particularly those called Ltt-k rocks : 

 here single blocks of immense size are heaped together, 

 and some of prodigious bulk have evidently rolled from 

 the summit, and broken in pieces. 



The Wolds of Yorkshire have already been mention- 

 ed as being considered by some to be the northern ex- 

 tremity of the chalk hills of England ; and, indeed, 

 their natural character is the same as the chalk hills of 

 the southern counties, but their termination differs from 

 that of their western extreme. Here they end abruptly, 

 in tall, steep, cliffs, the mass having the appearance of 

 having been impelled in a southern direction ; there the 

 extremity is more shelving, broken, and irregular, frag- 

 ments being found insulated, and scattered at several 

 miles distance from the body of the hills. The outlines 

 of the wolds are irregular ; with respect to their extent, 

 if they are measured from the vale lands of Holderness 

 to those of the vale of York, and from those of the vale 

 of Pickering to the now calcareous lands at their south- 

 ern extremity, cannot be less than 500 square miles. 

 In elevation, surface, soil, and substrata, the wolds are 

 very similar to the chalk hills of Kent, Surrey, Sussex, 

 Hampshire, Wiltshire, and Dorsetshire. 



In describing the sea coast of England and Wales, we 

 shall begin with the mouth of the Thames, and pro- 

 ceed northward. The mouth of this river is formed by 

 the Nae, a hooked promontory in Essex, to the south 

 of Harwich, and the North Foreland, in the county 

 of Kent, or, perhaps, more accurately and strictly speak- 

 ing, it may be fixed at the Nore, between Leigh in Ms- 

 sex, and Sheerness in Kent. The coast of Essex from the 

 mouth of this river, thus defined, receding, turns abruptly 

 to face the east, and is indented by the bays tliat are form- 



Of Stafford- 

 shire. 



Wolds ot 

 Yorkshire. 



Sea-coast 

 described. 



