ENGLAND. (TOPOGRAPHY.) 



Besides these counties, the city of London, is a 

 county distinct from Middlesex, having its peculiar 

 jurisdiction ; as have also the cities of York, Ches- 

 ter, Bristol, Ely, Exeter, Norwich, Worcester, and 

 Coventry, and the towns of Kingston-upon-Hull, 

 Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Berwick-upon-Tweed. 



The principality of Wales is divided into twelve 

 counties. 



Chief Towns. 

 CHESTER CIRCUIT, 



(Flint, 

 Flint -{StAsiph.c 



(.Mold, a. 



N. WALES CIRCUIT, 

 Anglesey Beaumaris, a. 



Caernarvon {g^'* 

 Merioneth > 



Chief Towns. 

 BRECON CIRCUIT, 



( 1'resteign, a, 

 Radnor { Radno r 



Brecon Brecknock, . 



Glamorgan < Cardiff a 

 S. WALES CIRCUIT, 



/"Pembroke, a. 



) St David's, c. 



j Haverford. 



{_ west, a. 

 Cardigan Cardigan, a. 



Caermarthen Caermarthtn, 



_ , , 



Pembroke 



The natural geographical divisions of England cor- 

 respond to the old Roman provinces. 



I. Tiie first of these, Britannia Prima, or Southern 

 England, comprises the whole region of the southern 

 coast, the estuaries of the Thames and the Severn 

 indicating the northern boundary. This division 

 includes the seven southern counties. The promi- 

 nent features of it are : 1. The double ridge of 

 chalk hills; one of which, commencing in Hamp- 

 shire, extends eastward along the southern side of 

 the valley of the Thames, passing through Surrey 

 and Kent, and terminating in the North and South 

 Forelands ; the other ridge, commencing in Dorset- 

 shire, extends along the coast of Hampshire and 

 Sussex, forming the South Downs, terminating in the 

 lofty promontory of Beachy Head. Between these 

 two ranges, lies the extensive plain called the 

 Wealds of Kent. Another branch of the Dorsetshire 

 ridge extends from Salisbury Plain in a north-east 

 direction, through Bucks, into Suffolk. 2. The De- 

 vonian range, of primitive formation, which, com- 

 mencing in Somersetshire, extends south-westward 

 into Devonshire, where it forms the high table-land 

 of Dartmoor, terminating in the Cornish peninsula. 



II. The Thames, the Humber, the Severn, and 

 the Mersey form the boundaries of what may be 

 called Central England, the ancient Flavia Casarien- 

 sis, including the twenty-one counties of the Oxford, 

 Norfolk, and Midland circuits, the three counties of 

 the Home circuit north of the Thames, and the county 

 of Chester. The whole of this region may be de- 

 scribed as a plain, broken only by hills of inconsider- 

 able elevation. The principal features of this tract 

 of country are : 1 . The valley of the Thames, which, 

 rising in the Gloucestershire hills, flows in a north, 

 easterly direction to Oxford, where it bends south- 

 ward, and after separating the county of Bucking- 

 ham from Berks, Middlesex from Surrey, and Essex 



from Kent, receives the Medway at Sheerness, and 

 forms one of the finest harbours in the world. 2. 

 The valley of the Avon, which, rising on the borders 

 of Leicestershire, flows south-westward, through 

 Warwickshire and Worcestershire, and joins the Se- 

 vern near Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire ; the Cots- 

 wold hills separating the basin of the Severn from 

 the head-waters of the Thames. 3. The plain of 

 the Ouse, which, rising in Northamptonshire, flows in 

 a south easterly direction to Buckingham, and then 

 turning to the north-east winds through Bedfordshire, 

 and after dividing Cambridgeshire from Norfolk, 

 falls into the Wash at Lynn Regis. The whole 

 tract lying between the Ouse and the Nen, the Nor- 

 thampton river, is a flat and marshy plain, abounding 

 with lakes and meres, and terminating in the deep 

 firth or gulf which divides the coasts of Lincolnshire 

 and Norfolk, and which probably extended, in an- 

 cient times, much higher up the country, converting 

 Norfolk into a peninsula. 4. The high plains of 

 Leicestershire, famous for their pastures, appear to 

 form the central table-land, which divides the head- 

 waters of the Avon, flowing south-westward into 

 the Severn, the Northamptonshire waters which 

 reach the Wash, and the streams which flow north- 

 ward into the Trent. This last river, which com- 

 municates by canals with the Mersey, the Severn, 

 and the Thames, rises in Staffordshire, and has an 

 easterly course, till, being joined by the Derwent, 

 bringing the waters of Derbyshire, and the Soare, 

 flowing from Leicester, it begins to wind towards the 

 north-east flowing by Nottingham and Newark, and 

 then turning to the north, separates the counties of 

 Nottingham and Lincoln, and falls into the Humber. 

 5. The Mersey, collecting its head-waters from the 

 Yorkshire moors, at no great distance from the 

 springs of the Derwent and the Don, runs westward, 

 dividing Cheshire from Lancashire,and after receiving 

 the Irwell and the Wever, falls into a large estuary, 

 near the entrance of which Liverpool is situated, and 

 which is separated by a narrow peninsula from that 

 of the Dee. 



III. The third division, or Northern England, cor- 

 responding to the Roman Maxima Caesariensis, in- 

 cludes the six counties of the Northern Circuit. The 

 chief features of this region are : 1. The basin of 

 the Northern Ouse, which collects the streams that 

 descend in a south-easterly or south-westerly course 

 from the eastern and western moorlands. The vale 

 of York, which is watered by the Ouse, is one of 

 the most extensive and fertile in the kingdom, com- 

 prising 12,000 square miles. 2. A narrow district of 

 inconsiderable elevation separates the waters of the 

 Ouse, on the north, from the Vale of Stockton, tra- 

 versed by the river Tees, which, rising in Westmore- 

 land, flows eastward, separating Durham and the 

 North Riding of Yorkshire, and falling into the Ger- 

 man Ocean. 3. The Moorlands, occupying the 

 summits and declivities of the mountainous range 

 sometimes called the English Apennines, which, 

 commencing in Derbyshire, stretches northward to 

 Linlithgow or West Lothian, separating the eastern 

 from the western coasts. One branch of this range, 

 passing along the eastern border of Cumberland, 

 terminates at Geltsdale Forest, while another branch 

 shoots off on the north of Westmoreland towards the 

 Irish Sea. The principal elevations belonging to this 

 range are, in Yorkshire, Crossfell, 3390 feet above 

 the sea, Bowfell, 3440, and Helvellyn, 3225; in 

 Westmoreland, Bonyfell, 3084, and in Cumberland, 

 Grasmere, 2865, Saddleback, 3048, Skiddaw, 3175, 

 and Seafell, 3240. The Moors, from which West- 

 moreland derives its name, fill up the greater part 

 of that county and the, adjacent parts of Lancashire, 

 Yorkshire, and Durham. The eastern declivity of 



