DEPOPULATION OF RURAL ENGLAND 377 



area of 33,478,492 acres, had a population in the same 

 year of less than 7,500,000. 



The last Census, like the previous ones, reveals a 

 startling state of things. While the population of 

 England and Wales has increased in the ten years by 

 12*17 P^r cent, no less than "]"] per cent of the whole 

 are resident in Urban districts which comprise little 

 more than one-tenth of the total area. Taking the 

 Urban areas, it will be found that practically all the 

 smaller boroughs, market towns, and other Urban 

 districts which are in the midst of Rural surroundings, 

 and rely more or less on agriculture for their trade 

 and support, are either stationary, or have fallen off 

 in population during the ten years (1891-1901), many 

 of them to a serious extent. 



As examples of the kind of places that show an 

 actual decrease in population may be quoted : — 



Ashburton, Abingdon, Bicester, Bishop's Castle, 

 Bewdley, Buckingham, Blandford, Bridport, Bury 

 St. Edmunds, Chipping Norton, Crediton, Daventry, 

 Diss, Downham Market, Eye, Great Torrington, 

 Glastonbury, Horncastle, Huntingdon, Hay, Ivy- 

 bridge, Louth, Lyme Regis, Lymington, Market 

 Rasen, Malmesbury, Marlborough, Ottery St, Mary, 

 Ross, Shaftesbury, Saffron Walden, Sowerby, South- 

 molton, Stowmarket, Tavistock, Tetbury, Tiverton, 

 Totnes, Wareham, Wallingford, Warminster, War- 

 wick, etc.^ 



The " Rural districts," of which the towns named 

 below are the centres, show a still more alarming 

 decay during the same decade of years. Out of 674 



^ There are above 200 places of this class that show a decrease, and 

 many others that are either stationary or have slightly increased in 

 numbers. For details see Summary Tables, Census 1901, Cd. 1523, 

 Table XI, pp. 45-78. 



