Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 14.djvu/842

 818 LONDON Plates T OXDON, the metropolis of England, and the chief IX., X. I j town of the British empire, is situated on both banks of the river Thames, about 50 miles from its mouth, St Paul s Cathedral being in 51 30 48&quot; N. lat, and 5 48&quot; W. long. The old City of London is wholly included in the county of Middlesex, but the town beyond the City limits extends into portions of three other counties, namely, Surrey and Kent on the south, and Essex on the east. The area and population of the various govern mental divisions of London are given below (pp. 821, 822). Geology. SITE. A great part of London is built on sands and gravels belonging to the Drift period, marking the ancient bed of a much larger river than the present Thames. This formation, resting immediately on the London Clay, extends along both banks of the present river, with an average breadth of about 2 miles ; but in some parts there is immediately adjoining the banks a considerable breadth of alluvial deposits, or occasionally of artificially constructed embankments. On the north bank the alluvial soil com prehends the greater part of Westminster ; on the south bank it stretches east from Lambeth Bridge, gradually widening to a breadth of about half a mile, and from South- wark to Deptford occupying a still wider area. The sands and gravels again occur at Greenwich Hospital, but are succeeded by the Greenwich and Woolwich marshes. The Isle of Dogs opposite Greenwich is constructed wholly of artificial embankments, and at one time the area it now occupies formed part of the mouth of the Lea, along whose banks the alluvial formation runs northwards between Bow and Stratford to Stoke Newington, widening to a considerable area at the marshes of West Ham and Plaistow. At Fareham, Battersea Park, Cheapside, Victoria Park, and to the south of Stoke Newington, there are consider able areas occupied by brick earth. The London Clay crops to the surface throughout the whole of north-west London, with the exception of a small portion to the south of Regent s Park, which is encroached upon by the sands and gravels, and the summits of Hampstead and Highgate, which are occupied by the silicious sands of the Bagshot series. In west London the Clay extends south to Kensington Gardens, and in north London it occupies part of Islington and the district north of High bury and Stoke Newington. South of the Thames it encroaches irregularly on Wandsworth, Clapham, Camber- well, and Deptford, and comprehends nearly all the district round Sydenham. The Lower Tertiaries are represented by the Thanet sands at Greenwich and in the neighbour hood of Deptford, by the Woolwich and Reading beds, which occur at Camberwell, Dulwich, and Lewisham, and by the Blackheath beds, which are best seen at Blackheath. Chalk, the basement rock of the London basin, and the source of the water supply for the deep wells, only crops to the surface in the neighbourhood of Greenwich. Surface. The original surface of the soil of London has been much altered in the course of generations, the depth of made earth being often very great. At one period the Thames flowed straight from Lambeth to Limehouse, and the greater part of the district now stretching south and east of the river to the range of heights in the neighbourhood of Sydenham and Greenwich was occupied by marshes or shallow lagoons. North of the Thames the greater part of London is built on several ranges of small eminences lying between the river and the northern heights of Hampstead (430 feet), Highgate, and Hornsey. The original city clustered round the eminence now crowned by St Paul s, and formerly intersected by the ravine of the Walbrook. To the north and east it was bounded by an extensive fen, from which Finsbury takes its name. To the west was the Fleet river, which flowed from Hampstead in a south easterly direction to King s Cross, and then more southerly to Clerkenwell, where on account of the steepness of its banks it received the name of Holebourne or Hollowburn. It was navigable to King s Cross, and for a long period formed a convenient and well-protected harbour for the city. A more extended elevation, included in the district now occupied by the Inns of Court, Bloomsbury, and Soho, was bounded on the west by the Tyburn, which rose near the Swiss Cottage and, after an easterly course till reaching the present Regent s Park, flowed southwards nearly in the line of Marylebone Lane and Bond Street. Tyburn Hill was bounded on the west by the Westbourne ; and to the south and west an extensive range of low ground, now included in Westminster, Pimlico, Chelsea, and Kensington, was in early times for ths most part covered by water. Westwards the low ground is bounded by Xotting Hill, whence an elevated region lying between the smaller eminences and the &quot; northern heights,&quot; and including Primrose Hill, runs in a north-westerly direction to Camden Town, Islington, and Highbury. The hilly regions in the neighbourhood of Kensington and Notting Hill formed part of an extensive forest, and St John s Wood was originally a dense thicket. GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION. At first the AdmiJ municipal constitution of London was loose and disjointed trativj in its form, resembling that of the shire rather than the lustor I town, but even from the time of Henry I. the independence of its jurisdiction was complete, and the citizens, besides the right of inheritance and tenure not then possessed by the rest of England, enjoyed exemption from the Danegeld and from similar obligations. By the 13th century the later form of the municipality was already shaped in its main features, although at this stage residence in the borough and not membership in a trade guild was the basis of citizenship. This in some respects premature de velopment of municipal functions has always given to London a peculiar and unique position in respect of muni cipal government. Its charters, which in early times served as the model for charters to new incorporations, have defied the attacks of reform. The system of government was more heterogeneous and complicated than that of other English towns. London is practically a borough by pre scription, and its special rights and privileges have made those who possess them distrustful of change. The mere extent of the new city surrounding the old, and the rapidity of its growth, have also tended to postpone the attempt to grapple with the problem of its government. L ntil 1855, when the Metropolitan Board of Works was formed, the whole administration of the metropolis was of a mediaeval character. The City was governed by old charters, con firmed but not interpreted by a special Act of William and Mary, and the various parishes of the rest of the metro polis had each its own peculiar system of administration, regulated by local Acts which differed widely in different localities. No direct change of vital importance was made in the constitution and functions of the City corporation by the Metropolis Local Management Act of 1855, but the very existence of the Metropolitan Board implied a certain limitation of its authority, and the additional functions conferred by successive Acts on the Metropolitan Board have in some degree circumscribed its influence. As modified by the Act of 1855, the government of London within what is known as the metropolitan area consists of the City Cor poration, the Metropolitan Board of Works, and thirty-eight