Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/838

Rh MIDDLESEX. 830 MIDDLESEX. roads, diverging from Augusta, formed the highway of commerce and civilisation, and laid the basis of the after prosperity of the great city of London. This county was one of the earliest conquests of the Saxons, who planted it about the middle of the 6th century, and then named it Middle-Seaxe, or the territory of the Middle Saxons, from its relative situation to the three more powerful surrounding kingdoms of the East, West, and South Saxons, to the first of which it was a dependence for near three centuries, till the whole country was united under Egbert. In the division of the kingdom under Alfred, while the neighbouring counties of Essex and Herts were included in the Danelagh, Middlesex was retained as part of the English territory, and placed under the Alderman of Mercia. It has subsequently been the scene of the most eminent events, including the decisive battle of Barnet, but these belong not to the provincial but to the general history of England. Al- though an inland shire, Middlesex enjoys most of the advantages of a maritime province, being washed for 40 miles of its southern boundary by the tidal river of the Thames, which communicates with the North Sea and the English Channel. This noble stream, now the highway of commerce, bearing on its peaceful waters forests of masts, the property of all nations, derives its name from the Iberian language which was spoken on its shores before the first settlements of the Belgic Britons had displaced the primitive inhabitants. Its banks are in general low, and in some places even marshy, but much of the overflowed lands has been reclaimed, and within the last few years gigantic works for the embankment of the N. and S. sides of the river have been undertaken in connection with the metro- politan main drainage, which has been executed at the cost of several millions, and comprehends above 65 miles of tunnel, carried for the most part under streets and buildings in defiance of the most arduous difficulties conceivable. Above the port of London, the river is crossed by many bridges, connecting this county with Surrey, as London, Southwark, Blackfriars, "Waterloo, Westminster, Vauxhall, Battersea, New, Battersea, Old, Putney, Hammersmith Suspension, Kew, Richmond, Kingston, Hampton Court, Chertsey, and Staines, besides Walton, now in ruins, and several railway bridges, which last are stupendous structures, connecting the railway systems of the N. and 8. of England. There is also a tunnel under the Thames at Eotherhithe, excavated by Brunei from ] 825 to 1843. Up to London Bridge the Thames is navigable for sea-going vessels of the largest tonnage, and the space between that bridge and the junction of the Lea forms the port of London, which has above half the whole commerce of England. The river in its upper part above the port of London, is only navi- gable for small steamers and barges, and requires locks to keep up the water, the lowest of which is at Ted- dington, between Kingston and Richmond bridges. The other rivers are the Lea, which touches the county below Waltham Abbey, and tracing the eastern boun- dary, joins the Thames at Blackwall. It is made navi- gable in its whole course by a series of artificial cuts. On the channels of the Lea, which are not used for navigation, are several mills. The Colne, which traces the western boundary, is only partially navigable, fre- quently flowing in several channels like the Lea, which enclose a number of islands, and turn many mills. Two channels from this river communicate with the Thames, one at Hampton Court, the other between Shepperton and Sunbury, while a third stream joins the Cran near the powder-mills at Hounslow. The Brent, which is a considerable stream, having a course of near 20 miles, rises just within the northern border of the county be- tween the Hampstead and Stanmore hills, and after crossing a corner of Hertfordshire, flows by Finchley and Hanwell to the Thames at Brentford, where it has been made navigable for barges in its lower part. The Cran, or Yeddingbrook, rises between Harrow and Pin- ner, and after a circuitous course of 20 miles, in which it turns the powder-mills at Cranford, joins the Thames nt Isleworth. The New River, an artificial cut made in the reign of James I. for the supply of pure water to the metropolis, enters the county on the N. side between Enfield and Cheshunt, and runs nearly parallel to the Lea, in a very winding course, to the spacious reservoirs at Hornsey, where it is allowed to filter, and thence conveyed by covered ducts to reservoirs in various parts of London. Until a recent period there were many other streams of more or less note, as the Fleet, for- merly navigable to Holborn Bridge, the Walbrook, Langbourn, and Bayswater, but these are now converted into water-courses, and swallowed up by the metropolitan sewers. The principal canal is the Grand Junction, which enters the county from the N.W., and following the valley of the Colne to West Drayton, thence turns to the E. and crossing the Cran, joins the Brent near Hanwell, coinciding with the channel of that river till it joins the Thames at Brentford. From this canal at Bull Bridge, near Cranford, an important branch, called the Paddington canal, branches off to the E., and, pass- ing through the central part of the county, terminates in the Paddington basin, where the Regent's canal con- tinues the water communication along the N. and E. sides of the metropolis, by the Regent's Park, Islington, Hackney, Mile-End, and the Commercial-road, to the Thames at Limehouse. This last is nearly 9 miles long, and has several short branch cuts or basins in its course. The whole rainshed of the county is carried off by the Thames, into which the other rivers and streams discharge their waters, the surface having a general inclination from the borders of Hertfordshire, where a range of hills rises about 400 feet above the level of high water in the rivsr. The principal elevations are those of Hampstead, Highgate, Brockley, Hendon, Highwood, Harrow, and Barnet. The three first, though not more than 400 feet above sea level, are the highest in the county, and command extensive pros- pects. The vast plain skirting the road on the S. from Brentford, through Hounslow, to Longford, is nearly an entire flat, about 10 feet higher than the level of high water in the Thames ; as is also the plain between Staines and Twickenham, while an extensive tract of meadow and pasture land, lying on the banks of the river Lea, is frequently flooded in winter, and sometimes in summer ; and the whole of the Isle of Dogs, contain- ing 500 acres, is below high water, and would be over- flowed by every tide, were it not for the security of its banks. Notwithstanding the large proportion of low and marshy ground in the vicinity of the metropolis, the climate is remarkably healthy, owing to the greater part of the soil being naturally dry, and the more moist situations being well drained, which prevents the waters from becoming stagnant. Another cause of the dryness and freshness of the air is said to be the fires and fur- naces of London, in which no less than 3,000,000 tons of coal are annually consumed. The air being thus rarefied by heat, constantly ascends, carrying off the noxious vapours, and making way for a fresh supply to come in from every side. This causes that refreshing breeze which is experienced on Primrose-hill, and other eminences in the immediate vicinity of the metropolis. The valley of the Thames is likewise remarkable for the rarity of severe thunder storms, and the mildness of the winds, which seldom blow with sufficient violence to shake the grain out of the ripe ears of the standing corn. The prevailing winds are from the S.W. and N.E., which blow alternately about ten mouths of the whole year; and when the wind changes through the E. to the S., it is generally accompanied by heavy falls of rain. The bill" to the N. shelter the more fertile lands in the plain from the effects of the biting N.E. winds in the spring, and render the climate well adapted for the production of every kind of agricultural produce, par- ticularly vegetables and fruits, for which the London market furnishes an unlimited demand. Almost the whole of the land not built over in the parishes of Brent- ford, Chiswick, Hammersmith, Deptford, and Isleworth, is laid out in orchards, market- gardens, and nui- grounds, about 3,000 acres of orchard running along the river towards Twickenham. The next most profitable