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The other considerable rivers are the Tweed, which forms part of the boundary between England and Scotland; the Tyne, the Wear and the Tees, which discharge themselves into the North sea between the Tweed and the Humber; the Witham, the Welland and the Great Ouse, which fall into the estuary called the Wash; and lastly, the Dee, which falls into St. George's channel near the mouth of the Mersey.

Chief Towns.] The four principal commercial towns stand on or near the four principal rivers; London, on the Thames, in the S. E.; Bristol, near the Severn, in the S. W; Liverpool, on the Mersey, in the N. W.; and Hull, on the Humber, in the N. E.

London, the capital of the kingdom, the greatest city in Europe, and in commerce, wealth, manufactures, arts, literature, and charitable institutions, the first city in the world, stands on both sides of the Thames, 60 miles from its mouth. In its widest sense, London comprehends the city of that name and its liberties, with the city and liberties of Westminster, the borough of Southwark, and nearly 30 of the contiguous villages. Its greatest length is from E. to W. nearly seven miles: the circumference is about 30 miles, and the included area 11,520 acres. The city of London, the eastern division, is the place where business is transacted,and consists chiefly of shops, warehouses, wharves, &c. Westminster, the western division, contains the royal palaces, the houses of lords and commons, the courts of law and government offices. Southwark, the southern division, on the south side of the Thames, is devoted to commerce and ship-building, and is distinguished by a vast number of manufactories, iron-founderies, glass-houses, &c. The main streets of London run parallel with the Thames from E. to W. and the cross streets run mostly from N. to S. Some of them are narrow, but they are all well paved, with granite stones in the middle, and flag stones for foot passengers, on the sides. Underneath the pavements are large vaulted sewers, which carry off all the filth of the city into the Thames. The subterranean works of London, consisting of sewers, drains, water-pipes and gas-pipes,form an extensive and curious collection.

The following are the most remarkable public buildings: 1. The Cathedral church of St. Paul, the chief ornament of the city, and the most distinguished specimen of architecture in the British empire, is 500 feet long, 223 broad, and 340 high, to the top of the cross. 2. Westminster-Abbey is a grand Gothic edice, and is the sanctuary of the illustrious dead, kings, statesmen, warriors, poets and philosophers. 3. The three royal palaces in Westminster, viz. St. James' Palace, Buckingham House, and Carlton House. 4. The Tower of London, anciently a royal palace, but now used as a state-prison and depository for arms, records, jewels and other property belonging to the crown. 5. The Bank

of England, an immense pile of building. 6. Westminster Hall, one of the largest rooms in Europe. 7. The Mansion House, the residence of the Lord Mayor of London. 8. The London Monument, a noble pillar, 202 feet high, erected to commemorate the great fire of 1666. 9. Waterloo Bridge, one of the noblest struc→

tures of the kind in the world, built of granite, at an expense of more than £1,000,000. It was begun in 1811, and completed in 1817. Besides these and numerous other public buildings, Lon-don contains more than 500 churches, 22 hospitals, 18 asylums, 18 prisons, 107 alms-houses, and 20 dispensaries.

The principal theatres are those of Drury-lane, Covent-garden and the Haymarket. Vauxhall gardens are, perhaps, the most brilliant and magnificent place of public amusement in Europe. Hyde Park, on the west side of the city, contains 394 acres, and is the grand Sunday resort of pedestrians and equestrians from the metropolis.

The commerce of the port employs 3,000 vessels, measuring 600,000 tons, and manned by 45,000 seamen. The annual value of the exports and imports is £70,000,000, nearly two thirds of the whole trade of the kingdom. The manufactures consist chiefly of silk, cutlery, jewelry, watches, cut glass, books, carriages, and other fine goods and articles of elegant use. The manufactures of silk in Spitalfields, and of watches in Clerkenwell, usually employ about 7,000 people each. In general the London manufactures are esteemed the most excellent of their respective kinds, and produce higher prices than those of any other place. The population in 1811, according to the census, was 1,011,546, and the number of inhabited houses 141,732. Among the calamities recorded in the history of the city, are the great plague in 1665, which carried off more than 70,000 persons, and the great fire which broke out in the following year, and destroyed 13,200 dwelling houses, 89 churches, and other buildings, valued in all at £10,730,500.

Bristol is 117 miles west of London, on the river Avon, which is navigable for ships of great burden down to the Severn, four miles distant, where commences the Bristol channel. The harbor formerly labored under serious inconveniences, ships being left aground at the retreat of the tides, which here rise to the height of 40 feet; but since 1803 extensive works have been erected, at an expense of nearly £600,000, by means of which every difficulty has been removed, and merchant ships of all burdens now lie constantly afloat, and enter or leave the harbor at any time of the tide.

The houses in the older parts of the town are built principally of wood, and are crowded together in narrow, irregular streets, but those of more recent erection, particularly towards the suburbs and outskirts, consist of brick and stone, and are disposed in spacious streets and squares. All bulky articles are conveyed through the city on sledges, carts not being admitted for fear of damaging the arches of the vaults and sewers, which are made under all the streets. There are 18 churches, all of them neat and beautifully decorated, besides numerous meeting-houses, and places of worship for dissenters of almost every denomination. Several of the buildings for commercial purposes are elegant edifices, and the city has long been famous for its numerous and well conducted charitable institutions.

Among the manufacturing establishments are 20 glass-houses, 18 sugar refineries, and numerous distilleries. Its brass works are the most extensive in England. Bristol has long been engaged in a very extensive foreign trade, though it has not made such rapid advances as many other ports, and particularly its great rival, Liverpool. Its foreign connections are chiefly with the West Indies; and its commerce with treland is also very extensive. Its internal commerce is carried on by means of the Severn, and the numerous canals with which it is connected. The population, in 1811, was 76,433. About a mile west of Bristol, close to the river, is the village of the Hot Wells, celebrated for a warm spring which has been found a powerful remedy in various diseases, and is much resorted to by invalids and the fash ionable.

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Liverpool is 206 miles N. W. of London, near the mouth of the Mersey, which opens to it a ready access to the sea, while a great system of canal navigation affords an inland communication with all parts of England. The town extends along the east bank of the river, about three miles, and on an average, about a mile inland. On the river side lie the docks, wharves and ware-houses, in one immense range. Towards the interior the town is prolonged into numerou- suburbs, consisting of the villas and country houses of the wealthy citizens.

The houses are built of brick and covered with slate. The streets are mostly spacious and airy, some of them elegant, and the greater part lighted with gas. The public buildings are in a style of costly elegance and splendor suited to the opulence of the inhabitants The exchange buildings, erected in 1803, at an expense of £100,000, are perhaps the most splendid structure ever raised in modern times for purposes purely commercial. There are at present 20 churches in the city attached to the establishment, and a greater number of chapels belonging to various denominations of dissenters. The Liverpool docks are very numerous and form a remarkable feature in the port. They cover in all an area of 77 acres, and are superior to those of any other port in Great Britain.

The growth of Liverpool in population and commerce has been remarkably rapid. In 1700 the number of inhabitants was only 5,000; in 1811 it was 94,376, exclusive of 7,000 sailors and the inhabitants of the villages nearly connected with the town, which would have made probably 120,000. The number of vessels which paid dock duties in 1819, was 7.849, measuring 867,318 tons. The most important branch of commerce is the trade with Ireland, and next to this the, trade with the United States of America. More than three fourths of all the commerce between Great Britain and the United States is carried on from this port. The principal cause of the prosperity of Liverpool is its connec tion by means of canals with the great manufacturing towns of the northern counties.

Hull, or Kingston upon Hull, is 174 miles north of London,on the Humber, at the point where this river receives the Hull. From

the point where the two rivers meet the town extends westward nearly two miles along the north bank of the Humber, and rather more northward along the west bank of the Hull. From the streets which line the Hull and the Humber others branch off into the interior; from the former towards the west, and from the latter towards the north, crossing each other in various places, though irregularly. There are numerous docks along the banks of the rivers, some of which are of great extent. The old dock, which enters immediately from the river Hull, about 300 yards from its mouth, is 200 yards long, 85 feet wide and 22 feet deep, covering an area of 10 acres, and capable of containing 130 vessels of 300 tons. Almost the whole town is of brick, and in general well built, paved, and lighted.

The town is admirably situated for trade; the Humber, on which it stands, being the common outlet of the Derwent, the Ouse, the Aire, the Don, and the Trent; rivers which spread out widely and open communications with all the northern and central parts of the kingdom. The foreign trade is principally to the Baltic; but a regular traffic is also kept up with the southern parts of Europe, the West Indies and America. Hull is more extensively engaged in the whale fishery, by far, than any other port in Britain. The number of whale ships for several years past has been about 60. The population of the town in 1811 was 26,792, but including sailors and the adjoining villages it is upwards of 40,000.

Portsmouth, the principal rendezvous of the British navy, is in the English channel, on the west side of the island of Portsea, at the mouth of the bay termed Portsmouth harbor. This harbor decidedly excels every other in Great Britain for capaciousness, depth and security. It is capable of containing almost the whole British navy, and the largest ships may ride in it with safety in the most violent storms, and without touching the ground even at the lowest tide. Another capital advantage of the harbor is the neighborhood of the famous roadstead of Spithead, between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, which is so spacious that it can contain 1,000 sail of vessels in the greatest security. The dockyard of Portsmouth is a vast establishment, provided with every thing necessary for building, repairing and equipping the largest fleets. More than 4,000 workmen have been sometimes employed in it at one time. The fortifications of the town are the most complete and regular in Great Britain, and are deemed impregnable. The population in 1811, including the suburbs, was 40,567,

Plymouth, celebrated for its harbor and docks, is 216 miles W. by S. of London, at the head of the capacious haven of Plymouth Sound, which is formed at the confluence of the rivers Plym and Tamar. The Plym enters on the E. side of the Sound, and the Tamar on the W. and the buildings extend over the tongue of land included between them. The town of Plymouth occupies the eastern part of this tongue of land being at the mouth of the Plym, and about a mile and a half to the west, on the Tamar, stands the Dock, or Plymouth Dock, a separate town, but con

nected with Plymouth by a continued line of buildings. The harbor, which is very secure and sufficiently capacious to contain about 2,000 sail of shipping, consists of several parts. Catwater harbor is formed by the estuary of the Plym. The Hamoaze, which is occupied by the navy, is a magnificent basin at the mouth of the Tamar, about four miles long and balf a mile wide, and is filled with moorings of large iron chains for 100 sail of the line. The dock-yard of Plymouth extends in a circular sweep along the shores of the Hamoaze, 3,500 feet in length, with a width in the middle of 1600 feet, and at each extremity of 1000, thus including an area of 96 acres. It is provided with docks, an anchor-manufactory, rope-walks, sail-lofts, and magazines of naval stores of every description on a most magnificent scale.

Plymouth Sound, which lies in front of the Hamoaze and Catwater harbors, forms now an excellent roadstead, being rendered secure by the construction of the breakwater across its, entrance. This work, which has been going on for years, and is not yet finished, is the greatest of the kind ever undertaken in Great Britain. It is designed as a barrier against the heavy swell, which is here almost continually rolling in from the Atlantic, and consists of a mole or vast heap of stones stretching across the entrance of the Sound, and occupying nearly half its width in the middle, leaving a free passage for vessels both on the east and west sides. It is to be 5100 feet, or nearly a mile long, 210 feet wide at the bottom, 30 feet at the top, and 40 feet high. The stones are taken from a quarry on the shore of the Sound in large blocks, not less than 1 or 2 tons each, and are dropped promiscuously together and left to find their own base and position. It is calculated that 2,000,000 tons of stone will be required to finish it, and the expense is estimated at £1,171,000. The result has fully

answered the expectations of its projectors. In its present unfinished state 200 vessels have here found shelter, and 25 or 30 sail of the line may now ride here at all times in security. The population of Plymouth, in 1811, including the Dock and the suburbs, was 56,060.

Manchester, the great centre of the cotton trade, the greatest manufacturing town in the kingdom, and except London and Liverpool, the first in population, industry and wealth, is situated on both sides of the Irwell, a branch of the Mersey, 37 miles E. of Liverpool. It has risen to its present consequence entirely by its manufactures, and the various trades growing out of them. Of these manufactures, by far the principal, and the source of most of the rest, is that of cotton goods. The greater part of the cotton trade of Great Britain, which, besides its own consumption, supplies that of nearly all Europe, America, and the West Indies, and even partly of India, centres in Manchester, extending to the towns around it in all directions for 40 or 50 miles. The various branches of the manufacture are carried on more or less through all this district; but by far the most extensive, especially the spinning, in Manchester. Manchester is, besides, the centre from which the raw material is distributed through all parts of the dis

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