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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: KRO-LAP |
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LANCASHIRE , a north-western county of England, bounded N.E. by Westmorland, E. by Yorkshire, S. by Cheshire, W. by the Irish Sea and N.W. by Cumberland. The area is 1880.2 sq. m., the county being the sixth
chief
Lancaster
Calder
elevation
Along the sea-coast from the Mersey to Lancaster
Geology.The greater part of Lancashire, the central and eastern portions, is occupied by Carboniferous rocks; a broad belt of Triassic strata fringes the west and south; while most of the detached northern portion is made up of Silurian
Blackburn, Chorley, Wigan, Bolton, Preston, Oldham, Rochdale and Manchester. In the centre of the coal-field is an elevated moor-land tract formed of the grits and shales of the Millstone Grit series . Part of the small coal-field of Ingleton also lies within the county. Between these two coal basins there is a moderately hilly district in which grits and black shales predominate, with a broad tract of limestone and shales which are well exposed in the quarries at Clitheroe and at Longridge, Chipping, Whalley and Downham. The limestone again appears in the north at Bolton-le-Sands, Burton-in-Kendall, Grange, Ulverston and Dalton-in-Furness. Large pockets of rich iron ore are worked in the limestone in the Furness district. The belt of Trias includes the Bunter sandstone and conglomerate, which ranges from Barrow-in-Furness, through Garstang, Preston, Ormskirk, Liverpool, Warrington and Salford; and Keuper marls, which underlie the surface between the Bunter outcrop and the sea. On the coast there is a considerable development of blown sand between Blackpool and Lytham and between Southport and Sea-forth. North of Broughton-in-Furness, Ulverston and Cartmel are the Silurian
series of Borrowdale. A good deal of the solid geology is obscured in many places by glacial drift, boulder clay and sands.The available coal supply of Lancashire has been estimated at about five thousand millions of tons. In 1852 the amount raised was 8,225,000 tons; in 1899 it was 24,387,475 tons. In the production of coal Lancashire vies with Yorkshire, but each is about one-third below Durham. There are also raised in large quantitiesfireclay, limestone, sandstone, slate and salt, which is also obtained from brine. The red hematitic iron obtained in the Furness district is very valuable, but is liable to decrease. The district also produces a fine blue slate. Metals, excepting iron, are unimportant. Climate and Agriculture.The climate in the hilly districts is frequently cold, but in the more sheltered parts lying to the south and west it is mild and genial. From its westerly situation and the attraction of the hills there is a high rainfall in the hilly districts (e.g. at Bolton the average is 58.71 in.), while the average for the other districts is about 35. The soil after reclamation and drainage is fertile; but, as it is for the most part a strong clayey loam it requires a large amount of labour. In some districts it is more of a peaty nature, and in the Old Red Sandstone districts of the Mersey there is a tract of light sandy loam, easily worked, and well adapted for wheat and potatoes. In many districts the ground has been rendered unfit for agricultural operations by the rubbish from coal-pits. A low proportion (about seven-tenths) of the total area is under cultivation, and of this nearly three-fourths is in permanent pasture, cows being largely kept for the supply of milk to the towns, while in the uplands many sheep are reared. In addition to the cultivated area, about 92,000 acres are under hill pasturage. A gradual increase is noticeable in the acreage under oats, which occupy more than seven-tenths of the area under grain crops, and in that under wheat, to the exclusion of the cultivation of barley. Of green crops the potato is the chief
Industries and Trade.South Lancashire is the principal seat of the cotton
paper and chemical works, india-rubber and tobacco manufactures are among the chief of the other resources of this great industrial region. Besides the port of Liverpool, of world-wide importance, the principal ports are Manchester, brought into communication with the sea by the Manchester Ship Canal opened in 1894, Barrow-in-Furness and Fleetwood, while Preston and Lancaster have docks and a considerable shipping trade by the rivers Lune and Ribble respectively. The sea fisheries, for which Fleetwood and Liverpool are the chief ports, are of considerable value.1 g 1 5 B ) ?''',es Communications.Apart from the Manchester Ship Canal, canal-traffic plays an important part in the industrial region. In 176o the Sankey canal, 10 m. long, the first canal opened in Britain (apart from very early works), was constructed to carry coal from St Helens to Liverpool. Shortly afterwards the duke of Bridgewater projected the great canal from Manchester across the Irvell to Worsley, completed in 1761 and bearing the name of its originator. The Leeds and Liverpool canal, begun in 1770, connects Liverpool and other important towns with Leeds by a circuitous route of 130 M. The other principal canals are the Rochdale, the Manchester (to Huddersfield) and the Lancaster, connecting Preston and Kendal. A short canal connects Ulverston with Morecambe Bay. A network of rail-ways covers the industrial region. The main line of the London and North Western railway enters the county at Warrington, and runs north through Wigan, Preston, Lancaster and Carnforth. It also serves Liverpool and Manchester, providing the shortest route to each of these cities from London, and shares with the Lancashire and Yorkshire company joint lines to Southport, to Blackpool and to Fleetwood, whence there is regular steamship communication with Belfast. The Lancashire and Yorkshire line serves practically all the important centres as far north as Preston and Fleetwood. Allthe northern trunk lines from London have services to Manchester and Liverpool. The Cheshire Lines system, worked by a committee of the Great Northern, Great Central and Midland companies, links their systems with the South Lancashire district generally, and maintains lines between Liverpool and Manchester, both these cities with Southport, and numerous branches. Branches of the Midland railway from its main line in Yorkshire serve Lancaster, Morecambe, and Heysham and Carnforth, where connexion is made with the Furness railway to Ulverston, Barrow, Lake Side, Coniston, &c. Population and Administration.The area of the ancient county is 1,203,365 acres. Its population in'i8or was 673,486; in 1891, 3,926,760; and in 1901, 4,406,409. The area of the administrative county is 1,196,753 acres. The distribution of the industrial population may be best appreciated by showing the parliamentary divisions, parliamentary, county and municipal boroughs and urban districts as placed among the four divisions of the ancient county. In the case of urban districts 1 the name of the great town to which each is near or adjacent follows where necessary. The figures show population in 1901. End of Article: LANCASHIRE If you wish, you can link directly to this article.
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