SITUATION.
The situation of ancient London was most convenient for commerce, and fairly good from a sanitary point of view. The advantages of its situation have been dwelt upon by many writers, and were well summed up by Edward Chamberlayne, who thus speaks of it in his “Present State of England” (1682), a work which was analogous in many respects to the “Whitaker’s Almanack” of the present day.
Chamberlayne says:—“In the most excellent situation of London the profound wisdom of our ancestors is very conspicuous and admirable. It is seated in a pleasant evergreen valley, upon a gentle rising bank in an excellent air, in a wholesome soil mixed with gravel and sand upon the famous navigable river Thames, at a place where it is cast into a crescent, that so each part of the City might enjoy the benefit of the river, and yet not be far distant one from the other; about sixty miles from the sea; not so near, that it might be in danger of surprise by the fleets of foreign enemies, or be annoyed by the boisterous wind and unwholesome vapours of the sea; yet not so far but that by the help of the tide every twelve hours, ships of great burden may be brought into her heaving bosom; nor yet so far but that it may enjoy the milder, warmer vapours of the eastern, southern, and western seas; yet so far up in the country as it might also easily partake even of all the country commodities; in an excellent air upon the north side of the river (for the villages seated on the south side are noted to be unhealthy in regard of the vapours drawn upon them by the sun), but roughed by gentle hills from the north and south winds.
“The highways leading from all parts to this noble city are large, smooth, straight and fair; no mountains nor rocks, no marshes nor lakes to hinder carriages and passengers.” * * *
Chamberlayne, in speaking of the Thames, is, as well he may be, loud in its praise:
“The river whereon is seated this great city, for its breadth, depth, gentle, straight, even course, extraordinary wholesome water, and tides, is more commodious for navigation than any other river in the world. * * * This river opening eastward towards Germany and France, is much more advantageous for traffic than any other river of England. To say nothing of the variety of excellent fish within this river—above all of the incomparable salmon—the fruitful, fat soil, the pleasant rich meadows and innumerable stately palaces on both sides thereof; in a word, the Thames seems to be the very radical moisture of this city, and in some sense, the natural heat too; for almost all the fuel for firing is brought up this river from Newcastle, Scotland, Kent, Essex, etc., or else down the river from Surrey, Middlesex, etc.”
After dwelling on the shipping and commerce of the Thames, he concludes his article on London by stating “that London is a huge magazine of men, money, ships, horses and ammunition, of all sorts of commodities necessary or expedient for the use or pleasure of mankind. That London is the mighty rendezvous of nobility, gentry, courtiers, divines, lawyers, physicians, merchants, seamen, and all kinds of excellent artificers, of the most refined wits, and most excellent beauties; for it is observed that in most families of England, if there be any son or daughter that excels the rest in beauty or wit, or perhaps courage or industry, or any other rare quality, London is their north star, and they are never at rest till they point directly thither.”
A writer of a much earlier date, William Fitz-Stephen, who in 1180 prefixed an account of London to his biography of Thomas-à-Becket, has also some remarks about the situation of London, from which I will make a quotation.
“On the north are cornfields, pastures, and delightful meadows, intermixed with pleasant streams, on which stands many a mill, whose clack is so grateful to the ear. Beyond them an immense forest extends itself, beautified with woods and groves, and full of the lairs and coverts of beasts and game, stags, bucks, boars, and wild bulls.”
“The fields above-mentioned are by no means hungry gravel or barren sands, but may vie with the fertile plains of Asia, as capable of producing the most luxuriant crops and filling the barns of the hinds and farmers.
“Round the city and towards the north arise certain excellent springs at a small distance, whose waters are sweet, salubrious, clear,” and
“Whose runnels murmur o’er the shining stones.”