The village stands in a sheltered spot, secured by the Hanger from the strong westerly winds. The air is soft, but rather moist from the effluvia of so many trees; yet perfectly healthy and free from agues.
The quantity of rain that falls on it is very considerable, as may be supposed in so woody and mountainous a district. As my experience in measuring the water is but of short date, I am not qualified to give the mean quantity.* I only know that:
| Inch. | Hund. | |
| From May 1, 1779, to the end of the year, there fell | 28 | 37! |
| From Jan. 1, 1780, to Jan. 1, 1781, there fell | 27 | 32 |
| From Jan. 1, 1781, to Jan. 1, 1782, there fell | 30 | 71 |
| From Jan. 1, 1782, to Jan. 1, 1783, there fell | 50 | 26! |
| From Jan. 1, 1783, to Jan. 1, 1784, there fell | 33 | 71 |
| From Jan. 1, 1784, to Jan. 1, 1785, there fell | 33 | 80 |
| From Jan. 1, 1785, to Jan. 1, 1786, there fell | 31 | 55 |
| From Jan. 1, 1786, to Jan. 1, 1787, there fell | 39 | 57 |
* A very intelligent gentleman assures me (and he speaks from upwards of forty years’ experience) that the mean rain of any plate cannot be ascertained till a person has measured it for a very long period. ‘If I had only measured the rain,’ says he, ‘for the four first years from 1740 to 1743, I should have said the mean rain at Lyndon was 16 and a half inches for the year, if from 1740 to 1750, 18 and a half inches. The mean rain before 1763 was 20 and a quarter, from 1763 and since, 25 and a half; from 1770 to 1780, 26. If only 1773, 1774 and 1775 had been measured, Lyndon mean rain would have been called 32 inches.’
The village of Selborne, and large hamlet of Oak-hanger, with the single farms, and many scattered houses along the verge of the forest, contain upwards of six hundred and seventy inhabitants.* We abound with poor; many of whom are sober and industrious, and live comfortably in good stone or brick cottages, which are glazed, and have chambers above stairs: mud buildings we have none. Besides the employment from husbandry the men work in hop gardens, of which we have many; and fell and bark timber. In the spring and summer the women weed the corn; and enjoy a second harvest in September by hop-picking. Formerly, in the dead months they availed themselves greatly by spinning wool, for making of barragons, a genteel corded stuff, much in vogue at that time for summer wear; and chiefly manufactured at Alton, a neighbouring town, by some of the people called Quakers: but from circumstances this trade is at an end.** The inhabitants enjoy a good share of health and longevity: and the parish swarms with children.
* A state of the parish of Selborne, taken October 4, 1783.
The number of tenements or families, 136.
The number of inhabitants in the street is … 313
In the rest of the parish … 363
Total, 676; near five inhabitants to each tenement.
In the time of the Rev. Gilbert White, vicar, who died in 1727–8, the number of inhabitants was computed at about 500.)
Average of baptisms for 60 years.
From 1720 to 1729, both years inclusive Males 6,9 Females
6,0 12,9
From 1730 to 1739, both years inclusive Males 8,2 Females
7,1 15,3
From 1740 to 1749, inclusive Males 9,2 Females 6,6 15,8
From 1750 to 1759, inclusive Males 7,6 Females 8,1 15,7
From 1760 to 1769, inclusive Males 9,1 Females 8,9 18,0
From 1770 to 1779, inclusive Males 10,5 Females 9,8 20
3
Total baptisms of Males 515
Females 465 980
Total of baptisms from 1720 to 1779, both inclusive, 60 years
980.