(The figures give the approximate annual rainfall in inches)
Temperature, it should be remarked, varies according to height above sea level, falling about 1° Fahr. for each 100 to 300 feet upwards. In a comparatively level district, like Berkshire, this is not a very serious consideration. The mean temperature for the year varies in different parts of England from about 47·3 in the north-eastern counties to about 49·6 in the south-east. The mean temperature is about 49·0 in northern Berkshire and about 47·5 in south-western Berkshire. It may be of interest to give the mean temperature for one year at places in and close around Berkshire. We take the year 1907 and the figures are as follows—Maidenhead 49·4, Wokingham 47·7, Swarraton in Hampshire 47·9, Marlborough in Wiltshire 47·4, and Oxford 48·9.
The average temperature in the month of January varies from 37·0 to 38·0 in different parts of the county, and the average temperature for July from 59·7 to 62·0.
In England bright sunshine is most prevalent on the coast and decreases inland. The annual total amount for the south and east coast from Cornwall to Norfolk is nearly 1800 hours, whilst in the northern midland counties the amount is about 1200 hours. There are no definite data available for giving the amount for Berkshire, but there are probably about 1500 hours of bright sunshine in the year.
The rainfall varies a good deal in different parts of the county. The amount is lowest in the north-east and highest in the south-west. Thus Wallingford and Cookham have a rainfall of about 23 inches a year on an average. At Reading, which is somewhat to the south-west, the amount is nearly 24 inches a year, and on a line running through Wellington College and Yattendon the amount is nearly 25 inches. Letcombe Regis and Ashbury have a rainfall of between 25 and 26 inches. At Faringdon the figure is above 26, and in the south-western corner of the county there is a rainfall of about 29 inches a year. The average yearly rainfall for the whole of England is 31·62 inches, and for the British Isles it is 39·25 inches. Looking at the extremes of rainfall in England we find the lowest at Shoeburyness with an average of 19·7 inches for the year, whilst Seathwaite in Cumberland has an average rainfall of 133·53 inches per annum.
9. People—Race. Population.
We know little about the ancient people who made and used the flint implements which are found in the river gravels around Reading and at other places, and even when we come to the latter part of the Stone Age, though we find skeletons in the barrows or mounds upon our downs, our information about the race is exceedingly small, and this is perhaps not to be wondered at, for in no case do we find any knowledge of the art of writing in the stage of culture when only stone and no metal implements were used. Moreover, we must bear in mind that all we know about early England from written history is from the works of foreign merchants or of foreign conquerors.
The Belgae who occupied the part of Britain south of the Thames at the time of Caesar’s invasion may have been partly or mostly Gauls. The tribe named the Atrebates occupied most or all of what is now Berkshire, and Silchester in Hampshire was their chief town.
During the Roman occupation the district was far from the frontier, and the inhabitants continued their peaceful village life, becoming more or less Romanised.