Putney topographic map

Jane Austen attended Reading Ladies Boarding School, based in the Abbey Gateway, in 1784–1786. Mary Russell Mitford lived in Reading for a number of years and then spent the rest of her life just outside the town at Three Mile Cross and Swallowfield. The fictional Belford Regis of her eponymous novel, first…

Average elevation: 177 ft

Average elevation: 180 ft

Average elevation: 217 ft

Sheffield nestles on the eastern foothills of the Pennines and is sculpted by a dramatic hill-and-valley system formed where five rivers — the Don, Sheaf, Rivelin, Loxley and Porter — converge, producing steep-sided valleys and gritstone ridgelines with much of the urban area built directly onto hillsides…

Average elevation: 551 ft

Kent was also the location of the largest number of art schools in the country during the nineteenth century, estimated by the art historian David Haste, to approach two hundred. This is believed to be the result of Kent being a front line county during the Napoleonic Wars. At this time, before the invention…

Average elevation: 121 ft

The interior of the county consists of a roughly east–west spine of infertile and exposed upland, with a series of granite intrusions, such as Bodmin Moor, which contains the highest land within Cornwall. From east to west, and with approximately descending altitude, these are Bodmin Moor, Hensbarrow north…

Average elevation: 180 ft

Birmingham is a snowy city relative to other large UK conurbations, due to its inland location and comparatively high elevation. Between 1961 and 1990 Birmingham Airport averaged 13.0 days of snow lying annually, compared to 5.33 at London Heathrow. Snow showers often pass through the city via the Cheshire gap…

Average elevation: 453 ft

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Cambridgeshire has a maritime temperate climate which is broadly similar to the rest of the United Kingdom, though it is drier than the UK average due to its low altitude and easterly location, the prevailing southwesterly winds having already deposited moisture on higher ground further west. Average winter…

Average elevation: 105 ft

Average elevation: 315 ft

The city of Exeter was established on the eastern bank of the River Exe on a ridge of land backed by a steep hill. It is at this point that the Exe, having just been joined by the River Creedy, opens onto a wide flood plain and estuary which results in quite common flooding. Historically this was the lowest…

Average elevation: 184 ft

Average elevation: 240 ft

The west of the county lies on more resistant Cretaceous chalk. This chalk is responsible for a sweeping tract of largely downland landscapes that stretches from Dorset in the south west to Dover in the south east and north through East Anglia to the Yorkshire Wolds. The chalk is less easily eroded so forms…

Average elevation: 115 ft

The city, like most of the UK, has a maritime climate highly influenced by the Gulf Stream. Located in the driest region of Britain, Cambridge's rainfall averages around 570 mm (22.44 in) per year, around half the national average, with some years occasionally falling into the semi-arid (under 500 mm (19.69…

Average elevation: 59 ft

Average elevation: 75 ft

A large part of the north-west of the county, around Coalville, forms part of the new National Forest area extending into Derbyshire and Staffordshire. The highest point of the county is Bardon Hill at 278 m (912 ft), which is also a Marilyn; with other hilly/upland areas of around 150–200 metres (490–660…

Average elevation: 318 ft

Average elevation: 92 ft

Average elevation: 85 ft

Near Weybridge are the UK headquarters of Sony with SSP Group (situated in Byfleet) and Procter & Gamble (next door to each other on The Heights Business Park near the former Brooklands racing circuit) with Kia Motors UK and Petroleum Geo-Services UK, and Gallaher Group (cigarettes) is to the north, next to…

Average elevation: 226 ft

The highest elevation in Surrey is Leith Hill near Dorking. It is 295 m (968 ft) above sea level and is the second highest point in southeastern England after Walbury Hill in West Berkshire which is 297 m (974 ft).

Average elevation: 226 ft

Bath is in the Avon Valley and is surrounded by limestone hills as it is near the southern edge of the Cotswolds, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and the limestone Mendip Hills rise around 7 miles (11 km) south of the city. The hills that surround and make up the city have a maximum altitude…

Average elevation: 328 ft

Average elevation: 371 ft

Average elevation: 92 ft

Average elevation: 85 ft

The western part of the district in the Vale of York borders on and is drained by the River Derwent. The landscape is generally low-lying and flat although minor ridges and glacial moraines provide some variations in topography. Where there are dry sandy soils there are remnants of historic heathlands and…

Average elevation: 98 ft

Putney Heath is around 160 hectares (400 acres) in size and sits at approximately 45 metres (148 feet) above sea level. Because of its elevation, from 1796 to 1816 Putney Heath hosted a station in the shutter telegraph chain, which connected the Admiralty in London to its naval ships in Portsmouth. This was…

Average elevation: 115 ft

The South Downs National Park's chalk downland is a feature that sets it apart from other national parks in Britain. However, almost a quarter (23%) of the national park consists of a quite different and strongly contrasting physiographic region, the western Weald, whose densely wooded hills and vales are…

Average elevation: 177 ft

Average elevation: 463 ft

Average elevation: 217 ft

Ipswich experiences an oceanic climate, like the rest of the British Isles, with a narrow range of temperature and rainfall spread evenly throughout the year. One of the two nearest for which data is available is East Bergholt, about 7 miles (11 km) south west of the town centre and at a similar elevation, and…

Average elevation: 95 ft

The East of England region has the lowest elevation range in the UK. Twenty percent of the region is below mean sea level, most of this in North Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and on the Essex Coast. Most of the remaining area is of low elevation, with extensive glacial deposits. The Fens, a large area of reclaimed…

Average elevation: 128 ft

Average elevation: 187 ft

Average elevation: 187 ft

Ashdown Forest is an ancient area of open heathland occupying the highest sandy ridge-top of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is situated 30 miles (48 km) south of London in the county East Sussex, England. Rising to an elevation of 732 feet (223 m) above sea level, its heights provide…

Average elevation: 384 ft

The highest point at 636 m (2,087 ft) is Kinder Scout, in the Peak District of the southern Pennines in northwest Derbyshire near Glossop. Other hilly areas of 95 to 280 m (312 to 919 ft) in altitude, together with lakes and reservoirs, rise in and around the Charnwood Forest north of Peterborough, Leicester,…

Average elevation: 246 ft

Average elevation: 318 ft

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Average elevation: 240 ft

The Lake District is a roughly circular upland massif, deeply dissected by a broadly radial pattern of major valleys which are largely the result of repeated glaciations over the last 2 million years. The apparent radial pattern is not from a central dome, but from an axial watershed extending from St Bees…

Average elevation: 676 ft

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Average elevation: 312 ft

Situated in a valley through the Hampshire Downs at an average elevation of 88 metres (289 ft) Basingstoke is a major interchange between Reading, Newbury, Andover, Winchester, and Alton, and lies on the natural trade route between the southwest of England and London. The area had been something of an…

Average elevation: 358 ft

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Average elevation: 463 ft

Average elevation: 358 ft

Crawley lies within the Sussex Weald, an area of highly variable terrain so that many microclimates of frost hollows, sun traps and windswept hilltops will be encountered over a short distance. During calm, clear periods of weather this allows for some interesting temperature variations, although most of the…

Average elevation: 262 ft

Average elevation: 194 ft

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Average elevation: 640 ft

Average elevation: 112 ft

Farnham lies in the valley of the North Branch of the River Wey, which rises near Alton, merges with the South Branch at Tilford, and joins the River Thames at Weybridge. The mainly east-west alignment of the ridges and valleys has influenced the development of road and rail communications. The most prominent…

Average elevation: 328 ft

Average elevation: 266 ft

Average elevation: 102 ft

The name Bury is etymologically connected with borough, which has cognates in other Germanic languages such as the German burg meaning "fortress, castle"; Old Norse borg meaning "wall, castle"; and Gothic baurg meaning "city". They all derive from Proto-Germanic *burgs meaning "fortress". This in turn derives…

Average elevation: 177 ft

A large part of the north-west of the county, around Coalville, forms part of the new National Forest area extending into Derbyshire and Staffordshire. The highest point of the county is Bardon Hill at 278 m (912 ft), which is also a Marilyn; with other hilly/upland areas of c. 150–200 metres (490–660 ft)…

Average elevation: 322 ft

Average elevation: 269 ft

London's topography is characterized by a gently rolling terrain shaped by the River Thames and its tributaries. The city lies within the London Basin, a natural depression bordered by higher grounds such as the North Downs to the south and the Chiltern Hills to the northwest. The Thames flows west to east,…

Average elevation: 217 ft

Elevations are higher in the north and west, reaching more than 800 feet (240 m) in the Chilterns near Tring. The county centres on the headwaters and upper valleys of the rivers Lea and the Colne; both flow south, and each is accompanied by a canal. Hertfordshire's undeveloped land is mainly agricultural,…

Average elevation: 269 ft

The River Plym, which flows off Dartmoor to the north-east, forms a smaller estuary to the east of the city called Cattewater. Plymouth Sound is protected from the sea by the Plymouth Breakwater, in use since 1814. In the Sound is Drake's Island which is seen from Plymouth Hoe, a flat public area on top of…

Average elevation: 151 ft

Lincolnshire has had a comparatively quiet history, being a rural county which was not heavily industrialised and faced little threat of invasion. In the Roman era Lincoln was a major settlement, called Lindum Colonia. In the fifth century what would become the county was settled by the invading Angles, who…

Average elevation: 85 ft

Average elevation: 207 ft

Elevations range between 30 and 70 metres above sea level except higher in about 5% of the borough. The highest is an escarpment containing parts of the rural and wooded northern area, the hinterland of three Thames-side villages, facing the 30-mile long Chilterns AONB, west and north. A geological part of…

Average elevation: 217 ft

Average elevation: 131 ft

Average elevation: 141 ft

Average elevation: 377 ft

Due to its central location in England and altitude range from 27 metres in the south to 636 metres in the north, Derbyshire contains many species at the edge of their UK distribution ranges. Some species with a predominantly northern British distribution are at the southern limit of their range, whilst others…

Average elevation: 472 ft

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Kent was also the location of the largest number of art schools in the country during the nineteenth century, estimated by the art historian David Haste, to approach two hundred. This is believed to be the result of Kent being a front line county during the Napoleonic Wars. At this time, before the invention…

Average elevation: 121 ft

Average elevation: 197 ft

Average elevation: 325 ft

Average elevation: 522 ft

Average elevation: 338 ft

Lincoln lies 157 mi (253 km) north of London, at an altitude of 67 ft (20.4 m) by the River Witham up to 246 ft (75.0 m) on Castle Hill. It fills a gap in the Lincoln Cliff escarpment, which runs north and south through central Lincolnshire, with altitudes up to 200 feet (61 metres). The city lies on the River…

Average elevation: 95 ft

St Albans was an ancient borough created following the dissolution of the monastery in 1539. It consisted of the ancient parish of St Albans (also known as the Abbey parish) and parts of St Michael and St Peter. The municipal corporation was reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 and the boundary was…

Average elevation: 328 ft

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In the Yorkshire and the Humber region, there is a very close relationship between the major topographical areas and the underlying geology. The Pennine chain of hills in the west is of Carboniferous origin. The central vale is Permo-Triassic. The North York Moors in the north-east of the region are Jurassic…

Average elevation: 394 ft

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Average elevation: 495 ft

Average elevation: 167 ft

As with the rest of the British Isles, Northampton experiences a maritime climate with cool summers and mild winters. The official Met Office weather station for Northampton is the Moulton Park Weather Station at the University of Northampton. Situated at an elevation of around 130 m (427 ft) above sea level…

Average elevation: 292 ft

Average elevation: 354 ft

Average elevation: 151 ft