Kilburn topographic map

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

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

Average elevation: 180 ft

Average elevation: 217 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

Average elevation: 184 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: 69 ft

Average elevation: 72 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

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

Average elevation: 92 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

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

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

Average elevation: 217 ft

Average elevation: 75 ft

Average elevation: 85 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

Average elevation: 266 ft

Average elevation: 545 ft

Average elevation: 262 ft

Average elevation: 187 ft

Average elevation: 1,260 ft

Average elevation: 128 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

Average elevation: 525 ft

Average elevation: 308 ft

Average elevation: 850 ft

Average elevation: 240 ft

Average elevation: 171 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: 92 ft

Average elevation: 210 ft

Average elevation: 79 ft

Average elevation: 377 ft

Average elevation: 33 ft

Average elevation: 338 ft

Average elevation: 72 ft

Average elevation: 722 ft

Average elevation: 463 ft

Average elevation: 495 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: 295 ft

Average elevation: 272 ft

Average elevation: 518 ft

Average elevation: 1,332 ft

Average elevation: 240 ft

Average elevation: 148 ft

Average elevation: 535 ft

Average elevation: 509 ft

Average elevation: 141 ft

Average elevation: 407 ft

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

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

Average elevation: 640 ft

Average elevation: 318 ft

Average elevation: 141 ft

Average elevation: 276 ft

Average elevation: 522 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

Average elevation: 308 ft

Average elevation: 33 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: 131 ft

Average elevation: 102 ft

Average elevation: 56 ft

Kingston upon Hull is on the northern bank of the Humber Estuary. The city centre is west of the River Hull and close to the Humber. The city is built upon alluvial and glacial deposits which overlie chalk rocks but the underlying chalk has no influence on the topography. The land within the city is generally…

Average elevation: 10 ft

Average elevation: 289 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

Average elevation: 161 ft

Average elevation: 489 ft

Neither the thin infertile sands of the High Weald or the wet sticky clays of the Low Weald are suited to intensive arable farming and the topography of the area often increases the difficulties. There are limited areas of fertile greens and which can be used for intensive vegetable growing, as in the valley…

Average elevation: 135 ft

Average elevation: 381 ft

Portsmouth is 73.5 miles (118.3 km) by road from central London, 49.5 miles (79.7 km) west of Brighton, and 22.3 miles (35.9 km) east of Southampton. It is located primarily on Portsea Island and is the United Kingdom's only island city, although the city has expanded to the mainland. Gosport is a borough to…

Average elevation: 23 ft

Average elevation: 207 ft

Average elevation: 394 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

Wakefield's Parish Church was raised to cathedral status in 1888 and after the elevation of Wakefield to diocese, Wakefield Council immediately sought city status and this was granted in July 1888. However the industrial revolution, which changed West and South Yorkshire significantly, led to the growth of…

Average elevation: 564 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

In Museums Without Walls, Jonathan Meades declares that "Portland is a bulky chunk of geological, social, topographical and demographic weirdness. It is the obverse of a beauty spot. 'Beauty' in this construction implies the picturesque. Portland is gloriously bereft of this quality. It is awesome. There is…

Average elevation: 36 ft

Average elevation: 56 ft

Average elevation: 171 ft

Average elevation: 463 ft

Average elevation: 56 ft

Average elevation: 102 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

Average elevation: 390 ft

Average elevation: 72 ft

Average elevation: 200 ft

Average elevation: 43 ft

Average elevation: 151 ft

Average elevation: 52 ft

Average elevation: 105 ft

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

Average elevation: 82 ft

Average elevation: 978 ft

Average elevation: 151 ft

Average elevation: 371 ft