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TO THE BOARD OF WORKS FOR THE ST. GILES
DISTRICT.
Gentlemen,—
I have the honour to lay before you the Annual Report for
the year 1878, which is remarkable in being the healthiest in this
District on record. It will be seen that even after correcting the
number of Registered Deaths, by adding those of parishioners who
died in hospitals and institutions situated out of the District, the
death-rate for St. Giles was lower than that for all London.
I shall again begin by placing before you some facts from the
Registrar-General's "Annual Summary" relating to the Metropolis,
and which will be useful for the purpose of comparison.
London.
"Area.—The area of London (the registration division so called)
is 70,080 acres, or 122 square miles, including 2,718 acres of the
Thames.
"The length of the streets and roads is about 1,500 miles, and
their area nearly 12 square miles.
"The sewers have a length of about 2,000 miles.
"Elevation.—The population of London resides at a mean elevation
of 39 feet above Trinity high-water mark, the elevation
varying from 11 feet below high-water mark in Plumstead Marshes,
to 429 feet above high-water mark in Hampstead.
"Houses.—At the Census of 1871 there were within this area
417,767 inhabited houses, containing an average of 7.8 persons to
a house.
"Annual Rateable Value.—The annual rateable value of
property in the Metropolis in December, 1878, as assessed by the
Metropolitan Board of Works, equal to £23,960,109.
"Density (1871).—103 persons to a hectare; 42 persons to an
acre: 26,674 to a square mile.