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2
NATURAL AND SOCIAL CONDITIONS OP THE AREA
Estimated population (1925) 189,000
Population (Census, 1921) 184,404
Area (acres) 1,131
PHYSICAL FEATURES AND GENERAL CHARACTER OF
THE AREA
The Borough of Southwark is built on reclaimed low-lying marsh
land, much of which is below high water mark of the Thames, which
bounds it on the North and is kept from overflowing at high water spring
tides by the walls and embankments restraining it
The sub-soil is chiefly clay with patches of gravel, and the whole
Borough lies at the bottom of a basin some miles in circumference
These conditions lead to a damp and foggy atmosphere with high
ground water, and predispose to such diseases as Bronchitis and
Rheumatism which are very prevalent in the district
Number of inhabited houses (1925) 20,474
Number of families or separate occupiers (Census) 40,727
Rateable value £1,262,652
Sum represented by penny rate £5,160
SOCIAL CONDITIONS
The population is chiefly working class, the predominating occupations
being printing, manufacturing of various kinds, waterside labouring
and casual workers
There is no occupation specially prejudicial to the public health,
and the factories in the Borough are clean, up-to-date and sanitary
The residential districts vary largely from small modern villas and
up-to-date tenements to decayed and worn Georgian houses, let out in
lodgings, and some narrow courts into which the sun rarely penetrates
A few back to back houses exists and much of the property is ripe
for demolishment and rebuilding, but for the difficulty of rehousing the
tenants