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GENERAL.
Shoreditch is a district of irregular shape of which the two largest diagonals are
approximately one-and-a-half miles. Its boundaries are as follow:—Hackney,
N. & N.E.; Bethnal Green, E.; Stepney, S.E.; City, S.; Finsbury, W.; Islington,
N. & N.W.
The subsoil of the Borough is London clay with many pockets of gravel. Some
areas are covered to a depth of three feet with a good quality sandy gravel on this
subsoil.
Refuse material, probably from the City and other adjacent areas, which has
been deposited on this subsoil during the last 100 years or more, now has a depth of
approximately five feet.
Shoreditch is one of the most densely populated of the London Boroughs. The
population, however, is decreasing, owing to the gradual industrialisation of the
Borough. As has been explained in previous reports the replacement of dwellings
by business premises very seriously aggravates the housing problem.
The spell of extremely cold weather during the early part of the year will long be
remembered. The Registrar General's Report upon the Meteorological Observations
at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, gives the temperature of the four foot
thermometer during the second week in March as 39° Fahrenheit. It is very many
years since such a low temperature has been reached.
Mention is made in the section of this report dealing with deaths to the effect
of this cold period upon the death rate.
The interference with the water supply caused, firstly, by frozen pipes, and
secondly, by burst pipes, brought a large number of complaints to the Public Health
Department.
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