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16
GENERAL.
Shoreditch is a district of irregular shape, of which the two longest diagonals
measure approximately one and a half miles. Its boundaries are as follows :—Hackney,
N. & N.E.; Bethnal Green, E.; Stepney, S.E.; City, S.; Finsbury, W.; Islington,
N. & N.W. The average height of the Borough above sea level is 60 feet.
The subsoil of the Borough is London clay with many pockets of gravel. Some
areas are covered to a depth of 3 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 5 feet.
The Meteorological Table for London, deduced from observations at Greenwich
under the superintendence of the Astronomer Royal, issued by the Registrar-General
for 1936, shows a rainfall for the year of 625 millimetres. This figure is 29 millimetres
above the average for the thirty-five years, 1881-1915.
The daily mean number of hours of sunshine during the year in London was
3-20. This figure was 0-81 less than the average daily mean for the 30 years
1901-1930.
SOCIAL CONDITIONS.
I have to thank the Director of Statistics of the Ministry of Labour for the
following tables which show improvement in the unemployment figures for the
year as compared with those for 1935. There was a very significant decrease in the
numbers of unemployed females for the year, and in the number of unemployed
juveniles. There was also a decrease of 2,144 in the number of persons who were in
receipt of domiciliary relief, as compared with the figure for 1935.