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131
SECTION VIII.
GENERAL STATISTICS.

Physical Features and General Characteristics of the Area.
In the physical configuration of the Borough the outstanding feature is
Shooters Hill, which rises over 400 feet above sea-level. At a little lower level,
on the Woolwich and Plumstead side, there is the well-marked plateau of Woolwich
and Plumstead Commons, due to the erosion of local clay from off the pebble beds.
Lower down still is the level plain of the Thames. Southward, in Eltham and Lee,
the land, after sloping downwards from Shooters Hill, rises slightly again in Eltham
and then falls away towards New Eltham and Lee, but rises again as it approaches
Chislehurst. In the main this area is composed of London clay although there is
a considerable amount of sand and gravel in Avery Hill Ward.
Population.
The Registrar General estimates the population of the Borough at the middle
of the year as 146,500, an increase of 100 on the previous year. This figure has
been used in calculating rates for the purposes of this report. It should be noted
that it includes non-civilians, the pre-war practice in this respect having been returned
to from the beginning of 1932. In estimating the population of the wards of the
Borough regard has been had to such information as is available from the records
of the Housing Department so far as occupants of new Council houses are concerned
and from the records of the Treasurer's Department if advances have been made
under the Small Dwellings Acquisition Acts. The estimated population of each of the
wards of the Borough at the middle of 1936 is shown in the following Table, No. 64.