Editing Middlesex (section)

==Geography==
The county lay within the [[London Basin]]<ref name=nature>Natural England – [http://www.english-nature.org.uk/Science/natural/profiles%5CnaProfile66.pdf London Basin Natural Area]. Retrieved 23 February 2008.</ref> and the most significant feature was the [[River Thames]], which formed the southern boundary. The [[River Lea]] and the [[River Colne, Hertfordshire|River Colne]] formed natural boundaries to the east and west. The entire south west boundary of Middlesex followed a gently descending [[meander]] of the Thames without hills. In many places "Middlesex bank" is more accurate than "north bank" — for instance at [[Teddington]] the river flows north-westward, so the left (Middlesex) bank is the south-west bank.{{NoteTag|County descriptions are standard in [[rowing (sport)|boat races]], and the historic county descriptions of the respective sides of the river are still used during the famous [[The Boat Race|University Boat Race]] and the professional and amateur [[Head of the River Race]].}} The largely low-lying county was dominated by clay in its north and [[alluvium]] on gravel in its south.

[[File:Cantium southsexia surria meddlesexia Atlas.jpg|thumb|450px|Hand-drawn map of Kent, Sussex, Surrey and Middlesex from 1575]]

In the north, the boundary ran along a [[boxing the compass|WSW/ENE]] aligned ridge of hills. From the Colne to [[Barnet Gate Wood]], this boundary is marked by a 20 kilometre [[hedge]] of great antiquity. East of the wood the hedge continues but did not forms the county boundary, suggesting that the eastern part of the boundary is younger.

After Barnett Gate Wood the hedge continues east to [[Arkley]] where it divides into two branches, one continuing east to [[Chipping Barnet]] and [[Cockfosters]], with another heading north to form the parish boundary between [[Shenley]] and [[Ridge, Hertfordshire|Ridge]], both in Hertforshire. Neither branch formed part of the county boundary. The change to the county boundary was probably caused in the late 8th century, before Middlesex took the form of a county, when the [[Liberty of St Albans]] was created from parts of the Dioceses of [[Diocese of London|London]] and [[Diocese of Lincoln|Lincoln]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rippon|first1=Stephen|title=Kingdom, Civitas and County|date=2018 |orig-year=2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-875937-9|pages=320–321}}</ref>

The hills are broken by Barnet or 'Dollis' valleys. (South of the boundary, these feed into the [[Brent Reservoir|Welsh Harp Lake or Brent Reservoir]] which becomes the [[River Brent]]).{{NoteTag|The Dollis Valley greenwalk follows this steep upper valley of the Dollis Brook.}} This formed a long protrusion of Hertfordshire into the county.<ref name=physical>{{cite web |url = http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22094 |title=The Physique of Middlesex |publisher=A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 1 |year=1969 |access-date=20 February 2008 }}</ref> The county was once well wooded,<ref name=nature/> with much of it covered by the ancient [[Forest of Middlesex]]; Domesday returns for Middlesex indicate that it was around 30% wooded (much of it [[silvopasture|wood-pasture]]) in 1086, about double the English average.<ref>Trees and Woodland in the British Landscape, Rackham, p50</ref> The highest point is the High Road by [[Bushey Heath]] at {{convert|502|ft|0}}.<ref name=height_history>The Mountains of England and Wales – [http://www.hill-bagging.co.uk/CountyTopsHistoric.php Historic County Tops]. Retrieved 20 February 2008.</ref>

[[Bentley Priory Nature Reserve]] houses Middlesex's oldest tree: The Master Oak.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Haloing the 'Master' oak at Bentley Priory, Harrow |url=https://thinktrees.co.uk/case-studies/bentley-priory-harrow/ |access-date=2024-07-01 |website=Think Trees |language=en-GB}}</ref>