THE GREAT STORM OF MIDSUMMER DAY, 1897. 117
round, but lots looked like ice off a pond, which had been smashed up with a
hammer and thrown about anyhow. I have never before known what it was
to lose nearly the whole of my crops."
In Nature for July 1st, Mr. Sheffield Neave, of Ingatestone,
gives some extended and precise observations which call up a
vivid picture of the great storm :—
" The 24th of June was an intensely hot day and after much distant
thunder the storm broke on us about 2.45 p.m. (while haymaking was in full
swing) from the N.W. After about ten minutes of the heaviest rain, hail
began to fall, and soon a terrific hurricane, accompanied by hailstones larger
than hen's eggs (mixed with others of all sizes downwards) came on and
lasted for about five minutes, during which most of the damage was done.
After this the storm gradually abated, and in something like half an hour had
passed away. The scene was quite unique and winter-like. The ground was
quite white, and in many places the hail had drifted to a foot deep, and every
ditch and depression on the ground was full of water and hail. Every window
on the north-west sides of the house and cottages was destitute of glass—not
merely broken, but the whole driven through. Two greenhouses were com-
pletely smashed, only one pane in some miraculous way having escaped ou
the windward side. A bird-cage hanging in a window was demolished, and
the bird found on its back in a chair under a bit of glass. Rooks and pigeons
were lying about in the fields dead and dying, and one of my men secured
enough for a rook-pie next day. Also we picked up next day some half-a-
dozen small birds while turning over about eight acres of hay.
" A stable-roof covered by pantiles half-an-inch thick had half the tiles
broken into quite small pieces, and has the appearance of having been shot
at by rifles. Several chimney stacks had been blown on to the roofs, and in
one case close by, through the house to the ground. All the farm buildings
and cottages were unroofed more or less.
" Trees had fallen in quantity, either torn up by the roots or broken off
in the middle. Branches had been twisted off everywhere and hardly a leaf
remained ; the neighbouring common was beaten down as if an army had
stampeded over it.
" The crops presented a curious and melancholy sight. The grass
intended for hay looked as if a steam roller had been over it. The oats had
also been not only beaten flat, but broken off short, and reduced to a sort of
long chaff; in some cases the ends of a piece of stem stuck up, while the
middle had been driven into the ground by a hailstone.
" The mown ground and the lawn were indented to a depth of one to two
inches all over, much as if a flock of sheep had passed over them. This was,
of course, also seen on the flower-beds and mangold fields. This last crop had
also been destroyed to the extent of two-thirds, every leaf broken off, and
often the root was in two pieces.
" A hedge at right angles to the storm and some wall-fruit were com-
pletely stripped of leaves and twigs, and left with 'bare poles' nearly half
denuded of bark ; not a vegetable remains in the garden. Luckily the area
of greatest severity was very small and not in the centre of the storm. The
advancing front of the worst part seems to have been only about a mile in
width, and to have spent its greatest energy after advancing a little distance.