118 THE GREAT STORM OF MIDSUMMER DAY, 1897.
" The hailstones were in appearance a conglomerate of smaller ones
cemented together with ice, and generally the centre stone was bigger than
the others. They were much collected together in corners, and one was
measured, 24 hours after the storm, four and a-half inches round."2
DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE STORM IN ESSEX.
In the endeavour to give an account of the devastation
within the districts which suffered most severely, we are met by
the difficulty of the large number of records, and it will be
necessary to make a selection, particular attention being given
to those villages and districts in which the greatest damage
occurred, and which are noted on the Map. We will take
the villages in geographical sequence as nearly as may be,
proceeding in a north-easterly direction from Epping and the
Theydons, where the storm first made itself felt as an agent
of destruction, to Colchester, near (or before) which town the
tornado3 appears to have died away into an ordinary but
severe summer storm.
Epping and the Theydons. The storm passed over Epping about 2.45 p.m.
The enormous hailstones did great injury to glass houses and windows facing
the west. From the "Cock" hotel to Mr. J. G. Felly's, scarcely a house
escaped, and the hail lay on the houses like snow. At Gaynes Park the
Jubilee dinner was washed from the tables and the tent almost carried away
Hailstones fell fast and large and the villagers soon deserted the park in
alarm. At Theydon Garnon 800 panes of glass in greenhouses went,
chiefly facing west. Hailstones were an inch in diameter, and one was picked
up at Birch Hall measuring 3 in. by 11/2in. Garden crops were practically ruined.
Ongar district. Here thousands of panes of glass were broken in green-
houses and private residences. At High Ongar alone, 8 or 10 trees were blown
down, and Ongar was flooded ; at the "Wilderness" 400 panes of glass were
broken in the conservatory and house. Cattle were injured by being pelted
by the hail, which drove them nearly wild. Some of the hailstones
weighed nearly an ounce. Damage to crops in gardens and fields was very
serious. About Willingale Spain and neighbouring parishes, the Rector says
that some of the farmers will be ruined, so great was the destruction to the
crops.
Abridge. The storm lasted from 2.45 to 3.30 p.m.; heavy rain ; a tent
was blown down.
Stanford Rivers. Burrow's farm, wheat and barley completely ruined ;
40 windows smashed. At the Union-house, two or three hundred panes of
glass were broken. At Mitchell's farm, loss estimated at £500.
Toot Hill. Widow's farm, crops ruined.
2 A large frame covered with tiffany, under which Mr. Neave was rearing entomological
specimens, was whirled over the top of a cluster of shrubs 30 feet high, and carried to a
distance of Co yards, by the force of the wind.
3 We use the word "Tornado" in the sense of a violent tropic-like storm, not as indicating
any particular kind of tempest in the precise language of meteorological science.