THE GREAT STORM OF MIDSUMMER DAY, 1897. 119
Stondon. Halsford Bridge farm, root crops washed out of the ground and
carried into a ditch. Damage done to field crops and gardens almost incalcula-
ble. Hailstones lay on the ground till Saturday afternoon. A dozen
chickens killed by hail. At Woolmonger's farm 50 chickens killed, and at
Paslow Wood Common 10 young turkeys and many chickens killed.
Kelvedon Common. At Brizes Park 900 panes of glass broken. Hailstones
21/2 inches across.
Doddinghurst. In this parish of less than 2,000 acres, the Rector reported
that an area of 500 to Goo acres of promising corn had been rendered
absolutely worthless, and large and beautiful pieces of peas and other crops
lay mangled and dying, being simply cut to fragments.
Ingatestone, Margaretting, Fryerning, Mill Green, &c. The scene here was
one of almost universal destruction. In the words of the reporter of the
Essex County Chronicle, "'Desolation is the only word that will convey any idea
of the havoc effected by the tempest in the beautiful district of Fryerning and
Mill-green. A walk or a drive through this stretch of country, which at
mid-day on Thursday wore the greenest and fairest of summer dresses, is
enough to produce the gloomiest of impressions. Corn crops of every kind
are beaten almost out of recognition ; the fruit and vegetables in gardens
have suffered the same fate ; glass in residences and greenhouses has been
smashed on all sides ; chimney pots have been blown down, and in a word,
every kind of damage has been wrought. The destruction on the Common at
Mill-green, where the golden furze grew in such wide extent and luxuriance,
is something almost beyond belief, Not only have the trees hereabout been
almost denuded of their leaves, but the bark on the hazel, the oak, and the
gorse shrubs has been stripped off. The damage from fallen trees and
branches even must be very great." It is quite impossible to particularize
the damage except in a few instances. We have already given Mr. Neave's
narrative (on page 117), but some other accounts are so graphic that we must
find room for them. At Ingatestone Mr. Coverdale thus relates his own
personal experiences :—"I was driving with my son and my coachman, a man
name Gray. We had just got up to Mr. Kortright's house when the storm
came on. We jumped out of the trap and hastened into the house. The
storm descended without the slightest warning, except the blackness. First
the hail and rain came down vertically, and then at a sharp angle. Down
came the top of a tree at once. My man Gray—how he stood the storm I
don't know—managed to get the cob under the sides of the house, and Mr.
Kortright, my son, and I went out to try to assist. The hailstones immedi-
ately riddled the umbrella which I put up, and beat me back. The pony
sustained a cut right down his nose. (This was a jagged wound about
11/2 inches in length, and the pony's whole body was covered with lumps about
the size of hen's eggs. A pailful of hailstone was gathered out of the trap).
My man's chest and arms looked afterwards just as if he had had five
minutes with a bruiser, they were discoloured everywhere and full of lumps,
The force with which he was struck by the hailstones may be estimated by
the fact that although he was wearing a mackintosh, livery coat, sleeved
waistcoat, and shirt, he is black and blue. His tall hat was dented in..
My son got a crack on the head through his hat, and there was a bump
on his head in a moment as big as a hen's egg."