8 THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
times; and I found that, though there was a slight variation
in the result each time, the imaginary traverse of the storm
across the lake did not in any single case occupy more than
70 seconds; or, say, one minute as a mean figure. Now, as
the distance across the lake is about one-eighth of the total
traverse of the storm, we may estimate that its total duration
was somewhere about eight minutes. I give this estimate,
of course, merely for what it may be Worth; but I believe it
to be impossible now to obtain one more nearly accurate.
Unlike the larger Writtle wind-rush (which followed a course
that was practically straight), this one followed a course which
has in it a slight double-curve, like an extremely-elongated S.
This can hardly have been due to any inequalities in the surface
of the ground; for the differences in elevation were remarkably
small—probably less than twenty-five feet at any point.
The ground traversed by the Writtle wind-rush was much more
uneven.
The damage done by the storm was on the, whole, surprisingly
small. By good fortune, it nowhere touched any buildings,
except the shed and barn at Wells Farm, and the injury to these
was slight. It is worth noting, however, that, had the storm
traversed a perfectly-straight course between its two extreme
points, it would have passed exactly over or through Gosfield
Hall itself, built by Sir John Wentworth about 1545. though
largely altered and added to since then. In that case, it is to
be feared, the very least damage that could have been expected
Would have been that the beautiful Tudor chimneys and
the gables on the older part of the house would have been thrown
down into the courtyard. Of trees, a good many were injured
more or less all along the course of the storm. Probably more
would have been damaged had the storm not come in the summer-
time, when the sap was up and the branches Were, in conse-
quence, tougher than when dry in winter. For this reason,
probably, many of the branches which were broken were left
hanging; whereas, in an ordinary winter storm, these would
have been snapped off completely. The direction in which
the broken-off trees fell was very various, as will be seen from
the accompanying chart (fig. 1), on which I have recorded the
falling of trees to the N.E., N., N.W., and S.W.
The storm, as it passed, gathered up and carried with it