Historical Introduction.
11
at Newchurch, and the wall of Haslingden railway-station
reported to have been slightly cracked. Slighter shocks on
March 17th in E. Yorkshire, and on the 25th at Manchester,
&c. (' Times,' March 16th, 17th, 19th, and 29th, 1869.)
1881. August 26th, about noon. Teversal, Nottingham-
shire, and at Tackley. Slight damage to a chimney and
ceiling. (' Times,' Aug. 30th, 1881.)
As will be seen from the foregoing catalogue, many shocks
of apparently great destructiveness have from time to time
been recorded, but the early accounts are most probably
exaggerated, and are certainly too vague to admit of any fail-
estimation of their severity. It is only where specific
accounts of the damage to cathedrals, churches, and other
buildings have been handed down, that there is some means
of approximately judging of the intensity, and estimated by
this standard the earthquakes of 1185, 1246, 1248, 1275,
1382, and 1480, appear to be the only ones which admit of
comparison with that of April 22nd, 1884; or, in other
words, since authentic records were kept, there have been
but six earthquakes in Britain which may have equalled or
exceeded in intensity that which forms the subject of the
present Report.
But although Essex had previous to last April been
exempt from destructive shocks, there are some few records
of earthquakes originating elsewhere, which in former times
made themselves felt in our county. As a contribution to
local history, it will be of interest to give these records here
in chronological order.
In 1692 (Sept. 8th, between 2 and 3 p.m.), there occurred
a severe earthquake in Europe, which was felt in some parts
of Kent, Middlesex (London), Essex, Suffolk (Ipswich),
Norfolk (Norwich), &c. In Essex there are records from
Colchester and Coggeshall, which are given below in
extenso :—
" On Thursday, Sept. 8, 1692, there happened about two
of the clock in the afternoon, for the space of a minute or
more, an universal earthquake all over England, France,
Holland, and some parts of Germany. And particularly
it was attested to me by the masons that were there