62 The East Anglian Earthquake.
at the base (level with the ridge of the roof), and twisted
about 11/2 inches towards the E. The upper (displaced) part
of each stack was estimated to weigh about 3 tons. Some
of the cracks in the walls were more than a quarter of an
inch wide, and a stone window-opening was wrenched so as
to displace the mullions an inch out of position. The joists
of the floors seem also to have received a violent twist;
plaster of ceilings was cracked, pieces of cornice were thrown
down, and altogether the house appeared to have received a
most severe wrench. At the church (St. Andrew's) the
chancel roof lost most of its tiles, and the mullions of one of
the windows had been displaced.
About two miles due west of Abberton, with only a few
sheds between, is
Layer-de-la-Haye. — The turrets of the church tower
thrown down, together with a quantity of the rubble coating,
part of the apex of the south aisle, and the stone cross at the
end of the nave. Most of the houses were more or less
damaged by the fall of chimneys, amongst them being the
Malting House (Mr. A. Sanders), Mr. E. Walford's, and all
the houses at Layer Cross. Mrs. Dennis, residing at Layer
Rows, about a mile S.W. of the church, has kindly furnished
some important details. At this house, standing on a London
Clay drift-capped hill, about 120
feet above Ordnance datum, one
chimney-stack was much cracked,
and twisted about half a brick from
E. to S.E. ; another stack was
thrown over to the W., and three
others were rendered so unsafe that
they had to be taken down. The
roof on the S. side was untiled.
At the moment of the shock Mrs.

Fig. 4.—Chimneys at Layer
Bows, Layer-de-la-Haye.
Northern aspect, seen from
below. Brickwork thrown
out from eastern sides. The
portion above the gap in
bothcases new brickwork.
Dennis had just opened a door
leading into the garden, when she
heard a rumbling noise, and bricks
fell on both sides of her. The
house was seen to oscillate twice