Earthquake
There
have been at least six earthquakes in the Bourne area, two of them serious. The first occurred soon after midday on
Sunday 30th September 1750 and the shock was so severe that it was felt
not only in Bourne and the surrounding area, but also across the county
borders in Leicestershire and Northamptonshire.
John Moore, the historian,
wrote in his Collections of the Hundred of Aveland in 1809:
"The houses tottered, plates and glasses fell from the shelves, and
slates, tiles and some chimneys fell from the houses; but happily, no
great mischief was done. In some churches where services were not over,
the people ran from their devotions in the utmost consternation. The shock
was attended with a rumbling noise." The Stamford Mercury
reported that elsewhere in the town, people who were preparing their
Sunday dinners rushed into the streets believing that they were about to
be swallowed up.
The
second tremor occurred on 24th February 1792 and was felt in Bourne and
neighbouring villages but again there was no serious damage.
A third
tremor occurred in 1896 but this was less serious. The Stamford Mercury
reported on Friday 25th December: "A slight shock of earthquake was felt
in Bourne about half past five on Thursday morning. Many townspeople
noticed the earth tremor. In Bourne Fen, the shock was distinctly felt,
several people being awakened by the rocking of their beds."
A fourth
tremor occurred on Friday 14th January 1916 which the Stamford Mercury
reported as "a seismic disturbance". Their report said: "For some seconds,
a very distinct shock was felt as windows rattled violently and furniture
and crockery rocked in many homes. At Rippingale, chairs and tables were
moved, pots and pans on shelves danced, doors were opened. In Bourne, members of
the Volunteer Training Corps were in the Congregational schoolroom for shooting practice
when a lamp suspended from an iron rod near the ceiling danced as though
the rod had been shaken. There was also a rumbling noise which was heard
by several people. Youngsters in bed complained of having their beds
moved. Happily, the disturbance was a very mild one and no personal or
material damage was caused."
A fifth tremor occurred in the late spring
of 1884 and the Grantham Journal reported on Saturday 26th April:
A slight shock of earthquake was felt
at Bourne on Tuesday the 22nd inst. at about 9.15 am. Mr [Robert] Mills,
Market Place, Bourne, says: "I felt the shock sitting in my breakfast room
reading. I felt the house heave three or four times, and the windows shook
- quite as if a very heavy locomotive was going by, but there was nothing
near; and from the peculiar way in which the shake waved, I concluded at
the time it was much like my idea of an earthquake. I forgot all about it
until the evening when I saw reports from other towns, and my opinion was
confirmed." The shock was also felt by several other persons in the town,
though only in a slight degree.
SEVERE TREMOR IN 2008 |
An earthquake occurred in the Bourne area
during the early hours of Wednesday 27th February 2008 when
families throughout the district were woken by the seismic
shock. One resident described the occurrence as a loud rushing
sound as though an express train were thundering past the
front window followed by walls shuddering, pictures and
ornaments vibrating. |
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Many people rushed out into the streets
and gardens wondering what had happened while others
telephoned relatives or friends to see if they had been
similarly affected. It was later revealed to be the biggest
earthquake in England for a quarter of a century which had
shaken homes across many areas and the British Geological
Survey recorded a 5.3 magnitude on the Richter scale for the
tremor which had an epicentre at Market Rasen in Lincolnshire,
only forty miles away. The disturbance was first felt shortly before 1 am
and there were subsequently more than 200 distress calls to the county
police force although no one was hurt in the Bourne area and
there was no structural damage. But further north in the
region, houses were damaged by cracks and collapsed chimneys
and one man was taken to hospital with leg injuries when
brickwork fell through the roof into his bedroom.
The most serious damage was caused to
the the slim and elegant spire of St Andrew’s church a Haconby
where a large crack appeared in in stonework. Architects who
made an inspection decided that it had been rendered unsafe
and scaffolding was erected because there was a serious risk
that the 14th century steeple might collapse. The top 18 feet
of masonry was therefore shored up with wooded battens and the
weathercock removed until repair work could begin later
in the year. The church and graveyard were also closed to the
public and the fortnightly Sunday service transferred to local
houses for the time being. The occurrence was a disaster for
the village and one that proved to be expensive because
repairs were estimated at £25,000.
The earthquake may also have caused damage to the stone
pinnacles on the gable ends of the Red Hall in Bourne. A
survey revealed that they were already unsafe and that the
problem could have been made worse by the seismic shock.
Builders arrived on Wednesday 16th April 2008 to repair the
damage using a 12-ton cherry picker to reach the roof sixty
feet up and each of the limestone pinnacles was removed and
then cemented back into place. |
SEVERE TREMOR IN 2015 |
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The earthquake which affected Bourne on the night
of Wednesday 28th January 2015 occurred soon after 10 pm when a lady
living in Stephenson Way reported that the sofa in her lounge had moved and this was
accompanied by a loud rushing sound as though a heavy lorry has just
driven past.
Within minutes, the social media was at work on the Internet spreading
the message that Bourne had been hit by an earthquake and charts posted
by the British Geological Survey (pictured above) indicated that the
tremor had a magnitude of 3.8 on the Richter scale and was centred on
Oakham which was enough to cause consternation in the shires.
Other
messages on Twitter revealed the extent of the event with one lady
claiming to have been thrown out of bed while other contributors said
that their houses had shaken and items dislodged from the shelves. One
lady, Sally Smart, wrote: “Earthquake wow that was a biggen! Thought a
truck was coming through the house. Adrenaline pumping.”
The tremor had occurred at 10.22 pm and lasted for about ten seconds,
affecting a large area of the East Midlands, and although the BGS
received 1,4000 reports and many people were shaken by the event, no one
was hurt and there was no damage to property. |
REVISED JANUARY 2015
See
also
Earthquake at Haconby
Damage to the Red Hall
Things that go bump in the night
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