The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-08-16 00:00:00

SEVERE AND FATAL STORM

A terrific storm raged over Burnley for about an
hoar on Saturday afternoon, accompanied by a heavy
downpour of rain. Several houses were struck by the
lightning, and a man was knocked dchrn and rendered
insensible. In the outskirts considerable damage was
done to buildings, and a farmhouse at Padiham was -
struck, and besides the damage to the building, one•
of the inmates, a little, girl, was very badly burnt.
At Hayton a cow grazing in a field was killed, and
at Cheapside two. houses were extensively damaged.
A further telegram says-that during the thunderstorm
on Saturday afternoonra, man and woman were killed
near Burnley.
A terrible thunderstorim resulting in the destruc-
tion of an enormous- amount of property, broke over
Rossendale Valley on Saturday afternoon. The
storm was one of the most violent recollected. The
morning had been very fine, but about one o'clock the
inhabitants heard distant thunder. The storm soon
concentrated itself in the valley, and extended from
the source of the river Irwell, on the one hand, to
Haslingdon and Accrington Moors on the other.
The storm raged with great fury over Newchurch,
Waterfoot, and Cowpe. Much damage was done by
the hailstorm that followed the thunder at St. Nicholas
Church, Newchurch. The windows facing the south are
all riddled as if with shot, and only the stained glass
windows which are protected with, wire fencing remain
intact. Nearly all the houses in this district had their
windows broken; in one house there being no fewer
than 76 panes. In addition to the destruction of win-
dows nearly all the green and hot houses have suffered,
and the skylights of the mills and printworks are all
demolished. The gardens have been broken up and
despoiled. By far the most serious damage has been
sustained in the Cowpe Valley. Numerous dye works,
carpet printing works, &c., are erected in the valley.
The water lodges connected with these works over-
flowed and wrought great havoc, flooding the lower
rooms and damaging a great amount of material. At one
of these works alone the damage is estimated at over
two thousand pounds. A stone bridge spanning the
stream has been swept away, and the main roadway
leading to Cowpe washed up, about fifteen tons of
pavement having been carried to the bottom o 2 the
road. The damage cannot be estimated, but it must
be many thousand pounds.
A very heavy thunderstorm passed over Barnsley
and district on Sunday evening. The lightning was
exceptionally vivid. A stoker named Sam Carring-
ton, aged 18, employed at Messrs. Craik's collieries,
was struck down by the lightning while in the firehole
and seriously hurt.
A young man named William Marsden, aged 23;
residing in Duckworth-street, Darwen, was struck by
lightning on Saturday afternoon whilst playing at
football, and instantly killed; and a young man
named Richard Farnworth was also seriously in-
jured.
A Bridport telegram states that a severe storm of
thunder and lightning, accompanied by heavy rains,
visited that locality on Sunday morning, doing
damage to several buildings and to the crops. Other
injuries to property by storms are reported from
various parts of the country.