The Sun.
London, England, 1841-10-20 00:00:00

RIVER THAAIES,

- . The extraordinary swellings or the waters of the
thainej, though UnddrStood in the present age as the
• result•efeertain -natural causes, were, in the early pe-
riods of our history, and.by our-superstitious ancestors,
regardegAts prodigies, or punishments-for. offences against
the ChurCh. Nevertheless„their occurrence has Oways
been'iooked upon with "fear-ilia-dismay ; and it will be
seen by the follewingliSt; .drawn up frOm early chroni,
clers and.hiStorians; as-well as froth the registers of later
times, that these high thods have.neither been-few nor
Undestructiie. the
_first mention: of one- of 'these
iter" 1S In tne reig vv o -
tifies-:-itself in its 'details. with the effects Of the recent
ravages. We give them in chronolOgieal-Order, together
with some of the-remarkable ebb tides.
1099. shortly after Ruffin became. King, Fabian has.
recorded, in his Chronicle; that so high a tide happened
• that the River Thames overflowed its • banks in a multi-
s.tude of places, " whereby," says ho, "several towns and
,villages were laid under water, arid many of their inlia-
iiitants. With an infinite number-of sheep and oxen,. were
tirdwned." It was at this .e.lacst "time that part of the
lands belonging to Godwin Earl-of Kent, called the Good-
Sands, wero. swallowed up..
1114. In this year there was so great a deficiency of
water in the Thames, that the people passed, by London-
bridge!ivith dry feet.
.1150. In the summer of this year, the people were able
tovss, over dry-shod again, through the sluggishness of
the tides. -
• T 242. 'Matthew Paris, the historian, mentions at this
period- one of the greatest inundations of the Thames on
record, In this instance it broke over its banks at Lam-
. both, and laid the country under water for the space 'of
six miles, to the great loss of the inhabitants.
1. -4.1 I, Oct. 20. Within - the space of twenty-four
hours,:three tides of;flood happened in the river Thames,
which, says Fabian in his Chronicle, greatly amazed the
citizens, and occasioned many to look upon the same as
portentous.
1437. A very uncommon low neap tide occurred this
year, by which the Londoners could pass over the river
dry-shod.
1550, Sept. 17. Strype, in his edition of Stowe's
Survey, mentions that on this day the !Thames ebbed
and flowed three times within the space of nine hours.
1564. On the 26th of January at night, the Thames
was greatly agitated by preternatural fluxes, which
obliged the natural tide twice to recoil fire hours before
its time ; the next day these were repeated twice in the
morning and twice at night.
' 1564, Nov. 6. An exceedingly high tide, says Stow
in his Engliih Annals, happened on this day in the river
Thames, and after high water, having ebbed about an
hour, a preternatural reflux returned with such an
amazing impetuosity, that it soon overflowed its banks,
and all the marshes of Lambeth, beside filling all the
.neighbouring cellars, and subterranean warehouses, and
occasioning incredible damage.
1608, Feb. 19. On this day, in King James's time, at an
hour when it should have -been low water at the bridge,
it was high, and then again in a short time it ebbed to a
foot in depth ; it then again, on a Sudden, flowed almost
two feet higher than it did before, and then ebbed again
until it came near to the proper height, so that the next
flood was in its proper manner. All this happened be-
fore twelve o'clock at noon, tho weather being indiffer,
ently calm. .

1609. A preternatural tide happened in this year, which
flowed and ebbed four times in the space of four hours.
1622. In the morning the Thames shifted four tides in
five hours, two floods and two ebbs, and then kept its
right course.

1652, Feb. 2. The Thames ebbed and flowed thrice in
six hours, and the like shifting of tides was observed in
the maritime places in Kent, at the same time, and occa-
sioned great overflowings.
1654, Oct. 3. The Thames ebbed and flowed to a sur-
prising height of water, and subsequent decrease, twice
in three hours.

1660, Nov. 1. The Thames ebbed and flowed three
times between ten o'clock at night and five the next
morning ; the convulsion of its waters was very great.
1717. The stream of the Thames was reducgd do it
low
this season, that many thousands of people passe it on
foot, both above and below London-bridge, and through
most of the arches.
1730, Dec. 3. On this day happened, says Maitland,
the highest tide in the River Thames that had been
known in the memory of man. It overflowed Wapping,
Tooley-street, and many other places, doing incredible
damage, by filling cellars, warehouses, and subterranean
places with floods,- and spoiling vast quantities of goods
and merchandise.
1791, Feb. 2. On this day there was the highest
flood tide on the River Thames that was ever remem-
bered. Above Westminster Bridge it overflowed the
banks of the river on both sides. In Palace-yard it
was near two feet deep. It ran into Westminster Hall,
and boats were rowed up to Westminster Hall-gate.
The two Scotland-yards, and Privy-gardens, White
hall, were entirely under water. Several poor people in
Scotland-yard had four feet of water in their shops, and
their beds floating in their rooms. At Westminster
Hall the water ran in for nearly an hour, and below
bridge the meadows and marshes were one continued
sheet of water. At Leasalter the sea-walls and banks
were broken known and washed away:
the storehouses on the beach were w
at Deal the sea-bank was washed away.
but severely suffered Potten, Wallace,
oats,
4 sheep were
Eng-
land, were entirely overflowed, and
of Essex, as also those
hrlallat Whitstable
nttaabnlde
terribly than all. .
swept off the latter. The coastsNndotNaenwiEslnangd-
of Suffolk, suffered more
i :rlees
pickedwhich
the tide returned with hadaddi-
tional lB2lain
Thei tidetl
lc seeks
Thaneso low,
for that valuable
up, while great height, dein..
shores and craft.
great damage to the
about- 12 o'clock
tional impetuosity,
tido which occurred in the
and rose to a
e ashore, and over-
-1828. The high-spring
flowed extensive grounds last visitation of the London River-
-1841; Oct. 18. This
March of this year,
di much
and hdoaulsneasg.