The Sun.
London, England, 1804-05-19 00:00:00

BRISTOL, MAY z 6.

Dog trcG the heavy thunder-storm which occurred
in the neighbourhood of this City, in the afternoon
of the 4th inst. a singular transition of terra firma
took place in the upper part of a dingle formed by
two hills on the right of the Turnpike in the Bath
road, under the village of Knowle. An acute ridge,
Upon which grew a hedge, crossing the dingle, slip-
ped from its base, precipitating a piece of ground
in its rear, about eighteen yards in breadth, and
fifty-four in length, and in some places nearly ten
feet thick, the gtei-ter part about sixty yards- from
its original situation. It is stated, as the most
probable cause of this phenomenon, that the soil
being a stiff clay, to which the turf was joined by
a substratum of sand, the sudden accumulation of
moisture ailing upon the latter, produced a separa-
tion which the declivity of the ground tended greatly
to accelerate. The storm was attended with more
awful eFds in the neighbourhood of Bath, than ever
accompanied any rleinental convulsion of the same
nature within the memory of the oldest inhabitants.
Tropical deluges may equal perhaps the violence of
the rain, but in continuance it exceeded the custo-
mary duration of tempests in the neighbourhood of
the Line.—Much damage was sustained in the
parish of C.rnhay. A cottage not far from Sidney_
gardens, where Kiri, a poor chairman, with his five
motherless children lived, was thrOwn down by the
torrent, pouring with irresistible force from the hill.
Several other families have been obliged to quit
their dwellings, as the pitiless element seemed every
minute to threaten their destrudion. Two consi.
dcrable portions of the wall round Sidney-garden
ride were thrown down, and the plantations near
it destroyed. immense stones near Mr. Pigott's
house in Lansdown-road, were removed from their
beds, and had the tempest continued much longer, it
was feared that noble building would have been un-
dermined and shaken to the ground.
The following account of the alarming effeas of
the above storm is given in a Letter to a friend,
from F. Riners, Esq. of Westover-house, in the
parish of Bitton, near the upper Bristol road, about
five miles from Bath.

Sir,—During the thunder-storm on Friday, our family expe-
rienced, in a most extraordinary degree, the protection of
Providence. The house, • which is substantially built with
stone, is so much shattered and cracked, that it is impossible
to trace where the lightning entered, or to describe the havock
it made in every room it visited. In the front rooms (cham-
bers and parlours) the wainscot was burned, the bells were
melted, a box was broke to pieces, and a bonnet it contained
was consumed. • In one oft he chambers was Mrs. Riners (who
had been confined several days to her bed, with no hopes of
recovery); the lightning made great devastation, all the panes
of the windows, but three, were broken, a looking-glass and
thessing-box were torn to pieces, the wainscotting torn away,
and broke into many pieces about two feet long, which were
driven about with such force as to go through the bed-curtains
and head-cloth ; one piece is forced into the stone wall, so
strong, that without a proper tool it cannot be got out ; the
top of the bed WAS forced off the posts, and the bedstead re-
moved some incises ; the fragments of wood, glass, and stone,
falling on the pillows. The nurse (Gibbons, of Bath), who'
was standing by the bed-side, was knocked down, and is
much injured by the fire and splinters. Mr. Riners, who
was standing by her; was unhurt, as was Mrs. Alantell, a
relation; every bason, wine-glass, and water-glass, were
broke, and the brass nails from the chairs forced out. The
explosion was louder than that of the heaviest cannon, but
sharper. The room was full of smoke ; the door fast ;.each
feared that the others in the room were killed. Mr. Mantel!,
who was standing at the street door, was seen in the midst of
r.e, his hair was in a blaze; and the opposite door-post, to
which the ir6n chain was fastened, was split to pieces. A -
man-servant in the cellar was knocked down, as was also
another in a back kitchen; A garde..er was forced down, and
the masons and bricklayers near the house severely felt the
shock.--Many persons who have seen the efi-eds of lightning
at other places, declare that no one instance of escape can be
compared with this."
Wrrlc.'ver-ILltie, May 7.

F. R.