The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-01-07 00:00:00

EARTHQUAKE IN DORSETSHIRE

(From the Lprne Reyis Correspondent of the Shipping
Gazette.)

One of the greatest convulsions of nature ever on record,
or that has taken place within the memory of man in this
neighbourhood, has occurred in Dowlands and Bending Cliffs,
situated between Lyme and Axmouth harbour. Various ars
the Opinions formed respecting it—some attributing it to the
long-continued and heavy rains, others insisting on its being
an earthquake. if we may judge from its effects, it certainly
has every feature of the latter. We. are no strangers to the
occasional sliding of the cliffs on this part of the coast,
both east and west ; but here is presented a scene of awful
grandeur.
The above cliffs, which are very lofty, are about three miles
west of Lyme Regis.
On Christmas-eve, Mr. Chaple, the tenant of Dowland's
estate, invited his workmen to the farm-house, to regale them
for the evening, among whom were the occupants of four cot-
tages, situated on the common at the foot of the cliffs. On
their return home they found considerable difficulty in opening
their doors, but. took but little notice of it. On rising on
Christmas _morning, they discovered a settlement of their
houses, and becoming alarmed, removed their goods with
all speed, and retired to Dowland's farm, about a mile on
the top of the cliffs, for safety—and very providentially too,
for shortly after an immense portion of the top cliffs, con-
sisting of between forty and fifty acres of arable and
pasture land, with all their crops, together with the
common below, sunk to a depth varying from 50 to 200
feet, two of the above tenements being completely buried,
Whilst the Other two are shattered to their very foundations.
The scene presents a spectacle not easily described—gigantic
rocks having been rent asunder, lofty trees buried 'beneath
the mighty - mass; with- only their- tops visible ; large 'fields,
with their,crons, separated, one part here and another there ;
immense precipices formed, awful chasms which appear bot-
tomless, the whole of which strike the beholder with terror
and amazement, and present a striking view of the Almighty -
,power of Him " who holds the mountains in scales, and the
hills iii' a balance."' 'The length of cliffs affected by this
- -shock is more than two-miles,- and perhaps in breadth about
,pne,:encompas:sing- about a thousand acres. But perhaps the
nkost remarkable phenomenon of the whole is, that, immense
"Arid' ponderous. 'rocks- in front of this scene of action have
'been' foreed by the concussion from their beds, where they
:have reposed for ages, under the bed of the ocean beyond
low-water mark, and make their appearance in pyramids and
-different forms--in some places foety and fifty feet above the
-Sand, and have wonderfully formed a sort of harbour, whilst
thvbeach7adjoining the land remains unmoved. Boats have
entered
.t.his naturally-formed harbour on the eastern side,
which is shallow, and found in the middle three fathoms of
water: Outside the rocks thus formed, towards the sea, is
abdut'five-fathom-s at •high- water. Thousands of persons have
already been to visit this extraordinary scene. No doubt but
it will attract numbers of the nobility and gentry to Lyme
Regis. The celebrated Penny Cliffs, which are situated be-
tween 'Lyme and Dowlands, and which have been so much
admired for their romantic scenery, sink into comparative
insignificance,—their lofty rocks must " hide their diminished
heads" when compared with "the grandeur and sublimity
which Dowland's Cliffs will in future present. The cele-
brated Dr. BuCkland, of Oxford, the eminent geologist, who
has been res'ding in Lynie for some time past, has prolonged
his stay, in order to explore and view the wonders of this
phenomenon of nature. He states that he never witnessed
anything equal to it in England. It is to be hoped that his,
or some other able pen, will gratify the public by a full and
proper description of the scene. •

(From the Taunton Courier.)
On Christmas Eve, about six, the residents in the houses
and 'cottages along the coast, between Lyme and Seaton, were
alarmed by a convulsion of the earth, attended with fearful
'sounds. This astonishing occurrence was succeeded by rei-
terations of the phenomena; and it was soon ascertained that
a course of mischief was in serious operation. On arriving
at a part of the coast called Dowlands, a quarter of a mile
from the sea, it was found that a large portion of the land, on
which there were several cottages, orchards, and a coppice,
had been separated from their sites, leaving huge chasms in
a lateral direction along the coast, between Sidmouth and
Seaton, to the extent of upwards of four miles. The convul-
sions of the earth continued at various intervals from the
night of Tuesday the 24th instant, to Friday evening, the
27th instant, having within that interval occasioned the pros-
tration and subsidence of buildings of various descriptions,
and the displacement of large tracts of soil, a loss of property
to a considerable extent, among the sufferers by which is
Mrs. Inman, a respectable resident of Bishop's Hall, near
this town, whose loss is estimated at upwards of z£2,000. Mr.
Hallett, of Axmouth, and Mrs. Dare, also suffered heavily by
the event. A huge rock, 50 feet high, appears in the sea off
Culverhole, nearly a a quarter of a mile from the spot where
the principal scene of mischief presents itself. The sound-
ings were being taken around the newly formed rock on
Saturday. No lives were lost by this event, although several
of the occupants of cottages, who had left home to spend their
Christmas-eve, found, to their astonishment, on their return,
no other vestiges of their dwellings but those presented by the
roofs and chimneys, discernible above the chasms in which
their habitations were engulfed. The new road from Char-
mouth to Lyme is utterly destroyed. Whether the occurrence
above stated be attributable to an earthquake, or considered
as the result of the slow-working processes of nature, which,
as foreseen by naturalists, 'and asserted by Mr. Bnckingham
in his lectures in the town of Lyme, a few years ago, will gra-
dually encroach upon the shores of the channel, as has already
unquestionably taken place elsewhere on the British coast, is
at preSent problematical. The visitation, to whatever cause
it may be referred, besides the destruction of property, has
occasioned great alarm and anxiety among the owners of
buildings and estates in the vicinity. Multitudes of persons
from all parts have been, for several days past, rushing into
Lyme, Seaton, and Charmouth, eager to ascertain the nature
and extent of the catastrophe. The total loss of property is
estimated at.six tlinusand potnids. Mr..Cliaple, the renter of
the estate called Dowlands, upon which four of the destroyed
cottages stood, succeeded by great exertions, ou Wednesday,
in saving the lives of 28 of the poor occupiers, and having
employed nine carts, secured most of their furniture. On the
following morning, the cottages had sunk up to their roofs.
The cliffs on the coast do not appear to have suffered eny dis-
ruption, all the mischief being inland.

MADEMOISELLE TAGLIONI.—The painful reports in circu-
lation of late, respecting the bad state of health of Madlle.
Taglioni, have this week been contradicted. Letters from
St. Petersburgh announce that this celebrated dancer made
her appearanCe on the 4th December last, in a ballet in three
acts, called L'Ombre, of which the first representation was
for her own benefit. The success this piece obtained is due,
by all accounts, not only to the admirable talent displayed
by Madlle. Taglioni, but also to the magnificence of the sce-
nery and the beauty of the music. There is one scene in the
second act which is highly spoken of. It represents a garden
of flowers, on which Madlle. Taglioni executes a figure. At
the back of the theatre there is a lake, on which Madlle.
Taglioni, who performs the character of a shade, dances a
few minutes, and then vanishes. During the ballet Madlle.
Taglioni was encored ten times by the audience ; and on the
following day the emperor sent her a splendid ornament,
studded with diamonds and turquoises, .as a testimonial of
the delight he had experienced.
RAILWAY CHAPEL.—Many of the readers of the Morn-
ing Herald may remember that in the early part of the last
year the attention of the public was directed to the Sabbath
desecration committed by the men employed on the railways.
A remonstrance, signed by all the clergyof Cheltenham and
many of the inhabitants, was addressed to the directors of
the Cheltenham and Great Western Union railway. These
gentlemen, with the greatest promptitude, expressed their
strong disapprobation of any work being carried on during
the Lord's Day. The contractors as cordially and promptly
acquiesced in the instructions of the directors, and it was im-
mediately discontinued—the necessary occupation of keeping
up the fires being alone persisted in. 'lt was, however, soon
remarked that the laboUrers being unoccupied On the Sabbath,
at a distance from their homes, and unprovided with such ap-
parel as they would naturally like to appear in at a. place of
worship, were exposed "to more temptation to intemperance
and irregularity, and it was suggested by the Rev. Francis
Close that a temporary building, expressly for the use of the
workmen, shoUld be erected, wherein he himself would
statcdly perform. Divine service once every Sunday. A
subscription was immediately set on foot, and a large chapel
has been erected, in which there are now three services every
Sunday. The workmen have expressed their thankfulness
to the Rev. F. Close for his exertions.—Morning Herald..