at Chipping in Lancashire. 213 



about twelve square yards, and yet the water rose above its banks 

 and spread over the land on each side. At a place called Wol- 

 fenhall Mill on the banks of the brook, I was told that when 

 the flood first came down, it presented a perpendicular breast of 

 two yards in height. Considering the great body of water which 

 suddenly descended Parlick, and bearing in mind what I was 

 everywhere told, that scarcely half an hour elapsed between the 

 first rise of the flood and its entire subsidence, I am convinced 

 that this is no great exaggeration. Great numbers of trees 

 along the banks were washed away ; all the weirs constructed to 

 turn the water to the various mills situated near the stream de- 

 stroyed ; walls and fences overthrown ; and all the meadows and 

 pastures along the banks covered with stones and sand. 



The greatest loss was suffered by the owner of a little cotton- 

 factory, which stands about ten feet above the bed of the stream. 

 The water rose to the height of four feet six inches on the ground 

 floor of the factory, ruining part of the machinery, and covering 

 everything with mud and gravel. The garden, which was on 

 the same level as the factory, and was laid out with the greatest 

 taste, and adorned with many varieties of beautiful shrubs and 

 flowers, is entirely destroyed. It now presents to the view 

 nothing but great heaps of stones and rubbish, while every shrub 

 has been either carried away or buried beneath sand and gravel. 

 A strong wall which had been built to protect the garden from 

 the brook was entirely carried away, while many tons of large 

 stones have been raised to the height of ten or twelve feet above 

 the natural bed, and thrown up on what were formerly flower- 

 beds and gravel-walks. In Chipping, the water entered the 

 houses to the depth of nearly six feet, committing great havoc in 

 the shops and cellars. The large stones which formed the parapet 

 of the bridge were washed from their places and carried some 

 distance up the street ; part of the foundation and floor of a house 

 carried away ; a wooden bridge washed down the stream, and a 

 little lower down, a stone bridge almost entirely destroyed ; and 

 many acres of land covered with mud and gravel, and strewn 

 with wreck of every description. 



Leagram Hall is situated about half a mile from the nearest 

 point of the brook, and on an elevation of about 200 feet above 

 it. The roar of the torrent created a sudden alarm ; everyone 

 ran to the windows, which overlook the valley, and beheld the 

 water spread out like a lake before them; the waves, which 

 were visible from that distance, gave it the appearance of an arm 

 of the sea ; while the rapidity with which it spread over field 

 after field conveyed the impression of the bursting of a great 

 lake, whose waters were about to inundate the whole valley. 

 The rain fell here with great fury for about an hour. A rain- 

 Phil. Mag. S. 4. Vol. 2. No. 10. Sept. 1851. Q 



