32 J. nOPKINSON — THE RAINFALL IN 1897. 



Friday tlie 5th, were at their height on the following day, and in 

 most places were subsiding on the Sunday, but much land continued 

 under water for the whole of the week. 



The Colne is frequently dry in the upper part of its course, but 

 in February the meadows at Potterells near Iforth Mimms, in 

 which are most of the " swallow-holes " which usually absorb any 

 water flowing towards them, were converted into a lake which 

 received the upper waters of the Colne, and, overflowing, passed 

 them on down the usually dry river-bed in a rapidly flowing stream 

 of large volume. Waterend Lane was inundated, and the road at 

 the entrance to the avenue leading to the Church was several feet 

 under water, so also were Dellsome, Marshmoor, and Bell Bar 

 lanes, and many of the roads in the neighbourhood of Colney 

 Heath, Smallford, and London Colney. At Park Street the low- 

 lying land was only a few inches under water, but there were 

 several feet of water on the land by the river near Watford, and 

 the roads there were impassable. Even Watford itself was flooded, 

 the lower part of High Street being completely under water, and 

 the Urban Council provided carts to convey pedestrians. Below 

 Watford the land by the Colne was flooded to beyond Rickmans- 

 worth, where the river leaves our county. 



The Lea overflowed its banks both above and below Wheat- 

 hampstead, the meadows on both sides of the river near the village 

 being submerged and the roads rendered impassable where the river 

 is crossed by foot-bridges. In the neighbourhood of Koestock, 

 between St. Albans and Hatfield, the fields were covered with 

 water and the main roads were also submerged. Hatfield did not 

 suffer much, but the Lea overflowed its banks at Mill Green, just 

 below this town, and inundated the roads, and on Sunday the 7th 

 the mill wheel was allowed to run in order to admit of a greater 

 volume of water passing down the river. At Hertford a great part 

 of Hartham was flooded and the Meads were largely under water. 

 Ware suffered severely, and at Stanstead the water flowed from 

 the streets into the houses. At Broxbourne the river developed 

 into a broad expanse of water, the towing-path was invisible, and 

 the water washed the walls of the Crown Hotel. 



Of the tributaries of the Lea, the Mimram deluged the meadows 

 about Welwyn, the Beane covered the low-lying land between 

 Clapton and Hertford with water, and the upper waters of the 

 Stort overflowed and submerged the surrounding country down 

 to its junction with the Lea, covering the roadway at Bishop's 

 Stortford with two feet of water. 



This is the highest flood experienced in Hertfordshire since 1881, 

 and it is said to be the highest at Hertford since 1878. 



Floods again occurred early in March, in the valleys of both the 

 Lea and Colne, but were not nearly so severe as in February. 



