80 



1739-40 — A great frost began Dec. 24 and lasted nine weeks. Lowest 

 temperature, Jan. 3rd, 11° Fah. An ox was roasted on the Thames, and a 

 printing press on the ice as far down as Quecnhithe. Oaks were riven with 

 the frost. Ice Wh inches thick. This frost was preceded by a very wet season. 



1771— Severe weather lasted till the 20th of April. 



1770 — The snow lay for 20 days on the roofs of houses in London.. 



17^1 — December extremely cold, with much snow. 



1788— The coldest December witbin the last hundred years. An old 

 gentleman, lately deceased, remembered a running stream frozen hard that year. 



1795 — January of this year was the coldest month since the year 1771, up 

 to the present time (1870). Its average temperature was less than 24°. An old 

 man, born in 1778, and now living, remembers the ice in the "Wye, at Ross, 

 where the boats start from, being measured 1 foot thick. The floods which 

 followed tbe breaking up of this frost, were so great that large numbers of 

 bridges were carried away. The Wye rose higher by 18 inches than it has since 

 done, and at the time, was said to be higher than ever known. 



1799 — In March the snow-drifts were so great as to be distinctly remem- 

 bered by old men, now living at Ross, and a large mass, blown up against the 

 bank and trees where the Prince of Wales inn now stands, remained unmelted 

 for a long time after. 



1813-4 — The twelve weeks frost, as it is still called, which began 

 December 27, 1813, and lasted with slight intermission till March 20, 1814, 

 was the last time the Thames was frozen over to bear thoroughly well. The 

 rebuilding of London bridge will make such a thing unlikely again. In that 

 season you could travel on sledges over the hedges for miles— from Ross to 

 Gayton Hall for instance. 



1819-20 and 1829-30 were both severe winters — the latter especially 

 so in France and Italy. 



1837-S was the next frost of long duration, and is called Murphy's frost, 

 from his almanac which was then published. January was very severe, and 

 the cold continued till near the end of April. The season was very backward, 

 the previous spring having been even more so, from great snows in April and 

 May. 



1844-5 was a long and severe winter, chiefly remarkable for its intense 

 frosts in March. It was said to be the coldest for forty years. But the 

 same thing was said two years later. 



1846 — The ice was six inches thick in the canals of Herefordshire before 

 Christmas. The month of December was very severe in 1840, 1844, and 1846. 



1855 — We come now to the last great frost of long continuance. 

 February, 1855, was colder than any other February since 1771. This frost began 

 about the middle of January, and lasted nearly six weeks. Most of the 

 rivers in England were frozen over — the Thames amongst the rest. The Wye 

 bore all over for a fortnight, and a waggon even crossed it at Hoarwithy. 



