94 



DISCOVERY 



CH. 



evidence can be found to justify the common belief 

 that the climate of England has changed. When there 

 were few instruments, or none, the tendency of writers 

 or diarists of those days would be to pass ordinary 

 weather conditions unnoticed, and to refer only to 

 unusual experiences. 



The diaries of Evelyn and Pepys provide faithful 

 chronicles of noteworthy aspects of the weather during 

 the latter half of the seventeenth century ; and a careful 

 examination of them has been made with the view of 

 discovering whether any marked differences exist 

 between the seasons then and now. Consider the winter 

 season, for example. The instances of snow recorded 

 by Evelyn and Pepys are surprisingly few, being only 

 mentioned in thirteen winters in the period covered by 

 the diaries (1648-1703), and only three of these falls 

 appear to have been exceptional. At least eleven very 

 mild or wet winters occurred in Evelyn's lifetime, and 

 prolonged or severe frosts including that of 1683-4, 

 when coaches plied to and fro on the Thames were 

 experienced in about ten of the winters. 



The conclusion arrived at, after considering all the 

 information available, is that cold winters were not 

 more frequent, or mild winters less so, in the latter half 

 of the seventeenth century than they have been in the 

 last fifty years. Spring, summer and autumn have 

 also preserved much the same general characteristics, 

 with occasional noteworthy variations. An inquiry 

 into the facts, therefore, affords no ground for the 

 belief that the seasons of our time are sensibly different 

 from those of our proximate forefathers. 



Belief in an old-fashioned Christmas weather, with 

 snow six feet deep, and skating for weeks on end, is 

 fostered by most writers and artists who describe and 



