VOL. LXI.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. QQt 



destruction; and a great many, in difterent places of the church, lying quite 

 motionless, whom he thought then to be quite dead. 



In the afternoon, Mr. W.'s thoughts being a little composed, he walked to 

 the church, to see what damage was done; and such a scene presented, as is 

 horrible to think of, much more to see. The church-yard was almost full of 

 ruins; the spire, which was about 48 feet high from the battlements of the 

 tower, was carrieti off half way down, and the remaining part cracked in 4 places 

 very irregularly down to the bottom. The north side of the tower, from the 

 battlements to the arch of the bell chamber window, was quite out, except the 

 corner stones, which remained firm ; the lead on the top of the tower was greatly 

 damaged, melted in several places, and as it were rolled together. The arch of 

 the belfry door, which was very strongly built with a remarkably hard iron stone, 

 laid in lead, was also greatly damaged ; some of the stones were cracked cross- 

 ways, and just removed out of their places, others were quite thrown out, and 

 the lead between the joints not only melted, but loosened so as that they might 

 be picked out with your fingers. The traces of the lightning were here discovered 

 along the surface of the earth ; the stones were thrown from the spire on the tops 

 of many houses in the Church town, but did no great hurt; in a gentleman's 

 house, one stone weighing 14 pounds fell through the roof into the chamber, 

 but did no further hurt than to make a hole in the roof and plastering. The 

 stones from the spire were scattered in all directions, as well against the wind as 

 with it, some of which, but not very large, were found but a little short of a 

 quarter of a mile. The spire from the top 6 feet downwards was solid, through 

 which passed an iron spindle to fix the weather-cock on. Did not the lightning 

 first strike on this iron, and was conducted through the solid part of the spire, 

 and having not iron to conduct it any further, burst in the hollow part of the 

 spire, and threw the stones about in all directions? It is remarkable that the 

 spindle was found in the bell-chamber, and the weather-cock in the battlements; 

 and that the bells were not in the least damaged, though a deal board, that lay 

 across the beams to which the bells were hung, was split long-ways in 2 pieces. 

 The inside of the church still presented a much more horrible spectacle ; the 

 roof of the church was almost all gone, and some of the timber-work in the 

 north aisle shattered to pieces; every seat in the church had rubbish in it, more 

 or less, and stones of large size, some of 1 50 pounds weight and upwards, scat- 

 tered here and there amidst the congregation, which damaged the seats, &c. but 

 did no hurt to the people, though they sat in those very seats where the stones 

 fell. The lightning entered at the three ends of the church at west, made its 

 way through the body of the church, and went out through the 3 ends of the 

 church at east; the holes where it came in and where it went out are not large, 



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