Reports on the Great Storm of October, 1881. 213 



taken of these columns might have been distinctly traced in the various 

 plantations in the district. In Detchant Wood, and other plantations on 

 Middleton estate, spaces of from 20 to 40 feet wide and from 50 to 100 yards 

 in length, scarcely a tree is left standing, whilst on each side of those spaces 

 scarcely any traces of the storm is visible. Mr Drummond thinks that he is 

 under the mark in stating that fully 1,000 trees have been blown down in the 

 different plantations on Middleton estate. Fifty five Silver Firs perished in 

 Detchant Wood, but the principal destruction was amongst the Larches, 

 Oaks, and Beech. The ornamental "Noblesse," in front of Middleton Hall, 

 was partly upiooted, but having again been righted, and secured with ropes, 

 and its roots re-covered with soU, it is hoped that it will not have sustained 

 any permanent injury. This tree was planted nineteen years ago, and is 

 33 feet in height. A Silver Fir planted in Detchant Wood by the hands of 

 the late Mr Selby, over 60 years ago, has been completely torn up, and is the 

 only one in that part of the wood which has succumbed to the storm. It is 

 somewhat singular the wind should have been most destructive in large 

 plantations, and that the largest and best trees should have suffered most ; yet 

 from all the reports I have received such appears to be the case. The planta" 

 tions on TwizeU House estate have suffered very severely, and many fine 

 trees have been uprooted. Mr W. Eobinson, gamekeeper to Mr Antrobus, 

 says, ' ' To the best of my calculation, without actually counting them, the 

 number of trees blown down on the 14th of October on this estate was about 

 3,000 ; but the park has not suffered to the same extent as some other planta- 

 tions on the estate. The wind broke in at the opening at the Lodge, and 

 levelled down about two acres of mixed timber on the south side of the carri- 

 age drive, leaving only a tree standing here and there. Amongst the fallen 

 trees were some remarkably fine Larches, some of them containing 70 and 80 

 feet of timber each. One fine Silver Fir, I measured, contained 150 feet, an- 

 other about the same size, which stood close to the coach drive, had its top 

 blown off and is otherwise disfigured. Another fine Silver Fir which stood 

 at the bottom of the lawn, and measured 9 ft. 8 in. in circumference 5 feet 

 from the base, was entirely uprooted and in its fall broke a fine Maple to 

 pieces. The North Wood has suffered most, there being between six and 

 seven acres at the north side completely levelled, with only here and there a 

 straggling tree left standing. The principal trees down are Larch, Scotch 

 Pine, and Hardwood ; there being many good Larches amongst the number 

 containing 60 and 70 feet of timber, besides some fine Spanish Chestnuts." 

 Mr Robinson remarks that ' ' the wind appears to have confined itself to a 

 narrow strip of about 100 yards wide up the north side of the wood to near 

 the middle, where it made a breach through some 100 yards in length and 40 

 yards in width, reaching a square of young Larches, which it passed over 

 untouched, then came down on the next square, where the trees are of the 

 same kind as on the north side, levelled about an acre of them, then missed a 

 part, and coming down again at the top of the wood, made another breach 

 across levelling some hundreds of Spruce and Silver Firs in its destructive 

 course." At Warenton Law, near Bell's Hill, a clear breach was made right 

 through the plantation, some 40 yards wide and about 250 yards in length, 

 so that from a distance the wood has the appearance of having been divided 



