8 
THE ESSEX NATURALIST. 
times ; and I found that, though there was a slight variation 
in the result each time, the imaginary traverse of the storm 
across the lake did not in any single case occupy more than 
70 seconds ; or, say, one minute as a mean figure. Now, as 
the distance across the lake is about one-eighth of the total 
traverse of the storm, we may estimate that its total duration 
was somewhere about eight minutes. I give this estimate, 
of course, merely for what it may be Worth ; but I believe it 
to be impossible now to obtain one more nearly accurate. 
Unlike the larger Writtle wind-rush (which followed a course 
that was practically straight), this one followed a course which 
has in it a slight double-curve, like an extremely-elongated S. 
This can hardly have been due to any inequalities in the surface 
of the ground ; for the differences in elevation were remarkably 
small—probably less than twenty-five feet at any point. 
The ground traversed by the Writtle wind-rush was much more 
uneven. 
The damage done by the storm was on the whole, surprisingly 
small. By good fortune, it nowhere touched any buildings, 
except the shed and barn at Wells Farm, and the injury to these 
was slight. It is worth noting, however, that, had the storm 
traversed a perfectly-straight course between its two extreme 
points, it would have passed exactly over or through Gosfield 
Hall itself, built by Sir John Wentworth about 1545, though 
largely altered and added to since then. In that case, it is to 
be feared, the very least damage that could have been expected 
Would have been that the beautiful Tudor chimneys and 
the gables on the older part of the house would have been thrown 
down into the courtyard. Of trees, a good many were injured 
more or less all along the course of the storm. Probably more 
would have been damaged had the storm not come in the summer¬ 
time, when the sap was up and the branches Were, in conse¬ 
quence, tougher than when dry in winter. For this reason, 
probably, many of the branches which were broken were left 
hanging ; whereas, in an ordinary winter storm, these would 
have been snapped off completely. The direction in which 
the broken-off trees fell was very various, as will be seen from 
the accompanying chart (fig. 1}, on which I have recorded the 
falling of trees to the N.E., N., N.W., and S.W. 
The storm, as it passed, gathered up and carried with it 
