OF THE 20th of November, 1887. 
41 
Stotfold.— The shock was distinctly felt here, and it was 
thought that an explosion had taken place at the Arlesey Brick¬ 
fields.—‘ Herts Express Nov. 26. 
Some give the [Arlesey Lunatic] Asylum, and some point a little 
further N. [as the direction from which the sound appeared to come, 
which would be from S.W. by W. to W.S.W.]— W. M. 
Arlesey.— Some think it [the sound] was W.NAY.— W. M. 
Stondon.— Heard most distinctly. One man thinks it was at 
Ampthill.— W. M. [Ampthill is about N.N.W. of Stondon.] 
Woburn.— Bumbling noise heard .— 1 M . M.,' p. 167. 
Barton. —The noise was heard here.— Arthur A. Armstrong , 
Kimpton , Welwyn. 
Leighton Buzzard.— A curious sensation was felt here by many 
persons. By some it is described as a rumbling noise, accompanied 
by a clattering of the window-frames and loose articles in the 
houses. To others it seemed more like the vibration accompanying 
an explosion; but it is the general idea that it was not caused by 
thunder. By some persons it was thought to be a slight shock of 
earthquake.— M. M p. 167. 
Dunstable.— Shortly after 8, a most uncomfortable, and, to many, 
alarming noise, accompanied by a shaking sensation, was heard and 
felt by various persons in and around Dunstable. Many persons 
thought, at first, it must be very distant thunder; but when the 
rattling of doors and windows followed, together with the clinking 
of plates and other crockeryware standing upon shelves, this idea 
was at once abandoned, and it was the almost unanimous opinion 
that an alarming explosion had occurred somewhere in the district. 
— l M. M p. 167. 
I was standing near my garden-door at 8*20 a.m. when the quiet 
was suddenly broken by a heavy smothered crash, followed by 
reverberations as in a clap of thunder of rather short duration. I 
felt no shaking of the ground, but many persons here felt it, and 
the shaking is stated to have been very marked near Dagnall 
[Bucks], between here and Hemel Hempstead. The sound was 
like the falling in of an immense mass of rock—followed by echoes 
—in a cavern. Some persons say they heard a second, but much 
less loud, crash, later in the morning, but this was not heard by 
me.— Worthington G. Smith, Dunstable , in ‘ Nature ’ of Dec. 8. 
Whipsnade and Studham. —The noise was very distinctly heard, 
but the shaking sensation appears to have been most felt at Whip- 
snade in this [the Dunstable] district.—‘ H. M ,.,’ p. 167. 
HER TFORDSHIRE. 
Hinxworth.— Those who were out of doors at 8*15 or 8*20 are 
mostly agreed that the sound came from the direction of Arlesey 
Siding.— W. M. [Arlesey Siding is S.W. from Hinxworth.] 
Ashwell.— Noise heard in the house as of a door slamming. 
Sound appeared to come from nearly due S., or slightly W. of S. 
Time 8*24 a.m.— E. Snow Fordham, Elbrook House , Ashwell. 
Shock like that of an explosion of gunpowder. It appeared as 
