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11. Spalding's Earthquakes

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Spalding has been subject to several earth tremors over the years causing a little excitement to otherwise mundane day to day life.

2nd April 1990 in the afternoon saw an earth tremor that one lady reported, “the settee moving underneath her as if someone was underneath pushing up the cushions.” A man who did not wish to be named was watching television when he “felt a vibration in his legs and noticed a toy shaking on the settee beside him.” Such a reports are an invitation for double-entendre.



The wings that fell from Ayscoughfee frontage in the earthquake.
The wings that fell from Ayscoughfee frontage in the earthquake.

Sunday June 7th 1930 saw a larger earthquake in which the large stone wings and the crown above the coat of arms at Ayscoughfee Hall, Spalding crashed to the ground making a large hole in the six inch thick stone floor of the first floor veranda. This was but one of a series of earthquakes around this time. 

In 1931 licenced victualler Horace Tom Emery used an earthquake as a defence for driving without insurance at Spalding Petty Sessions. He had helped the owner of a car extract it from a dyke at Holbeach Drove that had come off the road in the earthquake, but the owner was nervous of the return journey to Spalding and asked him to drive it for him. Horace was pulled over by the Police for driving without insurance. Because he was about to start work for a Spalding butcher and would need to drive to work the magistrate dismissed the case upon payment of costs.

In 1750 an earthquake was noted in Spalding to be preceded by an aerial phenomenon:

“At Spalding 45 minutes past 6 in the morning of the 23rd August 1750 the air mild and calm and the sun shining bright a shock of an earthquake was felt attended with a loud crack it continued some seconds. The earthquake was felt throughout the county of Lincoln about 70 miles but more strongly on the coast. The weather had been some days calm and an aurora borealis appeared vertically shooting rays of all colours around which turned to a very deep red. Dr. Stukeley observes that this earthquake extended itself to Coventry, Derby, Nottingham, and Newark, then came Eastward to Harborough, Towcester, Northampton, Kettering, Wellingborough, Oundle, Uppingham, Oakham, Stamford, Bourne, Grantham, Spalding, Boston, Lincoln, Holbeach, Peterborough and Wisbech, together with all the adjacent places. Then it passed over the whole breadth of Ely Fen and reached to Bury in Suffolk and the country thereabouts. An extent from Warwick to Bury of about 100 miles in length and generally speaking 40 miles in breadth; and all this vast space was shocked at the same instant of time.”[1]

 

It should be noted that the observation of aurora correlated by Dr. Stukely with the earthquake was a popular notion throughout the eighteenth century as it was proposed that this was caused by seismic gases escaping into the atmosphere. Whilst correlation is not causation even today “earthquake lights” are reported and have been filmed, although the phenomenon is up for considerable scientific debate.


[1] Gentleman’s Magazine June 1753

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