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Britain's Earliest Tornado?


Coast

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Posted
  • Location: Eastbourne, East Sussex (work in Mid Sussex)
  • Location: Eastbourne, East Sussex (work in Mid Sussex)
The earliest tornado known in Britain is also the equal severest on record. The violent (T8) tornado hit St. Mary le Bow in central London on October 23, 1091.

Two tornadoes in Britain are known to have reached T8; their antiquated nature (especially of the one) necessitated great caution in assigning intensities, so it is possible that they may have been even stronger. The first, also Britain's earliest known tornado, occurred on October 23, 1091. The church at St. Mary le Bow in central London was badly damaged, with four rafters - each 7.9 m long (converted from the reported 26 ft) - being driven into the ground (composed of heavy London Clay) with such force that only 1.2 m (converted from the reported 4 ft) protruded above the surface. Other churches in the area were demolished, as were over 600 (mostly wooden) houses.

tnstmary.gif

www.torro.org.uk

wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Tornado_of_1091

London Bridge has fallen down - as in the famous nursery song - quite a few times over the last two millenia and has been rebuilt over and over again. The first bridge across the Thames in the London area, probably a military pontoon bridge, was built of wood by the Romans on the present site around 50 AD. This bridge fell sometime after they left and was rebuilt using timber several times after that.

The earliest contemporary written reference to a Saxon bridge is in 1016, when it was by-passed by King Cnut's ships in his war to regain the throne from Edmund II "Ironside". The rebuilt Norman London Bridge was destroyed in 1091 by a storm that spawned a tornado, which also struck St Mary-le-Bow, and is known as the London Tornado of 1091. The replacement of this was carried out by William II "Rufus" through forced labour, along with the works at the new St Paul's Cathedral and the development of the Tower of London.

www.londonbridgefestival.com

LondonBridge.jpg

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Posted
  • Location: Bangor, Northern Ireland (20m asl, near coast)
  • Weather Preferences: Any weather will do.
  • Location: Bangor, Northern Ireland (20m asl, near coast)

Nice post Coast....has gave me inspiration to hoke out my huge Tornado file of little clippings, pics and info docs....500 tornado pictures in total.

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