I don't have many ancestors that come from the Lewes area but I worked there for 15 years and this disaster is part of the heritage of the town.
The
deadliest avalanche in British history took place, not in the
mountains of Scotland or Wales as you may expect, but in 1836 in the
town of Lewes, Sussex, just a few miles from the south coast of
England.
During
the winter of 1836/7 Britain suffered some of its worst weather ever
recorded, with freezing temperatures, heavy snow and gale force
winds.
On
Christmas Eve 1836 a huge storm blew up over southern England. Heavy
snowfall and gale force winds combined to produce blizzards and
massive snow drifts.
The
town of Lewes is situated on the River Ouse, surrounded by the hills
of the South
Downs.
By Christmas night 1836 the north-easterly blizzard had built up a
deep layer of snow on the sheer edge of one of these hills, Cliffe
Hill. The great overhanging mass of snow was reportedly around 20
feet deep.
Boulder
Row, a row of seven workers’ cottages on South Street, stood at the
foot of Cliffe Hill. These houses were ‘poor houses’ and were
owned by South Malling Parish.
It
soon became obvious to passers-by that the cottages were in danger
from this huge overhang of snow. They alerted the residents and
advised them to move out until the snow had melted. The residents
refused, even when on 26th December, a large fall of snow from the
clifftop fell onto a nearby timber yard, destroying it and sweeping
it into the River Ouse.
The
following day at 10.15am the inevitable happened; the huge weight of
snow fell, swamping the cottages of Boulder Row below.
How
many people were in the cottages at the time is unknown, but
contemporary reports indicate that fifteen people were inside when
the avalanche struck.
According
to witnesses, the cottages were physically swept into the road by a
huge wave of snow, leaving nothing to be seen except an enormous
white heap. A mammoth rescue effort lasting seven hours managed to
save seven people, but eight others perished from suffocation under
the weight of snow.
The
fatalities included people with the family names Barnden, Bridgman
and Geer, while survivors included a young labourer Jeremiah Rooke, a
middle-aged woman named Fanny Sherlock (or Sharlock) and a
two-year-old child, Fanny Boakes, believed to be Sherlock's
granddaughter (the 1841 census records two people matching these
names and ages living at the same address in South Street)
The white dress Fanny Boakes was wearing when she was rescued is on
display in the Anne of Cleves House museum in Lewes, along with a
contemporary painting of the tragedy.
Their
names are recorded on a commemorative tablet, funded by public
subscription, on the inside wall of South Malling parish church, one
mile away, where the funeral and burial took place. A
fund was set up to provide financial aid to the survivors and
bereaved families.
Today
a pub called the Snowdop Inn stands on the site of Boulder Row. The
inn was built in 1840 and named in commemoration of the disaster.
