Great Storm of 1703
The Great Storm of 1703 is the most severe storm ever recorded in the British Isles. It affected southern England and the English Channel. It started November 24, 1703 and did not die down until December 2.
Damage
- At sea, many ships were wrecked with about 8,000 lives lost.
- The first Eddystone Lighthouse was destroyed on November 27, killing six occupants.
- The number of oak trees lost in the New Forest alone was 4,000.
- On the Thames, around 700 ships were heaped together in the Pool, the section downstream from London Bridge.
Beliefs and response
- The storm was generally reckoned to represent the anger of God.
- In recognition of the "crying sins of this nation", the government declared December 16 a day of fasting, saying it "loudly calls for the deepest and most solemn humiliation of our people".
