| | 1891 |
A landslip, resulting in the loss of several lives, occurred about one o'clock yesterday morning, at the foot of the range of hills that run from Folkestone through a little village known as Harpinger. Immediately beneath the scene of the landslip won a cottage occupied lies labourer named Hayward, his wife, and four children. The slope at the rear and above the cottage is about 150ft. high, and is exceedingly steep. The land at the summit of the hill was, until Tuesday, covered thickly with snow. The rapid thaw which set in on Tuesday, and the heavy downpour of rain which fell for several hours in the evening, caused the fields to become swamped, and, as the snow melted, the water made its way to the ridge of the hill above the cottage, towards which the high ground inclines. At the top of the hill, just above the cottage, there is a deep indentation in the land, so that a large body of water accumulated there. This eventually forced out a great slice of the land front the side of the hill. The earth was carried out in a clean scoop, which extended down the entire depth of the slope to the place where the cottage stood. The cottage, which was a one-storey dwelling, was isolated from any other house, the nearest being about a quarter of a mile distant. It abutted on to the side of a main road, beyond which is another slope about thirty feet deep, and a ploughed field. From the appearances it would seem that the avalanche struck the cottage, completely wrecking it and tearing it from its foundations. The debris of the cottage was hurled over the road and further down the slope into the ploughed field, where the remains of the cottage were scattered about. The brick portion of the building was completely shattered. The thatched roof was carried a distance of about 60 yards into the field. The whole occurrence, it is stated, was momentary. The thatched roof was, no doubt, partially carried by the heavy wind which prevailed at the time. The north side of the house was evidently struck first. It was in this part that three of the children, William, aged ten years, Jane, aged eight, and Walter, aged one year and eight months, were sleeping. The thatched work, it is supposed, fell upon these children, and was carried in a body into the field below. The rest of the building fell in upon the husband and wife, Alfred Hayward and Jane Hayward, crushing them and a child aged four months. The little lad William extricated himself, and with great presence of mind shouted for his sister. Hearing a cry, he states that he at once began to search among the ruins, and managed to rescue her. He then heard the cry of the other child, Walter, whom he also succeeded in finding and rescuing, but with much difficulty. It was a terrible night the wind blew a hurricane, and it rained in torrents; but the little fellow, nearly naked as he was, succeeded in carrying Walter to a cottage occupied by a Mr. Mount, who took them in, and immediately went for assistance. Mount states that this was about one o’clock in the morning, and as soon as he obtained assistance they commenced to search amongst the ruins, but they were unable to find any traces of the missing persons until several persons with spades bad removed tons of earth and material. The husband, wife, and baby were then found together, and so dreadfully crushed as to he almost beyond identification. The top of the woman's head was terribly smashed in, whilst an iron rod from the bedstead had been forced into the body of the man. Amongst the debris was found the carcase of a sheep upon which the cottage had fallen. As evidence of the volume of water which came down from the hills, a track has been made across the fields to Denton Farm, about half a mile distant, where a large portion of it still remains. Our Reporter called yesterday afternoon at the cottage of Mrs. Mount, where he found the children William, Jane, and Walter. The two former were in bed, and chatted freely. William states that he was awakened by the water trickling over his face. They are both badly bruised, but no bones are broken, and they appear to be in good health. The child Walter escaped in the most extraordinary manner with only a slight scratch on the forehead. A large number of residents in the neighbourhood visited the scene during the day.
London Standard - Thursday 22 January 1891
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