Merville
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Located at 55 Magdalen Road during the 1930s, the building suffered a direct hit from lightning on the 9th of November 1936 causing the chimney stack and roof of the house to collapse. The Hastings & St Leonards Observer on the following Saturday reported the strike thus:-
... occupied by Mr. and Mrs. R. P. Thunder. At about 3 am they were awakened, together with other occupants, by a terrific crash and the sound of failing debris. Investigation revealed that the chimney stack had been struck and practically the whole of one side of the roof had fallen in. Mr. L. R. Thunder, a son, who was in the house at the time, told an Observer reporter:
“It must have been about three o’clock and I was dozing. Suddenly I was awakened by a terrific clap of thunder. The next thing I knew was a crash and what sounded like a lot of falling stones. I rushed from my bedroom into my parents’ room and told them to go downstairs as quickly as possible. Miss Ottaway and Miss Thunder, my sister, had already rushed out on to the landing, and together we went down stairs, where we made ourselves as comfortable as we could until dawn broke. I left the rest of the family indoors and went out to find out what damage had been done.
“The garden was littered with slates, bricks and mortar, and when dawn broke I could see the chimney stack had collapsed and was lying horizontally along the roof, part of which had fallen in. The rafters at this point were smashed to matchwood, and as rain was leaking in upstairs we had to make use of buckets.”
Miss Ottaway said: “When I felt the shock it was just like pins and needles. Simultaneously I heard a crash and rushed out to the landing. It was all very sudden and violent—just as if an earthquake had occurred.” It was fortunate that no one was injured.
Robinson's Bakery on Tower Road West also suffered a hit during the same storm.[1]
A garage was added to the property around 1967[2]
References & Notes
- ↑ British Newspaper Archive Hastings & St. Leonards Observer 14 November 1936 Pg. 0017
- ↑ Hastings Borough Council Planning application ref HS/67/00975
