Hopefully, Hardington will never see anything as bad as Hurricane Milton, but here are accounts of three extreme weather events in the 1890s.

On Saturday, 25 August 1894, a storm wreaked havoc in the village, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. At Manor Farm, water overflowed from the the pond because the hatches were shut, flooded the house and rose to knee-depth in the road. The surging torrent knocked over a pair of gateposts and drowned an old turkey and five young ones. At Hardington Marsh, Mr White had 30 cwt of hay washed away.^[1]

On 25 June 1896, five bullocks belonging to Mr F. Rendell of White Vine Farm were struck by lightning and killed.^[2]

On the afternoon of 24 May 1898, a tremendous thunderstorm struck Hardington and East Chinnock. The heavy rain washed newly planted seeds in the allotments out of the ground, the schoolchildren had difficulty getting home because of flood water 12 to 18 inches deep, and Hardington Marsh was like an inland sea. The oldest inhabitants could not remember such severe weather before.^[3]

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[1] Western Gazette 31 August 1894 p.6.

[2] Pulman’s Weekly News and Advertiser 30 June 1896 p.6.

[3] Pulman’s Weekly News and Advertiser 31 May 1898 p.5.