From Melancholy Occurrences
4th May 1804
Westover house near Bath damaged by lightning an explosion louder than any cannon
The wainscot was burned the bells were melted the door-post split to pieces
In one chamber all but three window panes were broken looking glass shivered to pieces wainscoting torn away and driven through the bed curtains
Every bason wine-glass and water glass was broken and brass nails forced out of the chairs
The nurse was knocked down and much injured by fire and splinters but two persons standing next to her were unhurt
Mr Mantell at the street door his hair in a blaze
John Seed is the author of eleven collections of verse, most recently, Smoke Rising: London 1940-1 (Shearsman, Bristol 2015) and Brandon Pithouse: Recollections of the Durham, (Smokestack Books, Middlesborough 2016).