The earthquake of 22 April 1884
At 9.18am on Tuesday 22 April 1884 an earthquake struck the Colchester district. The British Geological Survey places its recorded epicentre at latitude 51.820, longitude 0.900, north of Mersea, with an estimated depth of 3 km and local magnitude 4.6. Maximum reported shaking reached intensity VIII on the European Macroseismic Scale. Chimneys, parapets, roofs and masonry were badly damaged across the district.
Damage north of Mersea
Little Wigborough church lost the upper part of its tower and roof tiles. The building was repaired in 1886, and a brass plaque inside commemorates the earthquake and rebuilding. Other hard-hit places included Peldon, Great Wigborough and Langenhoe, immediately north of the island.
Damage in East and West Mersea
An 1885 investigation of the earthquake recorded repairs to 58 buildings in West Mersea and seven in East Mersea. Contributions towards repairs went to 15 West Mersea property owners and four in East Mersea. These figures concern recorded repairs and assistance, rather than a count of every building shaken by the earthquake.
The repair figures recorded in the 1885 inquiry distinguish West Mersea from East Mersea, but they cannot be turned into a complete count of damaged properties. The investigators had to work from surviving reports and accounts of assistance; damage that was not repaired or recorded would not necessarily appear in their totals.
Near Barrow Farm, several cottages lost their chimney stacks. At one cottage, the external flues on opposite ends were detached and thrown down. The north-west corner of the battlements at St Edmund's Church, East Mersea, was also damaged.
One account records a man hoeing near the White Hart in West Mersea who felt the earth twist and the hoe jerk upwards in his hands. Raphael Meldola and colleagues visited both island parishes during their investigation, subsequently published with William White in 1885.
Records
British Geological Survey — historical earthquake · Essex Field Club — Little Wigborough church · Colchester Archaeological Trust — 1884 earthquake · Meldola and White's 1885 earthquake report