On Sunday afternoon during the height of the storm which passed over the town in the afternoon an incident occurred in the Parish Church which for the moment caused some anxiety. Just at the time when the specially heavy peal of thunder occurred, which startled the majority of the people in the town, about ten minutes past two o’clock, a large piece of one of the archways in the church fell, and covered the pews beneath with debris. On examination it was found that a large portion of stone and mortar, at the very crown of the archway of the arch on the north side of the church nearest the chancel had fallen, whilst a small portion of the beam above had also been detached. It was at once surmised that the damage had been done by the lightning, but a closer examination conducted immediately afterwards, embracing the leads of the roof above, showed no trace of further damage. The debris was at once removed, and beyond the sear in the stone at the crown of the arch no trace was left of the occurrence. Whether the electric current actually struck the place in question, after running along the pipes in the vicinity, or whether the fall was caused by the concussion caused by the storm, is still, and probably will remain, a matter of surmise.
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