Another major flood, with the Tyne reportedly rising 17 feet.
Excert from East Lothian Council Haddington Flood Study Final Report.
History of Flooding in Haddington
As indicated above, due to the historic importance of the town of Haddington, documentary evidence regarding the date, mode and extent of flooding and damage caused still exists. To provide an insight to the history of flooding in Haddington and its effect on the town’s fabric, information on some significant flood events was extracted form various sources and is given below.
4 October 1775 – A major flood occurred which is well documented. A flood mark exists as well as several eye-witness accounts. For example the following is an extract from a letter, written on the 5th of October 1775 by a visitor staying in the town…..
The whole town is now in the utmost confusion. On Tuesday a heavy rain came on and continued without intermission till this morning…….The River Tyne swelled prodigiously, so that about two o’clock yesterday morning it overflowed the whole east end of the town, and continued so impetuous for two hours that it rose six or eight feet during that period, and seemed to threaten destruction to the whole town. For three or four hours there was nothing to be seen but everyone trying to save themselves. Numbers of carts came floating west …… with fowls sitting on them where they had roosted for shelter, some of the people who lived in the lower end of town coming west wading in water up to the armpits, and cries of women and children, formed a picture of the most shocking nature. On the other side of town numbers of people were seen sitting on the tops of their houses and dead cattle, furniture, etc. were floating on the surface of the water. About four o’clock the waters took a turn and began to decrease gradually.