Great Storm of 1703
November 26, 1703 · Early Modern
An extratropical cyclone struck central and southern England on November 26-27, 1703. The storm destroyed over 2,000 chimney stacks in London, uprooted 4,000 oaks in the New Forest, and sank Royal Navy vessels in the English Channel and on the Goodwin Sands. Queen Anne sheltered in St. James's Palace cellars during the event. Daniel Defoe collected contemporary accounts in "The Storm" (1704). An estimated 8,000-15,000 people died.
Key Figures
Daniel DefoeQueen Anne
Locations
LondonEnglish ChannelGoodwin SandsNew Forest
Topics
StormNew ForestEnglandLondon
Connected Events — 3 Connections
Daniel Defoe witnessed and wrote about the Great Storm of 1703, producing 'The Storm' (1704), his first major work of journalistic reportage that established his reputation for vivid narrative and helped develop his distinctive style of realistic description later perfected in Robinson Crusoe Robinson Crusoe Published
The Great Storm devastated England's economy and infrastructure, creating fiscal pressure that made Queen Anne's government more receptive to the economic benefits of union with Scotland, while also demonstrating the vulnerability of separate kingdoms to shared natural disasters Acts of Union 1707
Great Storm occurred during peak Little Ice Age conditions Little Ice Age Intensifies Across the Northern Hemisphere
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