Published: January 30, 2007
400th anniversary of 1607 tsunami which devastated Burnham

A suspected tsunami in the Bristol Channel which killed 2,000 people and devastated Burnham-On-Sea 400 years ago on Tuesday (January 30th) is being remembered this week.

According to historical records, the severe flooding on 30th January 1607 was caused by a tsunami - and not simply a storm surge or high tides. It is estimated 200 square miles of land were covered by water.

The breaking of the sea banks at Burnham-On-Sea led to some 30 local villages being utterly inundated, and their cattle destroyed.

The accounts state that 28 people were drowned at Huntspill and 26 at Brean - a death toll that was repeated in many other villages.

Eyewitness accounts of the disaster told of "huge and mighty hills of water" advancing at a speed "faster than a greyhound can run".

BBC local radio has been marking the event with interviews of local people who remember Burnham's 1981 storm.

Pictured above: A wood cutting from a 1607 pamphlet shows the devastation the water caused

RELATED LINK:

1607 flood - the historical evidence

Burnham's 1607 flood to be focus of BBC2 TV documentary

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