At about 7pm the clouds suddenly blackened and there was a violent thunder storm and the rain became even more heavy.

    Flash floods hit the district .

The Street at Latchingdon near to the Lion Public House had two feet of water and the water at Deadway Bridge flowed over its parapets.

In Purleigh a young man was leading a pony to higher ground when he was hit by a wall of flood water and drowned. His body was later found 1/2 a mile further along the road.

Tillingham marshes became a sea leaving Tillingham an island.

Homes and farms at Latchingdon, Purleigh, Althorne and Mundon were flooded with livestock drowned and topsoil washed away.

The rain stopped during the night and the District slowly recovered although stories of the cloudburst of 1859 passed into local folklore.