HistoricaLeigh - Snakes at Leigh

December 8, 2015 by Carole Mulroney

SNAKES AT LEIGH

In Spring 1879 there seems to have been a boom in the snake population of Leigh on the cliffs.

The Chelmsford Chronicle reported that on 5 June, Edward Ray who was then 11 and the son of the local schoolmaster, had killed a large snake which had a field mouse in its mouth. At about the same time a favourite cat of Mr J Theobald at the Victoria Pottery made its way home with a snake coiled around its neck. The poor snake met its inevitable end even though the cat had not been bitten.

Adders are seen amongst the long grassland of the seawalls on Two Tree Island.

This article is by Carole Mulroney, founder of Leigh Lives. For more social and family history on the town that we love, please visit http://www.leigh-on-sea.com/leigh-lives-leigh-on-sea.html