A collection of descriptions and references to sounds drawn mainly from primary sources such as autobiographies, diaries and statutes, as well as novels written around the times they depict.
| Sub-category | 1st to 10th |
11th to 15th |
16th to 17th |
18th | Early 19th |
Late 19th |
Early 20th |
Late 20th |
| General sounds of street and town | 8 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 12 | 6 | ||
| Open-air markets | 1 | 2 | 2 | |||||
| Road traffic | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Communal living and confinement | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | ||||
| River traffic and related sounds | 5 | 2 | 3 | |||||
| Plague, war and disaster | 1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |||
| Sound qualities of buildings | 1 | |||||||
| Sounds of crowds | 1 | 1 |
Period referred to: 1856
Sound category: Ambient > Plague, war and disaster
Title of work: The Daily Telegraph
Type of publication: Newspaper
Author: The Daily Telegraph
Year of publication: 1856
Page/volume number: October 20
Disaster at the Surrey Music Hall in Kennington in 1856
The attention of the immense audience was attracted by a slight tingling sound, resembling that of a bell, and almost simultaneously cries arose in different parts of the building. "The place is falling!"
The audience rose en masse, as if electrified, and, apparently with one mind, made a rush towards the various places of exit, causing the most fearful confusion and uproar, every person endeavouring to save their own lives at the risk of sacrificing those of their fellow creatures.