Howardites
Meteorites of Britain and Ireland · England

The Middlesbrough meteorite

A stone that landed beside a railway line, watched by the workers who dug it out.

Key facts

Fell
14 March 1881
Where
Pennyman's Siding, Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire
Type
L6 ordinary chondrite
Mass
about 1.6 kg
Where it is kept
Yorkshire Museum, York
Nation today
England

At 3.35 in the afternoon of 14 March 1881, railway workers at Pennyman's Siding, on the edge of Middlesbrough, heard a whizzing sound and saw something strike the embankment close by. They dug out a stone of about 1.6 kilograms from a hole about 30 centimetres deep. It was still warm.

The stone keeps its complete fusion crust, the thin black skin that formed as its surface melted in the air, and its rounded shape shows how the air wore it down during flight. Meteorites that kept a steady attitude as they fell, so that one face was smoothed and rounded at the front, are called oriented, and Middlesbrough is often described as one.

Middlesbrough is an L6 ordinary chondrite. It was acquired by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society and is held by the Yorkshire Museum in York.

Did you know?

Did you know?

Middlesbrough fell beside a railway line, one of the few British falls seen to land by several people at once.

Did you know?

The railway workers who saw it fall dug it out within minutes.

Find out more

Nearest other British and Irish meteorites