Yorkshire Museum
The home of the Middlesbrough meteorite, which railway workers saw land beside the line in 1881.
Key facts
- Where
- York, United Kingdom
- Kind
- Museum
- Visiting
- Public galleries
The Yorkshire Museum was founded by the Yorkshire Philosophical Society and opened in 1830 in the Museum Gardens in York. Its geology collections cover the rocks and fossils of the county, from Jurassic ammonites to Ice Age bones.
Its meteorite is the Middlesbrough stone, an L6 ordinary chondrite of about 1.6 kilograms that fell on 14 March 1881 at Pennyman's Siding, beside the railway on the edge of Middlesbrough. The workers who saw it land dug it out within minutes, still warm. It has a complete fusion crust and a rounded shape formed by its flight, and it is one of the best-documented British falls of the 19th century.
Highlights
- Middlesbrough fell beside a railway line in 1881 L6
See every meteorite recorded in the UK and Ireland on the Britain and Ireland page.
Opening times, what is on display and access to research collections change over time, so check with the institution before you visit.