ENGLAND
ALLPORT, Derbyshire. 1826 or 1827
ANTHONY near Plymouth. 1640
BAYDON, Wiltshire. 1825
COLSTON BASSETT, Nottinghamshire. date?
FAWLEY near Southampton. 1869
HALSTEAD, Essex. 1731
HEXHAM, Northumberland. 1874
LONDON. 1680
MENABILLY Cornwall. date?
NEWSTEAD, Roxburghshire, Scotland, found 1827.
THE SCILLY ISLANDS off Cornwall. 1872
SLOUGH 1872
YADDLETHORPE, Lincolnshire. 1963
R.P. Greg in his catalogue 1860, gives the following entry...
a meteoric light traversed the sky, and an explosion. The meteorite picked up, suppossed to have fallen on this occasion, now in Dr. R. A. Smith's possession, of Manchester, appears to Mr. Greg to be a more than doubtful substance; more like a kind of compact charcoal, with particles of sulphur and iron pyrites imbedded; nevertheless peculiar: pieces are stated to have fallen after the explosion occurred. The stone has a sp. gr. 2·0.
Among the tracts and broadsheets incorporated in the valuable catalogue of the writings of Cornishmen, Bibliotheca Cornubiensis, is one by the Rev. Arthur Bache bearing the title, "The Voyce of the Lord in the Temple; or a most strange and wonderfull Relation of the God's great Power, Providence, and Mercy, in sending very strange sounds, fires, and a Fiery Ball into the Church of Anthony, neere Plimmouth, in Cornwall, on Whit Sunday last, 1640. To the scorching and astonishment of fourteen severall persons who were smitten, and likewise to the great Terror of all the other people then present, being about 200," etc. This little pamphlet is chiefly devoted to harrowing descriptions of "divers hurts" received by the congregation. One man, in recording his experiences, stated that he heard "as it were the hissing of a great shot." It is not improbable that this phenomenon was caused by lightning.
The correspondent observed two meteors within a few minutes of seven o'clock on the evening of that day, which was a Saturday, and on the following Wednesday discovered a 'meteorite' which weighed more than 1 lb. avoirdupois. "It had not penetrated the ground more than half an inch." From the description of what he found, it appears that he picked up a nodule of marcasite, which had probably been left exposed on the surface after heavy rain had washed away the surrounding soil.
Extract from "A Chapter in the history of Meteorites" by Walter Flight
In The English Mechanic (August 21st, 1874) is a letter from a person signing himself "Ralph Lowdon," of Gateshead, stating that at the above time and place "a massive ball of intense light," accompanied by other pear-shaped balls of fire, was seen to drop towards the earth. The aerolite, which is alleged to have fallen in an orchard on the bank of the North Tyne, at no great distance from Hexham, is stated to have been found the following day at 9 A.M. at a depth of 14 inches in the soil, still quite warm, and to have weighed 301½ lbs. Letters directed to the above are returned by the Post-office authorities, while an obliging reply which I received from the Rev. H. C. Barker, of Hexham, states that the editor of The English Mechanic must have been misinformed. The rev. gentleman writes: "To make assurance doubly sure, I have made inquiry in several quarters, and cannot find even the slightest foundation for the statement."
Extract from "A Chapter in the history of Meteorites" by Walter Flight who refrences Sir J.C. Cowell. nature, 26th December, 1872.
The descent of this 'meteor' was witnessed by Sir J. C. Cowell, who states that it fell one mile east of Slough, and about 150 yards south of the Great Western Railway. He writes that the phenomenon occured during a short and sharp thunderstorm which passed over North Hants and East Berks. It is a qustion whether this was not a form of ball-lightning. "The explosion was similar to that of a heavy gun when fired." A sketch accompanying the notice represents the fire-ball striking a ploughed field, between the observer and some trees. It is not stated whether any search was made at the time for a meteorite.
Extract from "A Chapter in the history of Meteorites" by Walter Flight who quotes R. Allen. Proc. Royal Soc., xxi. 122. as a reference.
A letter, addressed by the Secretary of the Corporation of the Trinity House to the President of the Royal Society, states that at the above hour a meteor burst over the "Sevenstones" light-vessel, moored about 9½ miles E. by N. of the Scilly Islands. The watch were struck senseless for a short period, and on recovery they observed "balls of fire falling in the water like splendid fireworks," while the deck was covered with cinders, "which crushed under the sailors' feet as they walked." The writer states that the "cinders" were, there is reason to fear, all washed off the decks by the rain and sea before daylight. Miss Carne, of Penzance, and Mr. Talling, of Lostwithiel, to whom I applied for information, did not succees in obtaining any further details respecting the remarkable occurrence.