Now! Then! 2024! - Yorkshire On This Day

Excerpt

The weather was misty, and, at times, inclining to rain; and though there was some thunder and lightning at a distance, it was not till the falling of the stone that the explosion took place which alarmed the surrounding country. When the stone fell, a shepherd of mine, who was returning from his sheep, was about 150 yards from the spot; George Sawden, a carpenter, was passing within 60 yards; and John Shipley, one of my farming servants, was so near the spot that he was struck very forcibly by some of the mud and earth raised by the stone dashing into the earth, which it penetrated to the depth of twelve inches, and seven afterwards into the chalk rock, making in all a depth of nineteen inches from the surface. While the stone was passing through the air (which it did in a north-east direction from the sea-coast) numbers of persons distinguished a body passing through the clouds, and two sons of the clergyman of Wold Newton saw it pass so distinctly by them that they ran up immediately to my house to know if any thing extraordinary had happened. In the different villages over which the stone took its direction, various were the people who heard the noise of something passing through the air, accurately and distinctly, and in many of the provincial newspapers these accounts were published at the time from different persons. All the three witnesses who saw it fall agree perfectly in their account of the manner of its fall, and that they saw a dark body passing through the air, and ultimately strike into the ground. I felt so desirous of giving this matter every degree of authenticity, that, as a magistrate, I took their accounts upon oath. To perpetuate the spot where the stone fell, I have erected a pillar, with a plantation around it.

Comment

Comment

Wold Cottage is 54.188237,-0.353658, and the memorial 54.134,-0.412583, but is it still there?

Major Edward Topham was well known for a scandalous relationship with an actress, Mrs Wells, whose three-volume autobiography – Memoirs of the Life of Mrs. Sumbel, Late Wells – doesn’t seem to contain anything of relevance here.

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Original

The following account of the Yorkshire stone was communicated by Major TOPHAM:

[…]

It was on Sunday, about three o’clock, the thirteenth of December, in the year 1795, that the stone in question fell within two fields of my house. The weather was misty, and, at times, inclining to rain; and though there was some thunder and lightning at a distance, it was not till the falling of the stone that the explosion took place, which alarmed the surrounding country, and which created so distinctly the sensation that something very singular had happened.

When the stone fell, a shepherd of mine, who was returning from his sheep, was about 150 yards from the spot; George Sawden, a carpenter, was passing within 60 yards; and John Shipley, one of my farming servants, was so near the spot where it fell, that he was struck very forcibly by some of the mud and earth raised by the stone dashing into the earth, which it penetrated to the depth of twelve inches, and seven afterwards into the chalk rock, making in all a depth of nineteen inches from the surface.

While the stone was passing through the air – which it did in a north-east direction from the sea-coast – numbers of persons distinguished a body passing through the clouds, though not able to ascertain what it was: and two sons of the clergyman of Wold Newton (a village near me) saw it pass so distinctly by them, that they ran up immediately to my house, to know if any thing extraordinary had happened.

In the different villages over which the stone took its direction, various were the people who heard the noise of something passing through the air, accurately and distinctly, though they could not imagine what was the cause of it: and in many of the provincial newspapers these accounts were published at the time from different persons.

In fact, no circumstance of the kind had ever more concurrent testimonies: and the appearance of the stone itself, while it resembles in composition those which are supposed to have fallen in various other parts of the world, has no counterpart or resemblance in the natural stones of the country.

The stone in its fall excavated a place of the depth before mentioned, and of something more than a yard in diameter. It had fixed itself so strongly in the chalk rock, that it required some labour to dig it out.

On being brought home, it was weighed; and the exact weight, at that time, was 56 pounds; which has been diminished in a small degree at present, by different pieces being taken from it as presents to different literati of the country. Mr. King, the antiquarian, in his account of Sky-fallen Stones, has published an account of this, with many curious and learned remarks on those which have fallen at different periods.

All the three witnesses who saw it fall agree perfectly in their account of the manner of its fall, and that they saw a dark body passing through the air, and ultimately strike into the ground: and though, from their situation and characters in life, they could have no possible object in detailing a false account of this transaction, I felt so desirous of giving this matter every degree of authenticity, that, as a magistrate, I took their accounts upon oath, immediately on my return into the country. I saw no reason to doubt any of their evidence, after the most minute investigation of it…

To perpetuate the spot where the stone fell, I have erected a pillar, with a plantation around it. The pillar is built over the exact place which the stone excavated, and has this inscription on a tablet:

Here
On this Spot,
December 13th 1795, fell from the Atmosphere
An extraordinary Stone!
In Breadth 28 Inches,
In Length 30 Indies,
and Whose Weight was 56 Pounds!
THIS COLUMN
In Memory of it was erected by
EDWARD TOPHAM
1799.

694 words.

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• Agriculture (10) ·
• East Riding of Yorkshire (66) ·
• Edward Topham (1) ·
• James Sowerby (1) ·
• Meteorite (1) ·
• Muston, North Yorkshire (1) ·
• Plough (3) ·
• Sheep (27) ·
• Wold Cottage meteorite (1) ·
• Wold Newton, East Riding of Yorkshire (1) ·
• Yorkshire Wolds (23) ·

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