Lake House        51°8.98’N, 1°48.60’W

England, United Kingdom

Found: Early 20th century

Classification: Ordinary chondrite (H5)

History: Lake House is a large Elizabethan country house dating from 1578 located in the village of Lake in the county of Wiltshire, England. Photographic evidence demonstrates that the meteorite was located on the top step at the main entrance to Lake House at least as early as the first decade of the twentieth century. Robert Hutchison (Curator of meteorites, NHM) was notified of the existence of the meteorite in a letter from Robin Bailey dated 13 Nov 1991. A note written on a copy of this letter in Robert Hutchison’s hand writing and initialed "RH" and dated 16 Sept 1991 reads: "probably a chondrite Ol +Px +Ct …? metal with Ni …sulphides". Mr Bailey was unaware of a detailed history of the meteorite, which he described as being collected by his grandfather.

Physical characteristics: The single remaining mass can be recognized as the major portion of a larger meteorite. The existing fragment, measuring 55 × 38 × 35 cm, is dark brown, extremely weathered and deeply fractured, consistent with being exposed to the elements for a long period of time.

Petrography: Distinct chondrules are present, but these tend to have poorly defined boundaries. Porphyritic types predominate, but barred olivine and radial pyroxene textured chondrules are also common. Chondrule mesostasis is recrystallized, with grain sizes generally below 50 μm. The sample is cut by a network of veins, up to 2 mm thick, filled with secondary weathering products.

Geochemistry: The oxygen isotope composition of the meteorite was measured (after washing in EATG to remove weathering products) δ¹⁷O = 1.99 ± 0.05 (1σ); δ¹⁸O = 2.76 ± 0.09 (1σ); Δ¹⁷O = 0.55 ± 0.01 (1σ) (n=2) which is in the accepted range for H chondrites.

Classification: In thin section the sample is a heavily weathered (W5), moderately shocked (S4), equilibrated ordinary chondrite (H5).

Specimens: The owners of the main mass have agreed to loan it on a long term basis to the local county museum in Salisbury, where it will be on display to the general public. A 1 kg representative mass will remain at OU as the type specimen for research purposes.

Note: Wiltshire is the formal name for this meteorite.  Either name may be used in publications.