It seems my little meteorite isn't so, I have just received this email back from the Astronomical Society:Dear Lola,
I've recently been passed your message and image from the BAA Office. The small rock pictured look to me like a nodule of terrestrial iron with various other bits and pieces (probably pyrites), and certainly not - unfortunately - akin to anything meteoritic. This sort of material is quite common in the Sussex Downs/chalk, and presumably ended up on Eastbourne beach as a result of erosion somewhere down the line.
Finds of meteorites are exceedingly rare, especially in the wet
(corrosive!) climate of the British Isles. Most discoveries of meteorites which have been lying on the surface come from arid regions of the world - the Nullabor Plain in Australia and the Sahara desert are good sources, along wth the ice-ablation regions in Antarctica.
Sorry I have to reply in the negative as to whether the object is a meteorite, but I hope that you'll still find it an interesting souvenir of your stroll on Eastbourne beach!
Best wishes,
Neil Bone
Director, British Astronomical Association Meteor Section
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