Can you help make this a better article? What good localities have we missed? Can you supply pictures of better specimens than those we show here? Can you give us more and better information about the specimens from these localities? Can you supply better geological or historical information on these localities?
Baryte, United Kingdom
BaSO4 Orthorhombic
Here will go a good picture of a Baryte from the United Kingdom and general remarks about the Baryte from this country. Here are some url's to some of the better English Baryte specimens here on Mindat that can be considered for inclusion in the article. These, in most cases are just for temporary use until we can get images of the much better specimens that are almost certainly out there. We should also consider that there are probably localities out there with fine specimens that are not even mentioned on Mindat. Also in some instances there are sometimes pictures on Mindat, of specimens from a locality, but they were so ratty that I did not include them here, but there may also be really good specimens from there that we should talk about in this article.
Closehouse Mine, Lunedale, North Pennines, Co. Durham,
England, UK
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Wheal Mary Ann, Menheniot, Menheniot Area, Liskeard
District, Cornwall, England, UK
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Force Crag Mine (Force Craig Mine), Coledale,
Braithwaite District, North and Western Region
(Cumberland), Cumbria, England, UK
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Pallaflat Mine, Bigrigg, West Cumberland Iron Field,
North and Western Region (Cumberland), Cumbria,
England, UK
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Egremont, West Cumberland Iron Field, North and
Western Region (Cumberland), Cumbria, England, UK
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Florence Mine, Egremont, West Cumberland Iron Field,
North and Western Region (Cumberland), Cumbria,
England, UK
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Frizington, West Cumberland Iron Field, North and
Western Region (Cumberland), Cumbria, England, U
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Dalmellington Mine, Frizington, West Cumberland Iron
Field, North and Western Region (Cumberland), Cumbria,
England, UK
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Mowbray Mine, Frizington, West Cumberland Iron Field,
North and Western Region (Cumberland), Cumbria,
England, UK
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Parkside Mine, Frizington, West Cumberland Iron Field,
North and Western Region (Cumberland), Cumbria,
England, UK
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Hilton Mine, Scordale, Hilton, Escarpment District,
North Pennines, South Eastern Region (Westmorland),
Cumbria, England, UK
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Murton Mine, Scordale, Hilton, Escarpment District,
North Pennines, South Eastern Region (Westmorland),
Cumbria, England, UK
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Silverband Mine, Dun Fell, Milburn, Escarpment
District, North Pennines, South Eastern Region
(Westmorland), Cumbria, England, UK
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Middleton, Youlgrave, Derbyshire, England, UK
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Dam Rigg Level, Northside Mines, Whaw, Arkengarthdale,
North Pennines, North Yorkshire, England, UK
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Wetgrooves Mine (Wetgroves Mine), Askrigg,
Wensleydale, North Pennines, North Yorkshire, England,
UK
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Raygill Level, Hawes, Wensleydale, North Pennines,
North Yorkshire, England, UK
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Barrasford Quarry, Hexham, Northumberland, England, UK
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Castle Hill Quarry, Cannington, Bridgwater
(Bridgewater), Somerset, England, UK
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Airthrey Hill Mine, Central Region (Stirlingshire),
Scotland, UK
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Whitesmith Mine, Strontian, North West Highlands
(Argyllshire), Scotland, UK
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Cwm Leyshon Quarry, Draethen, Caerphilly (Mid
Glamorgan; Glamorgan), Wales, UK
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Machen Quarry, Machen, Caerphilly (Mid Glamorgan;
Monmouthshire), Wales, UK
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Here are some notes about Baryte from England that whoever writes this article may find useful.
England
It is interesting to note that the Mineralogical Record magazine in its 25 year index has a great many references to Barites from all over the world but few for those from England. From Cumberland it has only one obscure entry for a Barite pseudomorph after Alstonite. There are however 33 entries for Barites from Colorado. The same pattern is also seen with relatively few mentions of Pyrite from Peru and amethyst from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil both of which have produced more good specimens of Pyrite and amethyst than probably all the other localities in the world combined. I think the reason is that the specimens from these localities is so well known and that no one feels the need to comment much about them. When Botley’s, the famous London mineral dealer moved to new quarters early in the 20th century they had a large number of “tea crates” full of Calcites and Barites Although with Cumberland Barites, presumably not of the best quality, that were in excess to what could be fitted into the new quarters. The excess were hauled down to the Thames river and thrown in. Nowadays however, the mines having been closed for many years, fine English Barites are hard to find. A good one will cost you several thousand dollars. Even a modest little specimen will likely cost several hundred dollars.
Cornwall, Meheniot, Wheal Mary Ann. The Barites from Wheal Mary Ann were tabular, more golden and not as large as those found in Cumberland but they were often had interesting associations of Fluorite, Sphalerite & Quartz.
Cumberland. Please excuse me it should now be correctly called Cumbria.
You could just collect Barite specimens from various mines in Cumberland, England and die a happy man. Many of the ones pictured here are specimens in the British Museum of Natural History. Specimens with crystals of only an inch or so are considered small from these localities and specimens with three and four inch crystals were not uncommon. It is common to see specimens of English barite labeled only Cumberland, England without a mine name, but this is very common for many mining districts of the world where most of the specimens are only given the name of the district rather than a particular mine name.
Cumbria, Appleby, Hilton Mine. “Clear but attractive iron stained flat prismatic crystals to 4 cm in groups. Occurs somewhat larger & very clear. Somewhat scarce.”1
1 Bill Dameron, personal communication, 2003, description of a specimen in his collection.
Cumbria, Caldbeck Fells, Dry Gill. “White opaque tabular xl 5 + cm with classic mimetite (campylite) crystal balls. Scarce.1
1 Bill Dameron, personal communication, 2003, description of a specimen in his collection.
Cumbria, Dufton. One crystal of Barite from Dufton weighed in at about 100 lbs. I am sure that is monster would have made a good door stop and been very impressive in a display for the general public or school children. “Large (10 cm) clear tabular xl. Also occurs prismatic and larger. Common.”1
1 Bill Dameron, personal communication, 2003, description of a specimen in his collection.
Cumbria, Egremont. Mines near Egremont also produced fine barite crystals.
Cumbria, Frizington, Parkside Mine. My particular favorites are the long slender translucent amber colored ones from the Parkside mine near Frizington. Some of them are doubly terminated and eight or ten inches long. The British Museum has one on display that has two long slender crystals flaring off the matrix that sort of hypnotized me. You know that you are looking at great mineral specimen when you wake up and realize that ten or fifteen minuets has passed without you knowing it. Frequently many of these and other Barites from the mines near Frizington are associated with tiny curved cream colored or tan dolomite crystals.
Cumbria, Frizington, Dalmellington Mine. Other fine somewhat prismatic Barites were found in the Dalmellington mine.
Cumbria, Frizington, Mowbray Mine. Perhaps most popular with collectors were the baby blue crystals, again on the ubiquitous tiny dolomite crystals from the Mowbray mine. These have always been considered drop dead classics and everyone wanted them in their collection. Also from Frizington and one of my favorites were the pinkish tan spear shaped crystals that had a white or cream colored zoning around the edges of the crystals.
Cumbria, Nenthead, Bromley Hill Mine. Specimens of barite after alstonite have been reported from the Bromley Hill mine.1
1. Mineralogical Record, Vol. 24, 1993, p.394.
Derbyshire, Youlgreave, Arbor Low. Derbyshire is not known for fine crystals, but it did produce brown banded and stalactitic barite that you often see in old collections. These are often polished and look like a dark brown malachite often complete with “eyes”. “Brown, compact banded (“oakstone”) material was mined near the ancient stone circle at Arbor Low near Youlgreave…in the 19th century for ornamental purposed, and takes a high polish. This material was sometimes polished with ropes to dig hollows through the colored bands to give the effect of “eyes”. The exact locality was grassed over and lost for many years until rediscovered in recent times…”1
1. Mineralogical Record, Vol. 14, 1983, p.23.
Scotland
Lowther Hills, Leadhills-Wanlockhead District, New Glencrieff Mine. Clusters of white bladed barite crystals with yellow terminations up to 19 cm were found in the New Glencrieff Mine. “Scottish specimens of witherite were found in the East Branch of the New Glencrieff mine. They were found at the 200-fathom level, along with calcite, barite and galena, in a cavity 7.3 m deep, 4.6 m long and .9 m wide in the center. The witherite occurred in tow globular masses 17.8 cm and 12.7 cm in diameter, pseudomorphs after barite, “hanging in the cavity like two large fungi.” Many specimens ere damaged when the first shots were fired: “the miners said that when they were removing the debris after the blast it sounded as if they were shoveling china or bell metal”.1 When the mines were working, specimens from the district were plentiful, but today it is rare to find one for sale. Since that time as is the case with so many old localities, the specimen have been eclipsed in most instances by better specimens from newer localities. Specimens from these mines are still revered by knowledgeable mineral collectors. The mines in this old classic locality are better known for their secondary lead minerals than they are for their barites. Many fine specimens from this locality are preserved in the Royal Scottish Museum in Edinburgh.
Thomas Pennant in 1772 observed about the locality “Nothing can equal the barren and gloomy appearance of the country round; neither tree, nor shrub, nor verdure, nor picturesque rock, appear to amuse the eye; the spectator must plunge into the bowels of these mountains for entertainment.” He was obviously a mineral collector. “Although mining at Leadhills and Wanlockhead ceased in the 1930’s after over 400 ears of continuous exploitation, the district still attracts the interest of mineral collectors. …About 70 veins have been worked in an area of about 8 square kilometers around the villages of Leadhills and Wanlockhead, situated about 1.5 km apart in the Lowther Hills of the Southern Uplands of Scotland. These villages, the highest in Scotland, lie at a height of around 400 m above sea level and the experience of a rainfall of over 150 cm a year, with significant falls of show in winter. Leadhills lies in the Lanark district of Strathclyde region, and Wanlockhead lies in Nithsdale district of Dumfries and Galloway region; their common boundary divides the mining district. …Although the veins are continuous across the boundary, the deposit has, from early times, been exploited as two separate mining districts. No underground workings were ever driven beneath this boundary and the mining companies on each property maintained their own drainage adits, concentrating plants and smelters. …The earliest documentary evidence of mining in the district relates to a mine at Leadhills granted to the monks of Newbattle Abbey in 1293. During the 16th century it was the mining of gold that made the district famous.1 See the excellent article in the Mineralogical Record by R. J. Gillanders.
1 Mineralogical Record, Vol. 12, 1981, p 239. 1 Mineralogical Record, Vol. 12, 1981, p 225-50.
Rock Currier
Crystals not pistols.
Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 05/28/2009 07:38PM by Rock Currier.
