Blue John Cavern
Entrance to the Blue John cavern
Location	Castleton, Derbyshire
Geology	Blue John
Number of entrances	1

The Blue John Cavern is one of the four show caves in Castleton, Derbyshire, England. This article is about the English village in Derbyshire For other uses see Castleton. History The area that is now Derbyshire was first visited probably briefly by humans 200000 years ago during the Aveley Interglacial as evidenced by a Middle Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is a Mineral composed of Calcium fluoride, Ca[[Fluorine F2]] Show caves, also called tourist caves, public caves, and in the U This article is about the English village in Derbyshire For other uses see Castleton. History The area that is now Derbyshire was first visited probably briefly by humans 200000 years ago during the Aveley Interglacial as evidenced by a Middle England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland

The semi-precious mineral "Blue John" or "Derbyshire Spar" is mined from this cave. Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is a Mineral composed of Calcium fluoride, Ca[[Fluorine F2]] A cave is a natural underground void large enough for a human to enter Although the cavern works as a show cave, the mineral is still worked here during the winter months. The miners who work the remaining seams act as guides for the underground tours.

Blue John is a blue/purple and white/yellow banded variety of fluorite which locals will tell you is found nowhere else in the world other than this cave and the nearby Treak Cliff Cavern. Fluorite (also called fluorspar) is a Mineral composed of Calcium fluoride, Ca[[Fluorine F2]] Treak Cliff Cavern is a Show cave near Castleton in Derbyshire. However, blue fluorite occurs widely throughout Derbyshire and especially in the Ashover and Crich areas. Ashover is a village in the English county of Derbyshire. It is in the North East Derbyshire district of the county Crich (ˈkraɪtʃ kryech) is a Village in Derbyshire in England. It also occurs where other fluorspar deposits have been mined and so may be found in County Durham (especially Weardale), Cornwall and Wales as well as throughout the world. Weardale is a dale or Valley, of the east side of the Pennines in County Durham, in England. Cornwall ( Kernow ˈkɛɹnɔʊ is the most southwesterly county of England, on the Peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar Indeed, similar banded blue and white/yellow fluorite is now being imported into the UK from China and sold as coming from Castleton. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National Other deposits of banded blue fluorite occur in Nevada (in the USA) and Southern Iran. Nevada ( is a state located in the western region of the United States of America. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iran topics. The Iranian blue-and-yellow-banded fluorspar has turned up in Roman grave-goods (e. g. as two cups near the Turkish/Syrian border) alongside the Persia to Rome trade route, and this has fed the myth that the Romans exported Blue John from Castleton. They did not. Neither, as is often claimed, were two vases made from Castleton Blue John ever excavated at Pompeii. Pompeii is a ruined and partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples and Caserta in the Italian region of Campania, in

In the late 18th century a small local industry was centred on turning vases of Blue John, which might be mounted with ormolu as chimneypiece garnitures. The 18th century lasted from 1701 to 1800 in the Gregorian calendar, in accordance with the Anno Domini / Common Era numbering system The vase (ˈveɪs /ˈveɪz/ or/ˈvɑːz/ is an open container often used to hold cut Flowers It can be made from a number of materials including Ceramics and Fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in Medieval times as a hood that projected over a grate to catch the Smoke A small amount of the rock is still mined and can be bought as jewellery in local shops. Jewellery (also spelled jewelry, see spelling differences) is a personal Ornament, such as a necklace ring or bracelet made from Gemstones

The name is popularly said to come from the French; bleu-jaune, meaning 'blue-yellow'. It is a fact that some Blue John was indeed sent to France for gilding by the French Ormolu workers of the Louis XVI period. Louis XVI ( 23 August 1754 – 21 January 1793) Louis-Auguste de France, ruled as King of France and Navarre However, they were emulating the pionerring ormolu ornaments of Matthew Boulton of Birmingham who around 1765 called the stone 'Blew John'. Matthew Boulton ( September 3, 1728 &ndash 18 August 1809) was an English Manufacturer and Engineer. Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um Year 1765 ( MDCCLXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a It became such a popular base for the ornaments that Boulton tried to lease the whole output of the Castleton mines.

The earliest dated decorative application of Blue John is its use in marble fireplace panels designed by Robert Adam and installed in Kedleston Hall near Derby in 1762. Robert Adam ( 3 July 1728 &ndash 3 March 1792) was a Scottish neoclassical Architect, Interior designer Kedleston Hall is an English country house in Kedleston, Derbyshire, approximately four miles north-west of Derby, and is the seat of the

The eight veins here are Twelve Vein, Old Dining Room, Bull Beef, New Dining Room, Five Vein, Organ Room New Cavern and Lanscape.

It was featured on the 2005 TV programme Seven Natural Wonders as one of the wonders of the Midlands. Seven Natural Wonders was a Television series that aired on BBC Two from 3 May to 20 June 2005.

Sign at the Entrance to the Cavern

References

External links

• Official site of Blue John Cavern