The History of Blue John Stone

A geological phenomenon, uniquely found in one hillside at Castleton, Blue John became a decorative stone in many of our local halls and houses. This particular type of fluorspar, banded in purples blues and yellow spawned an international trade in decorative ornaments and jewellery through the 18th an 19th centuries. Now still prized for its rarity as only a little is mined every year from the Treak Cliff hillside it is made mostly into jewellery and small ornaments.