About

Nestled within the dramatic fells and ancient valleys of England’s Lake District and western Pennines, Cumbria and the surrounding area holds a profound and storied mineralogical legacy. This is a region shaped by its geology, where for centuries, hardy miners drove tunnels deep into the hillsides in pursuit of lead and other metals. At the heart of this story lies the Northern Pennine Orefield, one of the world’s most famous mineral-producing zones, and Cumbria is home to some of its most celebrated districts. For collectors, the name Cumbria evokes images of crystal-lined veins yielding mineral specimens of exceptional quality and aesthetic perfection.

The region’s fame is built upon the treasures of its lead mines, particularly those in the Alston Moor and Caldbeck Fells districts. While galena was the economic prize, it was the associated “gangue” minerals that would become legendary among collectors. Cumbria is home to some of the finest fluorite in the world, renowned for its glassy lustre, incredible transparency, and iconic green and purple hues, often forming classic, interpenetrant twinned crystals. Accompanying the fluorite are brilliant white and honey-coloured blades of barite, sharp calcite crystals, and the rare barium carbonate, witherite, for which the mines around Nenthead are a world-class locality.

While the Alston Moor district is famous for its primary vein minerals, the Caldbeck Fells offer a completely different and more colourful story. Here, the oxidation of complex ore bodies produced a spectacular array of vibrantly coloured secondary minerals. This area is the source of the world’s best examples of campylite, a distinctive barrel-shaped, orange or yellowish-green variety of mimetite. It has also produced stunning, electric-blue linarite and other secondary minerals. To own a mineral from Cumbria is to hold a piece of classic English mineralogy, a testament to a rich mining heritage and a masterpiece of geological artistry, unearthed from the heart of one of Britain’s most beautiful landscapes.