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Blue John Cavern

Castleton, Derbyshire

Home of a rare purple and yellow stone found nowhere else on Earth.

Blue John is a beautiful banded stone, purple, blue and yellow, found only in the hills around Castleton. It has been mined here for centuries and carved into bowls, vases and jewellery.

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When
Mined for centuries
Where
53.3440, -1.8020
Group
Caves & grottoes

Visiting

Guided tours run daily. Jewellery shops in Castleton sell Blue John.

Cover of The Ledger of Lost Britain by Cale Mills
Read the full story in the book

The Ledger of Lost Britain

The Romans arrived in AD 43. For most people that is where the history of Britain begins. But by the time the legions landed, people had already been living on these islands for thousands of years. They had hunted, farmed, mined flint, dragged stones across the country, raised a hill by hand, and buried their dead in great tombs. They left no written words. What they left was the ground itself. Every place in this book can be visited, or has been dug up, or is in a museum.

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