Blue John Stone is Britain’s rarest mineral. It is found nowhere in the world but amongst the rocks of Treak Cliff Hill . Thought to have been first discovered in Castleton, Derbyshire by the Romans almost 2000 years ago. It’s the world’s only known deposits to date of this extremely rare and beautiful stone. As Britain’s rarest mineral, it is no surprise that the history of Blue John remains much of a mystery. It was believed to have been originally discovered by Romans around 2,000 years ago when they settled in Castleton looking for deposits of lead. Instead, they discovered the mesmerising blue, purple and yellow banded mineral and crafted it into valuable ornaments and Blue John jewellery. Evidence showed the Blue John was also transported overseas during this time as two Blue John vases were discovered in Pompeii during excavations. As years passed, Blue John increased in popularity becoming highly regarded for its colour and crafted into vases, tables, columns and windows and owned by nobles in Buckingham Palace and Chatsworth House.
The Blue John Cavern is situated in the middle of Castleton, a picturesque village in the county of Derbyshire in the Peak District National Park. To this day, the Blue John Cavern continues to mine for the mineral , You can see Blue John in its natural state along the stalactites, stalagmites and huge caverns, see the famous Waterfall Cavern and stand in the Variegated Cavern which stands at 150 feet high and 30 feet wide.
This piece of Blue John was part of a larger piece that had gone to be used in Italy, Jane was fortunate to source this rare large sized piece, and worked on it in Italy to shape it, to show the amazing colour veins and colour transitions to their optimum, before bringing it back to her London studio to be polished and mounted into this stunning sculpture.