Detailed information
Species
Baryte, Calcite
Dimensions
58 x 58 x 42
mm
Locality
Peak Hill Sidmouth, Devon England
Condition
No recorded repairs
The occurrence of superbly crystallised Baryte high in the cliff face of Peak Hill at Sidmouth has become a modern-day classic. Sidmouth is a popular retirement and holiday town on the south Devon coast and occasional rock falls following winter storms allow collectors to recover specimens before the sea quicky reclaims them. A 2.7 cm tall cluster of tabular transparent Baryte crystals project vertically from a Calcite lined vug in greenish-grey marl. The Baryte crystals are characteristically coloured a pale burnt apricot which gradually grades towards delicate sky-blue terminations. The 2 mm Calcite crystals vary between scalenohedral and complex equant modified rhombs and although mainly colourless, are occasionally tinged pale pink.
