GRAPHITE (PIECES OF NATURAL GRAPHITE IN DISPLAY BOX) - Lake District, Cumbria

NATURAL GRAPHITE

Pieces of natural graphite from the Lake District

Seathwaite, Borrowdale, Cumbria

At the head of a valley south of Keswick in the Lake District is a graphite mine that was opened after the discovery of graphite there in the 16^th century. The remarkably pure graphite was first used for marking sheep, but its main use was in moulds for casting coins and cannonballs. In the 19^th century it supplied the famous Cumberland pencil industry.

The graphite occurs in faults associated with andesite lavas that are part of a sequence of rocks known as the Borrowdale Volcanic Group. The lavas are 450 million years old and date from the Ordovician period.

These pieces are from an old collection. They were collected in 1993.