High Down Quarry, West Buckland, North Devon, Devon, England, UKi

Regional Level Types
High Down Quarry	Quarry (Abandoned)
West Buckland	Village
North Devon	District
Devon	County
England	Constituent Country
UK	Country

Type locality for wavellite.

'High Down Quarry' is an ancient quarry. It is one of the few type localities which, although hundreds of years old, still has the potential to provide museum quality specimens. A specimen on public display in Barnstaple Museum is claimed to have been one of the original ones collected prior to 1785 by John Hill. Another numbered specimen on display can be traced as part of the Townshend Hall Collection and is identified as one of six that came via a local Doctor and originally from Dr. Wavell himself. The quarry listed by Natural England as an SSSI is opened in the Codden Hill Cherts, and there appears to be no record of when the quarry was active.

Interestingly, this quarry, together with others, appears on a map dated about 1780 in the Fortescue archive in Exeter. No map from 1780 to the present actually names any of the quarries. The author of this [David Ifold] has been unable to find any genuinely old labels on specimens that say 'High Down Quarry'. The name High Down Quarry first appears in the literature in 1910 when Inkermann Rogers (1866-1959) led a field trip in North Devon.

It is important to note that wavellite has been recorded in recent years from at least three quarries which are covered by the geographical name High Down. Hence, this may not be the exact quarry that the type specimens came from. In fact, whilst someone was digging holes for garden fence posts nearby, broken hemispheres to 11 mm of wavellite were thrown aside. Collectors might like to think carefully about where their specimens actually came from and label them with a grid reference if appropriate. The quarry behind High Down Cottages also yields wavellite specimens, although collecting is currently not permitted.

The phosphate minerals in the High Down area appear to be present in particular beds adjacent to areas where coprolites are found. Tracing the Codden Hill Cherts west and east reveals other phosphate mineral locations where variscite, cacoxenite, crandallite and further wavellite occurs.

The quarry given Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) status is close to Heddon, which would be a better and much less confusing name. As wavellite occurs so close to the surface, the old specimens in museums may have been found when the cottages were built or the local roads completed. Wavellite occurs as hemispheres and exceptionally rarely as complete spheres. The phosphate is likely to be of fossil origin.

The quarry listed as the type locality is privately owned by The Castle Hill Estate. The estate management will respond favourably to written requests to visit the quarry outside the pheasant shooting season. Collecting also requires the written consent of Natural England, who will check with the landowners. Consent for sensible non-commercial collecting may be given from 1st March to the end of August.

Devon wavellite is a classic example of how mineral 'experts' have 'corrected' labels and reduced the scientific value of their material. Old specimens are labelled Devonshire, Barnstaple, Barnstable, Filleigh or South Molton. There are numerous North Devon locations that can produce specimens, but sadly, collectors unfamiliar with the area do not recognize this. Indeed, the quarry behind High Down Cottages produces identical material to the quarry that Natural England call High Down Quarry!

Wavellite from this area is commonly strongly fluorescent in LW UV light and shows yellowish phosphorescence for several seconds on removal of the UV source.

Other Regions, Features and Areas containing this locality

References