Hope's Nose, Torquay, Torbay, Devon, England, UKi

Regional Level Types
Hope's Nose	Headland
Torquay	Town
Torbay	Unitary Authority
Devon	County
England	Constituent Country
UK	Country

"The occurrence which forms the subject of the present note was discovered in a curious way. In April, 1922, Professor W. T. Gordon of King's College, London, with a party of students, was pointing out the geological features of Hope's Nose, a headland two miles east of Torquay, and in examining a small calcite vein, of which many traverse the Middle Devonian limestone on the foreshore at this spot, the chance blow of a hammer revealed the calcite to be tenaceous owing to the presence of many sprigs of gold. A brief record of this find was published by Professor Gordon in 'Nature' (London, 1922, vol. 109, p. 583, 1 fig.). Stress of other work prevented him, however, from more carefully examining the spot. In 1927, with Professor Gordon's concurrence and in company with my brother Sir Charles Russell and Captain G. M. Puckle, a careful examination of Hope's Nose was made, and specimens of arborescent gold were obtained from five distinct calcite veins within the space of about forty yards (ca. 37 m). In 1928, permission having been most courteously given by Major H. A. Garrett, the Borough Engineer of Torquay, a couple of shot holes were put in on the most promising looking of the veins, and a number of very remarkable specimens of arborescent gold were obtained. The exact spot at which the gold occurs is on the flat rocky shore just above high-water mark, east of and adjoining the old limestone quarry, and at a point where the first small indent above the Torquay sewage outfall is marked on the six-inch Ordnance Map (Devonshire, Sheets 116 S.E. and 122 N.E., 1906).

The geological structure of Hope's Nose has been often described, and it is sufficient to say that its eastern seaboard is formed of thick-bedded pale grey to pinkish compact Middle Devonian limestone containing corals. About the sewage outfall and south of it the limestone becomes thin bedded and slaty. On the flat rocky shore the thick-bedded limestone is traversed by a number of calcite veins and strings, which from the presence of slickensided faces appear to be of the nature of minor fault fissures. They have a direction about 20° north of west (magnetic) and vary in width from less than an inch to a foot or more, the width of the veins increasing as they run seawards, where for the most part the sea has completely eroded the vein-filling, leaving open sea-swept chasms. The strike of these veins can be traced for roughly only about 30 yards (ca. 27 m), from low-water mark to the low cliff dividing the foreshore from the quarry, at which latter point they are cut off by a fault. Of these veins, five have yielded specimens of free gold, in each case within a few yards of the base of the low cliff where the vein-filling has not been removed by the agency of the sea. Many very similar calcite veins are to be seen in the adjacent quarry, but although careful search was made, no trace of gold has been seen. Very close scrutiny is necessary to detect the gold, which stands out from the eroded calcite on the outcrops, since it is often masked by a coating of lichen or sea-slime, while some of the richest specimens were obtained from remnants of the vein-filling adhering to the limestone walls, the whole central portion having been eroded away by the sea."