Haslemere Educational Museum
Geology
Minerals
Our mineral collection holds over 5,000 specimens, mostly from British localities. It includes a diverse range of minerals and is the largest collection of its type in the county of Surrey. The collection includes common and widespread mineral species such as quartz and its numerous varieties, calcite, gypsum, pyrite, barite fluorite, hematite, feldspars, micas and the garnets. Notable well-crystallised mineral specimens from the British Isles include calcite from the north of England and fluorite from various localities in northern England and Cornwall. Also present are ore samples of the common metals as well as a wider range of more rare minerals. Rare minerals include chalcophyllite, olivenite and pharmacosiderite.There are around 50 mineral specimens on public display in our Geology Gallery showing the different varieties of quartz, along with sulphides, native elements (copper, gold and sulphur), oxides, carbonates, halides, sulphates, phosphates, molybdates, tungstates, arsenates and silicates.
The main collectors represented at Haslemere Museum are Mr Charles Percy Richards, Mr John Clarke Hawkshaw, Sir Archibald Geikie and Mr John Edward Lee.
Highlights from the Collection
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| Kaolinite: From St. Austell area, Cornwall, England |
His collection consists of an attractive suite of minerals from the china clay pits district of Cornwall and other specimens given to the Museum by Richard at various times throughout the early 20th century. A variety of written correspondence was also donated, providing useful contextual information. Richards was a passionate student of natural history in many areas and he also published several papers on the subject of entomology.
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| Garnet with Mr Swanton´s original display label |
John Edward Lee (1808-1887) was a geologist from Yorkshire based in South West England. He travelled widely and exchanged specimens with geologists in all parts of the world.
