This mineral was extracted from a number of sites along the west coast of the Lizard peninsula for about 80 years. It was used by the earliest English soft paste porcelain factories to produce thousands of highly decorated pieces (tea and coffee pots, dinner services, tableware, vases etc.) of a very high standard which became fashionable and commonly used by all. For the first time the country's potters could manufacture a product which could withstand boiling water, thus avoiding the previous problems of cracking and breaking, and allowing competition with porcelain imported from China.