Grimes Graves Flint

The people who lived in the Brecks district between the ending of the last Glacial Age, and the arrival of iron tools and technology, were in a priviledged position as far as raw knapping material goes. Breckland is home to the best source of flint material in the whole of the British Isles. In particular, the mined floorstone flint from the Grimes Graves area north of the Little Ouse area, is proclaimed by modern knappers as amongst the best anywhere in the world. Not only did it spawn the most remarkable late prehistoric flint mine complex in Europe, but workable outcropped flint could be found almost everywhere in the district. In addition to being highly suitable for knapping - the best local flint is translucent, glass-like, sharp, and beautiful. In such abundance, no wonder the locals used it so sparingly and left so much debris behind them.

The value of this flint did not stop with the introduction of iron. It became the source of the local vernacular tradition. Churches, priories, and warrener lodges built or faced with it for miles around - along with many local houses farm buildings, and cottages. The development of the flintlock gun heralded another revival for local knappers. The old mining methods of Grimes Graves were reinvented at Lingheath, Brandon, as miners supplied a local industry that produced the flints for the guns. Brandon blacks, as the gun flints were called, supplied the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars.