Finding flint near Oxford...

[tombear]

As we were in the area and had been told (unfortunately only second hand) that we could find plentiful amounts of flint near the White Horse at Uffington at 3 today, armed with pure hearts and 2 buckets from the pound shop in Swindon, went to collect huge amounts.

The drizzel did not make us down hearted, but the fog and directions that bore no relation to reality just left us floundering about so we have come back empty handed. We couldn't even see the white horse!

Could anyone who knows the area please give us directions, ideally a grid reference to where the chalk beds can be found ot where the flint can be picked up ?

We bail back north from Oxford tommorrow so we may not get there again this time but it would be great to be able to know where to go next time.

ATB

Tom

 

[Toadflax]

Can't say I actually know as I've been meaning to look for myself. My inclination would be to go to the White Horse, then go up over Uffington Castle onto the Ridgeway itself and see if there's any in the sides of the Ridgeway track.

Grid Ref SU299862 or along the Ridgeway SW towards Wayland's Smithy. You might see some in the fields either side of the Ridgeway.

Use the car park at SU293866.

As I said, I can't be sure, but that's where I'd start to look.

Say hello to my parents-in-law as you approach the White Horse - their ashes are scattered overlooking the Manger.


Geoff

 

[slammer187]

Check your neighbors front gardens "golden flint" is often used as gravel!

 

[Grooveski]

You could try along the roadsides. I gathered a fair pile from the junction where the A339 comes off of the A34 (SU473711-ish) and some more from the motorway embankment just a mile or so north at Chieveley services). There was tons of the stuff.
Any recent rock cut in the area would probably be worth a peek.

Check along newish fencelines. The postholes will be filled with smaller lumps and I found lots of bigger chunks half buried and half jutting out in the distrubed ground thereabout.
There's a good chance the nodules will have taken a bump. Finding undamaged ones for knapping can take a wee while.

[Edit - Removed the Southmoor suggestion. Probably bogus - too far north. Here's the map, you're looking at the band of light green down the bottom.]

 

[tombear]

Thanks folks!
we got as far as the car park and started wandering across in the supposed direction of the White Horse but after a couple of hundred yards in the fog turned back we then went and started searching th hedge rows where there was signs of chalk but had no joy.

I will pass the directions to the wife who is a local girl and we shall see what we can aquire as we head home. I've heard you can find flint at the Wittenham Clumps.

The OS map the inlaws lent us was dated 1967 so I think I will print off the OS or google map rather than use that!

Cheers!


Tom

 

[ol smokey]

AS suggested above, I found an abundance of flins pebbles in a garden drive not 5 mins from my house, though there ia no natural source of dlint in my area. Watch for split pebbles with a dark centres and a golder white outer cacing. split ones with the dark centre give great sparks.