flint
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Nothing too specific here, but I'l tell what I think to be true...
The best flint for both knapping and firemaking is the glassy looking black stuff. Flint occurs in vaious places all over the country, but the good stuff is most often found in areas where the main bedrock is chalk. Anywhere you see the ploughed fields looking quite white would be good places to hunt. Farmers will have turned up good sized flint lumps over the years with the plough and you can often find them sitting dumped at the edges of the fields. I guess that officially you should ask before removing them, but in all practicality I cannot imagine any farmer who is glad to get them away from his expensive equipment being too sorry to see you carry one or two off with you as long as you don't stray from a public footpath in your hunt for them. A quiet word with the landowner will often be the best bet and permission to roam in search of flint might soon be yours.
Other good places to look are on beaches or where there is any deep earthworks that might have hrown them up.
A careful scan of an OS map will often show little spots marked "Pit (Disused)". If the area is a chalky one then it's a fair bet (But not a certainty) that the pit could be an ancient flint pit, and as such would obviously be an excellent place to look.
For areas where your hunting is most likely to prove fruitful try looking at a Geolocal map of your area (or the UK) and look for chalk bedrock.
The best flint for both knapping and firemaking is the glassy looking black stuff. Flint occurs in vaious places all over the country, but the good stuff is most often found in areas where the main bedrock is chalk. Anywhere you see the ploughed fields looking quite white would be good places to hunt. Farmers will have turned up good sized flint lumps over the years with the plough and you can often find them sitting dumped at the edges of the fields. I guess that officially you should ask before removing them, but in all practicality I cannot imagine any farmer who is glad to get them away from his expensive equipment being too sorry to see you carry one or two off with you as long as you don't stray from a public footpath in your hunt for them. A quiet word with the landowner will often be the best bet and permission to roam in search of flint might soon be yours.
Other good places to look are on beaches or where there is any deep earthworks that might have hrown them up.
A careful scan of an OS map will often show little spots marked "Pit (Disused)". If the area is a chalky one then it's a fair bet (But not a certainty) that the pit could be an ancient flint pit, and as such would obviously be an excellent place to look.
For areas where your hunting is most likely to prove fruitful try looking at a Geolocal map of your area (or the UK) and look for chalk bedrock.
All of Hertfordshire is sat on Chalk, the vast majority of it flint bearing, in fact I cannot think of anywhere in Herts that is devoid of any flint deposits. The quality of flint is not only colour dependant ie black or brown flint although black flint is considered better quality overall, thought should also be given to where the flint was collected. Surface flint can be subject to freeze/thaw action which can put lines of weakness in the material.
If you want flint for Knapping, dig for it, if you want it for sparking any surface flint no matter what the colour will do.
If you want flint for Knapping, dig for it, if you want it for sparking any surface flint no matter what the colour will do.
Hampshire diamonds.Bit closer to you than Hereford.I'd offer to send you some but they are very dense/heavy so collecting your own would be cheaper than the postagesteve a said:
