Natrual flint for knapping or use with a steel!

[RAPPLEBY2000]

For free flint stone from fist size to stuff so big you can't carry it ....
....Visit Norfolk!

(i only say this as i have heard of people considering buying flint on the internet!)

Norwich city wall(or whats left of it!) is made entirely from flint, as are many of the local churches and walls the council even inlay flint stones in the paths and traffic islands all around Norwich.

north of norwich are the seaside towns of Sherringham and Cromer both have many tons of flint on thier beaches.

so much Flint is there, that when there was a big storm some years ago they had to close the beach because of all the broken (sharp) flints!

also it may be of interest there is a huge ancient flint mine called "Grimes Graves" near thetford, which has all sorts of information and even a mine to explore! (Thetford forrest is littered with flint also!).

happy gathering!

 

[Goose]

Have you got a job with Norfolk Tourist Information?
We have absolutely no flint around here, its all sandstone, I think any chalk area has flint knocking around, most people around here have never seen flint before and think it is an expensive rare commodity!

 

[QDanT]

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=12923

 

[Ralph]

Might have to make the trip there. All there is round here is limestone, limestone and nothing but limestone! :aargh4: Whenever I want flint I have look around for little pieces in my gardens gravel bed.

 

[ArkAngel]

Ahh Norfolk flint......
We used to holiday down there for many years in a little village called Mundesley near to Sheringham and Cromer. Some of the happiest times in my life were spent on the beaches attempting (and failing) to make flint arrow heads!

Many thanks for that trip down memory lane.....

 

[Grooveski]

Lynford Quarry will haunt me every rockhunt I go on, I just know it.
Had a second fruitless attempt at finding decent chert down by Abington a few weeks ago and just couldn't stop thinking about those massive piles of flawless, bulletproof flint in Norfolk.

 

[British Red]

ArkAngel,

I've had at least three holidays in Mundesley - in the chalet park at the top of the cliff opposite that glorious (now failing) old building that used to be a Hotel. I remember leaning on the top of the cliff leaning against on of the old Pill boxes watching forl lightning come crashing down on the sea - magic stuff! Found dozens of fossils on that beach too!

Red

 

[Snufkin]

Lynford Quarry will haunt me every rockhunt I go on, I just know it.
Had a second fruitless attempt at finding decent chert down by Abington a few weeks ago and just couldn't stop thinking about those massive piles of flawless, bulletproof flint in Norfolk.

I don't want to burst your bubble but the majority of the flint lying around is pretty flawed, lots of nasty inclusions that stop your flakes dead . But there is so much you don't have to search too long to find something usable.
I also think it is illegal to remove stone (and sand for that matter) from beaches, although this is aimed more at people trying to take enough to build a house rather than knap a few arrowheads.
It is all good for flint and steel firelighting though.

 

[Grooveski]

pretty flawed, lots of nasty inclusions that stop your flakes dead

Yeah, that's what I found in general. The best spot I came across was a new rockcut for a bypass.

The quarry was a whole other world though. Working quarry, signed in - perfectly legit...
Hang on, I've described this before.....

Wonderful place .
The pitchstone seam on Arran is similar. You look around, realise that you've hit the right spot, have a wee giggle then realise how little you can really carry .

 

[G Obach]

so lucky to live by a supply of flint.....

what about turning some of it into sharpening stones..... does it work like noviculite ?

G

 

[ArkAngel]

Sorry to hijack the thread a little on our trip down memory lane!
Red
We used to stay in the same chalet park!

 

[Dunelm]

I doubt the local authorities would look kindly on people looting the ancient city walls of Norwich for flint. Taking flint from beaches may be "unethical" but if I lived close enough I'd have a go. Can somebody in East Anglia post me a box full (second class).

 

[ArkAngel]

I may be wrong with this but i'm fairly sure that it is illegal to remove these types of stone from the beaches. Norfolk council stuck it all there to help protect the beaches from erosion etc not for the likes of us to remove to get our fire going. :bluThinki
Like i say i could be wrong so dont take it as gospel.....or do a midnight raid on the beach

 

[Snufkin]

I may be wrong with this but i'm fairly sure that it is illegal to remove these types of stone from the beaches. Norfolk council stuck it all there to help protect the beaches from erosion etc not for the likes of us to remove to get our fire going. :bluThinki
Like i say i could be wrong so dont take it as gospel.....or do a midnight raid on the beach

If you are only after bits to light fires with there's no need to hit the beaches. Just drive over the county line stop your car look over the nearest hedge and the fields will be littered with the stuff.

 

[redcollective]

Yeah, that's what I found in general. The best spot I came across was a new rockcut for a bypass.

The quarry was a whole other world though. Working quarry, signed in - perfectly legit...
Hang on, I've described this before.....

Wonderful place .
The pitchstone seam on Arran is similar. You look around, realise that you've hit the right spot, have a wee giggle then realise how little you can really carry .

Groovski, in your link you describe selecting nodules by tapping them and listening for a particular noise, - I don't know it this is possible but any way you could record what someone should be listening for? mp3 it? is it the same for all knapping quality flint ? I'm guessing this is more art than science?

 

[Grooveski]

It's probably more science than art to be honest.
If there are cracks inside you hear a muffled thump, like tapping on any old lump of rock. If there are no internal flaws the nodule rings like tapping a crystal bowl(kind of). It's night and day really.
The pitch will vary with nodule size and the fact that there are no flaws doesn't mean it's the best flint on the pile, just that you'll be able to work it without nasty surprises.

It's not a test you usualy get to do. That's a massive pile of large nodules. Normaly finding any one of them would make your day but when you've got the chance to get picky you may as well play. A couple of the lumps I packed didn't ring, I picked them visualy on a "black is good" basis.

Pitchstone(glass) rings too, but it's a pretty useless measure of quality since you can have the cleanest lump of pitchstone around and it will still step crazily when you try to flake it . With it you're looking(visualy) at now it flakes.

I'll have a go at recording it but don't have any good stuff here at the house so it'll be a few days.

 

[RAPPLEBY2000]

i only ment take 1 or 2 stones not the whole beach!

i can honestly say the city walls are NOT on the free list!

flint is not an area i know about, i just know theres alot of it!
it's sitting there getting washed around every day in salt water, and bashed against each other...... poor little things, and worst of all children think it's fun to throw them in the water!!

i don't think the local councils would be too upset if 1 or 2 stone were "redeployed" to another area.
if everyone backed a 4x4 down to the beach and filled it with flint...well that's different!(probably still woulden't make a mark on the vast supply though).

and before you guys worry about people taking the costal resorces, please take a look on a cromer/sherringham webpage at the huge amounts, were talking about, we're talking many many tons covering miles of beach several feet deep, and as snufkin says it's found in the ground, on paths etc etc...

so in essence what i am saying(as if i needed to ) is there is a free resource but please be responsible.


(did i really have to write all that? come on guy's)