NHER 5694 (Monument record) - Site of post medieval gunflint pits

The Norfolk Heritage Explorer is a filtered version of the Norfolk HER intended for casual research. Please to consult the full record.

See also further .

Summary

A map held by Norwich Castle Museum marks 'gun flint pits' at this location. Documents show they had ceased to be worked by 1879 but had produced milky coloured high-quality gunflints prior to this. A visit to the site in 1977 failed to find the pits as the area was densely forested. Presumably they were filled in when the trees were planted.

Protected Status/Designation

  • None recorded

Location

Map sheet TL88NW
Civil Parish THETFORD, BRECKLAND, NORFOLK

Map

'Gun flint pits' marked on NCM map.

July 1977. Visit.
This area is now densely forested, and it is difficult to be sure of the exact site; there is no visible trace of these. Presumably they were filled in when the trees were planted.
E. Rose (NAU), 27 July 1977.

Apparently the site described by (S1) as 'no longer worked (in 1879) on Santon Downham Warren opposite the Warren House (Little Lodge Farm, Suffolk?) and near a tumulus known as Blood Hill. The pits are on the slope of the valley side and are consequently shallow'.
Floorstone occurred at 3.1m (10ft) producing 'milky in colour … good gun flints'. Information from [1].
E. Rose (NLA), 6 January 1995.

December 2017. 'Brecks from Above' and Breckland National Mapping Programme.
No evidence of post medieval gun flint mines was identified on the consulted sources.
S. Tremlett (Norfolk Historic Environment Service), 13th December 2017.

  • --- Record Card: Clarke, R. R. and NCM Staff. 1933-1973. Norwich Castle Museum Record Card - Post-Medieval. Thetford.
  • --- Record Card: NAU Staff. 1974-1988. Norfolk Archaeological Index Primary Record Card.
  • <S1> Article in Serial: Skertchly, S. B. J. 1879. On the manufacture of gun-flints, the method of excavating for flint, the age of Palaeolithic Man and the connexion between Neolithic art and the gun-flint trade. Memoirs of the British Geological Survey of England and Wales. pp 8-9.

Object Types (0)

Related NHER Records (0)

Record last edited

May 17 2018 4:30PM

Comments and Feedback

Your feedback is welcome; if you can provide any new information about this record, please contact the Norfolk Historic Environment Record.