The gunflint industry in Brandon and beyond: no flash in the pan

Abstract

• Breckland in the east of England has long been synonymous with man's use of knapped (carefully broken and shaped) flint. In the stone age, millions of axe heads and arrowheads were produced from the large flint mine pits at Grime's Graves, near what is now the Breckland town of Brandon. Gunflints produced the spark to ignite the gunpowder in flintlock pistols and muskets, and Brandon is known as the home of the gunflint industry in Britain; the trade thrived there from the 1790s until the final workshop closed in 1994. This talk will explore the manufacture of gunflints in Britain from the 1650s onwards, focusing on the workshops in Brandon and surrounding area. The knapping of replica artefacts and flint novelties by characters such as Fred Snare and Bill Basham, which flourished as the trade in gunflints declined, will also be explored. Our speaker is Dr. Hugo Anderson-Whymark, senior Curator of Prehistory at the National Museums of Scotland, in Edinburgh. He is an archaeologist specialising in British prehistory, particularly stone tools. A flintknapper himself, he developed an interest in the gunflint industry and has researched Brandon's flintknappers for more than 15 years.