Editing Flint (section)

===As a building material===

Flint, knapped or unknapped, has been used from antiquity (for example at the Late Roman fort of [[Burgh Castle Roman Site|Burgh Castle]] in Norfolk) up to the present day as a material for building stone walls, using lime mortar, and often combined with other available stone or brick rubble. It was most common in those parts of southern England where no good building stone was available locally, and where brick-making was not widespread until the later Middle Ages. It is especially associated with [[East Anglia]], but also used in chalky areas stretching through [[Hampshire]], Sussex, [[Surrey]] and [[Kent]] to [[Somerset]].

Flint was used in the construction of many churches, houses, and other buildings, for example, the large stronghold of [[Framlingham Castle]]. Many different decorative effects have been achieved by using different types of knapping or arrangement and combinations with stone ([[flushwork]]), especially in the 15th and early 16th centuries. Because knapping flints to a relatively flush surface and size is a highly skilled process with a high level of wastage, flint finishes typically indicate high status buildings.

During World War I, in the chalky-soil country of France, the British filled sandbags with flint and used these sandbags as [[Breastwork (fortification)|breastworks]].<ref>Masefield, John, "The Old Frontline," The Macmillan Company, New York, Copyright 1917, pages 34-35. </ref>

<gallery>
File:flint church in england arp.jpg|A flint church – the Parish Church of Saint Thomas, in [[Cricket Saint Thomas]], Somerset, England. The height of the very neatly knapped flints varies between {{convert|3|and|5|in|cm}}.
File:Gariannonum Burgh Castle south wall well preserved close up.jpg|Close-up of the wall of the Roman [[Saxon Shore|shore fort]] at [[Burgh Castle Roman Site|Burgh Castle]], Norfolk, showing alternating courses of flint and [[Roman brick|brick]]
File:Surroundings of Canterbury Cathedral 02.JPG|A typical medieval wall (with modern memorial) at [[Canterbury Cathedral]] – knapped and unknapped ("cobble") flints are mixed with pieces of brick and other stones.
File:2004 thetford 03.JPG|Ruins of [[Thetford]] Priory show flints and mortar through the whole depth of the wall
</gallery>