Brandon Flint Knappers 1940’s

UK based Flint Knapping Shop From about 1790 till the early 20th century Brandon was home to the world’s largest gunflint industry emplying dozens of full time knappers (many writers have suggested in an unbroken knapping tradition from the stoneage). Apart from knapping gunflints the knappers knapped tinderbox flints and bricks, and by the mid 19th century became of much interest to archaeologists and museums, as possibly the last people alive capable of understanding how the flint points they were finding were made they were employed by many museums make flint points for their collections. Many academics visited Brandon in that period and wrote of their work so much so they by the late 19th century they were a tourist attraction and were making flint novelties for tourists, such as flint chains and even flint alphabets. Much of what we know today of percussion flaking come from these guys and the last Brandon knapper only died in the 1980’s. visit UK Flint Kn