Stone, Flint and Brick.

Our church and the Old Palace next door, both beautiful but very different, one built largely of flint and the other in brick, together tell part of a fascinating story about ancient buildings and the materials used in their construction. To us the sight of a flint church seems entirely normal and the finest examples – churches like Long Melford and Southwold – are stunning, but such buildings are rare outside the South-East and East Anglia and almost unknown outside Britain. So what is the story and what are the alternatives?