I did some googling around a while back regarding the possibility of naturally occurring flint being in the area. Apparently there are minor sources of flint or chert in Scotland but the chances of it being carried here by ice is about nil I think.
I'm also under the impression that some (I assume a tiny amount of) chalk ballast went to the pits for the use of officials underground. Read that somewhere I think. Or was it that some enterprising individual collected the chalk and sold it to the pits?
My Question would be why flint and chalk in particular for ballast? (Flint nodules are commonly found in chalk anyway so not like it was two separate materials being loaded.) Stuff is generally found on the south coast of England, but is that the source? Any in the Europe?
On the subject of material from ships, in the winter I occasionally collect a bucket or two of sea coal down on the beach near Sea View to the quarry wall. For many years there has been a thick black tar or pitch washing up. It looks just like lumps of coal so unless you pick it up you would not notice the difference. I wonder what the source of that is? some wreck out there?
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