Few would question the notion that architectural links between Britain and the Dutch Republic grew strong during the seventeenth century, culminating with an unusual stylistic congruity achieved during the reign of William and Mary. What surprises is how difficult it is to establish the exact nature of this relationship and the relative benefit each country derived from it. This paper, which approaches the subject from a material culture perspective, takes as its theme the 'building world' shared by the two societies. Exchanges between the British and the Dutch in the broader architectural milieu during the seventeenth century formed a continuum, spanning the full range of activities, from technology transfer and trade in building materials to material culture, landscape and urban design. And the links were not restricted to the upper levels of society either; trades people too played an active role in this relationship — a factor which in Britain helped to sustain a classicizing vernacular that formed the bedrock upon which an independent British classical tradition would subsequently be built.