Lynn Man Buys An Alibi
There were so many people willing to commit perjury in support of Franklyn that the trial took seven hours. Thomas Franklyn – Smuggler Introduction It […]
Read moreLynn Mayor Cheats Customs For Years
Francis Shaxton was a respected alderman in the respectable prosperous town of King’s Lynn. But when he was first elected by his peers to the […]
Read moreCastle Rising: National Figures
Castle Rising is a small village five miles to the northeast of King’s Lynn, and the Castle today is a ruin. Yet, despite the village’s […]
Read moreThe Hanging and the Two Survivors
The Tragedy In 1808 William Wildblood entered St Margaret’s Church in King’s Lynn, climbed up the stairs to the belfry, and using some of the […]
Read moreThe Jews of King’s Lynn
Prior to 1066, no Jews were recorded as living in the England. However, William the Conqueror wanted government dues to be paid in coin rather […]
Read moreKing’s Lynn’s Compass
The Compass Plaques on Purfleet Quay, King’s Lynn. Explorers and Adventurers. On the Purfleet Quay there is a compass rose with plaques commemorating eight significant […]
Read moreLynn Lost A Chantry
The purification offset scheme that failed The Concept Of Offsetting We are familiar today with the concept of offsetting. The word appears usually in the […]
Read moreKing’s Lynn’s Contradictory Window
St Margaret’s Church, King’s Lynn (since 2011 designated The Minster) has a very imposing west window above the main entrance. The church was originally built […]
Read moreThrough Lynn to Walsingham
The second most popular place to visit in England between about 1200 and 1537 During the Middle Ages the shrine at Walsingham was the second […]
Read moreMargery Kempe’s Horses and Cries
”His death to me is as if he had died this same day …” Margery Kempe’s Business Failures In Lynn After the failure of one […]
Read moreHostage Taking in Lynn
The French Are Coming Ironically, although King John had proved himself very capable of hostage taking and demanding ransom, it was not King John who […]
Read moreSt James’: The Clock That Killed
When it happened, people were not surprised that it happened, but rather that it hadn’t happened earlier. Unfortunately for Mr Andrews it happened. In 1854 […]
Read moreLynn Priest Makes National History
On time Lynn Priest at St Margaret’s, William Sawtry, was the first person in England to be officially burned alive for heresy. He was executed […]
Read moreThe Road to the 1688 Revolution (1 of 2): James, Duke of York
Summary of main events and background factors up to the death of Charles II in 1685 The 1688 Revolution marked an important milestone in the […]
Read moreThe Custom House That Originally Wasn’t
The Original Purpose The Custom House in King’s Lynn is one of the town’s most iconic buildings. However, few people know that it wasn’t built […]
Read moreLynn MP’s Netflix Conversation
Introduction Unfortunately, we are not able to be a fly on the wall when we might want to be. And there are many, many occasions […]
Read moreSome King Street Secrets
The Crossroads, The House, The Lost Lepers, and the Ambassador The respectable current day residents of King Street in King’s Lynn (now mainly solicitors, accountants, […]
Read moreThe House, The Bank, And The Arctic Ice
The building that housed two men who become famous, but for very different reasons. The House Bank House on King’s Staithe Square is a Grade […]
Read moreMansion in Queen Street, King’s Lynn
The Lynn Mansion That Was Briefly A Prison Clifton House is an exceptionally fine early eighteenth century house that in its history has briefly served […]
Read moreThoresby College – Thomas, Edward, and the Ladies
Thoresby College is one of the most complete survivals of late medieval Lynn. Between Heaven and Hell In the early sixteenth century, if you had […]
Read moreExecutions in King’s Lynn
Getting Your Message Across in Dramatic Ways In the days before radio, television, and social media, how did you get your messages across? You couldn’t […]
Read moreVancouver: The Overshadowed Achiever
Innocent King’s Lynn hero attacked with a cane on a London street. The Caning in Conduit Street In September 1796 a 40 year old sea […]
Read moreTime for Edith and Thomas
Edith Gihnnyl is interesting in that she has a unique physical location in King’s Lynn. And her story has been known to feature in the […]
Read moreKing’s Lynn’s Napoleonic Heritage
Book a Walk with a Trained and Qualified King’s Lynn Guide Antique Too Big King’s Lynn has a continental antique that even BBC’s Antiques Roadshow would […]
Read moreSir Benjamin Keene
King’s Lynn man goes to Spain and helps save thousands of lives Sir Benjamin Keene 1697 – 1757 Introduction At various stages in his life […]
Read moreThe Biscuits and the Cannon Ball
Hampton Court (14th – C17th) in King’s Lynn is a very interesting series of buildings. The complex was finished by biscuits and finally saved by […]
Read moreKing’s Lynn’s Half Fathoms
Visitors to King’s Lynn who park on the South Quay are often mystified by the thin, bendy shape that reaches over six meters towards the […]
Read moreWeather Brings Significant Changes to the River and to the Town of Lynn
Lynn has been described as the Warehouse of the Wash during the medieval period. It has been said that during the Middle Ages it was […]
Read moreKing John Had At Least Three Very Cunning Plans
The leader, commemorated locally for giving Lynn a Charter in 1204, was infamous nationally for taxing certain mistresses – a trick he had adapted from […]
Read moreKing’s Lynn’s Third Most Famous Sailor?
The Eighteenth Century Geordie Sailor who left a mark in the heart of historical King’s Lynn If you ask people to name a famous sailor […]
Read moreThe Languages Left Behind in Place-Names
A Variety of Language Sources British place names contain elements that can be traced back to the languages spoken by at least five quite distinct […]
Read moreCastle Rising’s She-Wolf Revisited (1 of 2)
Queen Isabella – the woman who declared herself a widow while her husband still lived History isn’t always kind to people, especially if the writers […]
Read moreCastle Rising’s She-Wolf Revisited (2 of 2)
Queen Isabella – the only woman to successfully invade the country and depose an English king See Castle Rising’s She-Wolf Revisited (1 of 2) for […]
Read moreThe Riot when Bishop Henry Despenser came to Lynn
This wasn’t an afternoon for cucumber sandwiches and tea on the lawn. The bishop was running. His horse had bolted, and he was wounded. He […]
Read moreHanseatic League and King’s Lynn (3 of 3)
What happened to the Hanseatic Buildings in Lynn after the 1474 Peace Settlement? After permission was granted to build on the site (see Hanseatic League […]
Read moreHanseatic League and King’s Lynn (2 of 3)
What was the Hanseatic League? The Hanseatic League was an organization founded by the Northern European Baltic and German trading towns and cities to protect […]
Read moreHanseatic League and King’s Lynn (1 of 3)
Why did trade disputes miles away at sea end up leaving such a mark on a Norfolk Market Town? The Bay Fleet Attacks In the […]
Read moreThree Peoples on the Road
Who was the Viking who decided to stay near the Norfolk coast on the road from King’s Lynn to Hunstanton? Although people in Britain like […]
Read moreThe Siege of King’s Lynn 1643 (4) – Afterwards
(4 of 4) Local aristocrat convicted of spying and treachery. Execution date fixed for 2 January. “Sir, God hath taken away your son by cannonshot […]
Read moreThe Siege of King’s Lynn 1643 (3) – Ending
(3 of 4) Lynn’s complete legal establishment enter tough negotiations. “In our passage through the towne, not one man appeared, only women, who for the […]
Read moreThe Siege of King’s Lynn 1643 (2) – Grenadoes
(2 of 4) Lynn MP Escapes House Arrest Through Window Thomas Toll, one of the two Parliamentarian MPs for King’s Lynn, escaped house arrest through […]
Read moreThe Siege of King’s Lynn 1643 (1) – Which Side?
(1 of 4) He spent “£5. 5s when he travailed to avoyd the Troopers”. Alice Lestrange family accounts Which Side Are You On? Civil War […]
Read moreThe Sinner and the Dragon: St Margaret’s, King’s Lynn
We all have three lives: a public life, a private life, and a secret one. Gabriel García Márquez The Colombian novelist García Márquez once said […]
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