It is noticeable that many of Lynn’s medieval street names were associated with the textile industry, reflecting its major contribution to the wealth of the town (see Fuller Row, Listergate, Mercer Row, Skinner Row, Spinner Lane, Webster Row, Woolmarket).
| Baxters Row – Baxter means Baker. Baxter’s Plain was an ancient crossroads and a bridge would have crossed the Purfleet here. The water course was conduited in the C19th. Blackfriars Street – The Dominicans had a large foundation, and the railway now stands on part of the friary estate. |
| Briggate – Briggate means Bridge Street. Gate is an Old Norse word for street. There was a bridge crossing the Purfleet where the 1935 building (Montague Burton) now is. Burghard’s Lane – John de Burghard was mayor in 1304, 1326, and 1322 and lived on the north side of the Purfleet. His son married into the Fincham family and it became Fincham Street. |
| Chequer Street – In the Middle Ages a chequer (a board divided into squares) indicated the office of a money changer. The author is uncertain whether or not this applied in Lynn. The Chequer Street in South Lynn was so called because it was built by a Mr Chequer. |
| Codling Lane |
| Coldhirne – Hirne possibly means ‘corner’ or ‘place’. |
| Cooks Row – This is an area near the Tuesday Market Place known for its street food vendors. |
| Cowgate – Cowgate means Cow Street. See Grassmarket. |
| Crooked Lane |
| Damgate – Damgate means Sheep Street. The official term for a female sheep is a ewe. If the female sheep is a baby, it would be called a ewe lamb. If you’re referring to the female sheep as the mother to a lamb, you would call it a dam. See Grassmarket. Gate is an Old Norse word for street. |
| Dowshill – Derived from ‘Deucehill’ indicating Devil’s Hill. It became Pilot Street after 1809 because of the pilots and fishermen who lived there. |
| Drewes Lane – The Drewes were a substantial property owning family. |
| Fincham A street named after a rich merchant who lived there. (It later became New Conduit Street where clean water was pumped into the town so that people did not have to draw it from the unclean Purfleet.) |
| Finkels Row – Finkel may be derived from a Scandinavian word meaning ‘angle’or ‘corner’. Finkel is also a German nickname for a blacksmith. |
| Fishers Row – The heart of the fishing industry. The cottages looked over the Fisherfleet. |
| Fuller Row – Fullers were involved in the woollen cloth making industry. Fullers worked cleansing the woven cloth to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and to make it shrink by friction and pressure. The work delivers a smooth, tightly finished fabric that is insulating and water-repellent. |
| Fynnes Lane – Possibly after John de Fenn. |
| Grassmarket – This area possibly had livestock for sale, grazing in pens. Interestingly, the area is fed by Cowgate and Damgate. |
| Heukwalde Lane – Heukwalde was a very rich tanner who, in a town filled with wooden and mud hovels, had a stone house. It is now called Paradise Lane because up to the reformation, the Blackfriars or Dominicans had a beautiful garden here, representing the Garden of Eden. The 1851 census records it as being filled with slaughter houses and hovels for prostitutes. |
| Hopmans Way – A Hopman was someone who grew and sold hops and this may be a reference to the brewing industry. In 1310 Richard Hopman was mayor and it became Hopmans Way in 1320. It could be a corruption of an ancient name ‘Hogman’ – a swineherd keeper. In some C14th documents it appears as ‘Hookman’ and fish hooks are known to have been made in the area. |
| Iron Row |
| Jews Lane – A place where the Jews settled before the pogrom of 1190. See The Jews of King’s Lynn. |
| Lath Street – Derived from an Anglo-Saxon term to denote places where freemen gathered to transact business. |
| Listergate – Listers were textile dyers. Gate is an Old Norse word for street. |
| Little Chequer – See Chequer |
| Mercer Row – Mercers were merchants. In medieval England, mercers were important traders who sold cloth, silk, and other luxury items |
| Mill Lane – Next to the Mill Fleet. |
| Millfleet |
| Mor Lane / Madd Lane – The land had been formerly known as Moor Lane in some sources, but becomes more clearly Madd Lane in 1577. There were two Trinity Guild Almshouses in the area, and it may be that after the reformation when the borough took over the Guild’s responsibilities, that they became known as the Mad Houses. |
| Northirne – Hirne possibly means ‘corner’ or ‘place’. |
| Pillory Lane – In addition to the executions carried out in the Tuesday Market Place people were put in pillories there. This lane was later known as Whipping Post Lane. |
| Pudding Lane – In London Eastcheap was the main meat market (‘ceap’). The offal, generally know as the ‘puddings’ had to be disposed of, and this caused a problem until the butchers were granted the right to dispose of them in Puddling Lane. The site of Pudding Lane in Lynn suggests it may have served a similar purpose. Alternaitvely it may just refer to takeaway food snacks sold in the area. |
| Purfleet Quay – Purfleet may mean Pure Waterway. If it does it is ironic, as this fleet was far from pure. |
| Purfleet Street – Purfleet may mean Pure Waterway. If it does it is ironic, as this fleet was far from pure. |
| Saturday Market Place – The first of Lynn’s two market places, officially recognised from the beginning of the twelfth century. |
| Sechford Lane – Thomas de Sechford was mayor in 1306and 1308, and MP in 1322. His sone William was mayor in 1333 and 1334. |
| Skinner Row – Skinners worked in the animal skin industry, usually in the production of leather. |
| Spinner Lane – Spinners working in the textile industry. |
| Stockfish Row – Stockfish is also a traditional Baltic seafood product made by drying cod in the cold air and wind using preservation methods that are thousands of years old. The trade in this product gave merchants who lived in this street a lot of money. |
| Stonegate – Gate is an Old Norse word for street. |
| Thimble Lane – John Tynnere lived here and gave his name to Tynnereslane by 1350. Tinsmithing may have continued here with the notable production of thimbles. |
| Tuesday Market Place – the second of Lynn’s market places, established in the middle of the twelfth century. |
| Webster Row – Websters worked in the textile industry, usually as weavers. |
| Woolmarket – Place where wool was traded. |
| Wyngate – Gate is an Old Norse word for street. Possibly means ‘wind-swept’ area or ‘winding street’. |
I sense there may be others out there who know a lot more about the medieval street names than I do, so please do correct and enlighten me.
© James Rye 2025
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