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. |
| Briggate – Briggate means Bridge Street. Gate is an Old Norse word for 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 – Dowshill possibly means Downhill or possibly Pigeon Hill. |
| Drewes Lane |
| 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 |
| Fishers Row |
| 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 |
| Grassmarket – This area possibly had livestock for sale, grazing in pens. Interestingly, the area is fed by Cowgate and Damgate. |
| Heukwalde Lane – Heukewalde Is a small administrative region in Germany, and may have referred to an area where overseas settlers lived. |
| Hopmans Way – A Hopman was someone who grew and sold hops and this may be a reference to the brewing industry. |
| Iron Row |
| Jews Lane – A place where the Jews settled before the pogrom of 1190. See The Jews of King’s Lynn. |
| Lath Street |
| 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 |
| Millfleet |
| Mor Lane |
| 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. |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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