About history, mainly local history of King's Lynn
King’s Lynn’s Hanseatic past is often reduced to one striking survival: the Hanseatic warehouse by the river. That building matters, but it is only the […]
Read moreEast Anglia was one of the places where the Viking age in England became something more than raiding. Here, an English kingdom was broken, its […]
Read moreA short-lived friary King’s Lynn had several medieval friaries, but one of the least visible was the house of the Friars of the Sack. Their proper […]
Read moreKing’s Lynn is usually remembered as a port: quays, merchants, warehouses, grain, wine, timber, salt, coal, fishing boats, and foreign trade. That is true, but […]
Read moreChronological Timeline of King’s Lynn 1100 Years of King’s Lynn History Before 1100 – Lynn’s Saxon Beginnings c. 9th–11th centuries: A small coastal community forms […]
Read moreIn July 1659, women from King’s Lynn and the surrounding countryside added their names to a national protest carrying an unusually blunt warning. Parliament had […]
Read moreThe building in the market place The Trinity Guildhall stands in one of the most telling positions in King’s Lynn. It faces Saturday Market Place, […]
Read moreIn 1549, Norfolk did not merely grumble. It rose. That summer produced one of the most serious popular uprisings of Tudor England. In Norfolk, what […]
Read moreA royal puzzle above the doorway Stand in Saturday Market Place and look up at the entrance porch of King’s Lynn Town Hall. High on […]
Read moreKing’s Lynn has never been a town of quiet religious uniformity. Behind the great parish church, beyond the formal world of bishops and parish order, […]
Read moreIn May 1205, the monks of Norwich gave up a town. That sounds dramatic, but the truth is more interesting. The monks did not abandon […]
Read moreFor centuries, one of England’s most powerful aristocratic families is said to have owned half of Lynn. It is a memorable claim. The bishop of […]
Read moreFor more than a century, anyone crossing the railway bridge on Gaywood Road could look down upon one of King’s Lynn’s great industrial workplaces. Inside […]
Read moreSt Nicholas Chapel is one of the finest medieval buildings in King’s Lynn, but it is also one of the most revealing. It tells us […]
Read moreWhat sort of man acquired the name Richard Skin-the-Cat? Why was another Lynn resident known as William the Mellow? Was Agnes the Candlewife a candle seller, a candle maker, […]
Read moreOn the evening of 28 November 1848, a Norfolk farmer put on a disguise and went to Stanfield Hall. Within minutes, Isaac Jermy and his […]
Read moreThieves’ Bridge Road is an unsettling name for an otherwise quiet stretch of West Norfolk countryside. The road runs between Watlington and the Tottenhill area, […]
Read moreThe castle itself probably was not stormed. Its lord was. Early in the fourteenth century, Robert de Montalt left his great stone residence at Castle […]
Read moreA boat carrying grain arrives at Bishop’s Lynn from the Fenland waterways. Before its cargo can be sold, the merchant must hire an official measuring […]
Read moreDraining the Fens: The Great Transformation That Still Depends on Pumps The Fens look solid enough. Roads cross them, trains run through them and enormous […]
Read moreAickman’s Yard in King’s Lynn was once the entrance to an important nineteenth-century iron foundry established by John Aickman and David Menzies. Aickman’s Yard in […]
Read moreThe monument that looks like a boat In Hardwick Road Cemetery, King’s Lynn, there is a memorial unlike almost any other in the town. It […]
Read moreWalk from the Tuesday Market Place towards the Custom House and you pass through much of the history of King’s Lynn in less than a […]
Read moreAnyone passing Gaywood Hall today sees a nineteenth-century house standing among lawns and mature trees. Little above ground suggests that this was once the centre […]
Read moreIn fifteenth-century Lynn, “aliens” were changing what people drank. The word did not carry its modern science-fiction meaning. It was the legal term for anyone […]
Read moreA green plaque on the High Street On King’s Lynn’s High Street, a green plaque marks the house now associated with Robert Armin: 78 High […]
Read moreWho watched the Mayor? Who controlled Lynn’s money? And who had the right to check the men who governed it? The unrest that shook Lynn […]
Read moreOn Tuesday 27 October 1846, King’s Lynn became a railway town. A place that had spent centuries facing the Great Ouse, the Wash and the […]
Read moreA town that loved liberty, until liberty became dangerous In February 1771, John Wilkes came to King’s Lynn as one of the most famous political […]
Read moreStone has a special force in medieval miracle stories. It is heavy, visible, and public. A fever may leave little for witnesses to inspect; a […]
Read moreMedieval Bishop’s Lynn was not a quiet place. It was a port, market town and pilgrimage crossroads, with ships moving along the haven, carts passing […]
Read moreOn a summer evening two centuries ago, a small group of men left the edge of King’s Lynn and walked east toward a wooded clearing […]
Read moreKing’s Lynn did not begin with a public library. It began with books in churches, records in counting houses, papers in civic chests, and learned […]
Read moreA quiet row with a deeper history Priory Cottages in King’s Lynn are easy to underestimate. They stand in Priory Lane, close to the churchyard […]
Read moreA Norfolk MP in a National Panic The South Sea Bubble was not just a bad investment craze. It was a political and financial scandal […]
Read moreA forgotten figure in Lynn’s Civil War story The siege of King’s Lynn in 1643 is usually remembered through blockade, bombardment, divided loyalties and surrender. […]
Read moreNot born from nothing King’s Lynn did not begin as a medieval miracle beside an empty marsh. Long before Herbert de Losinga founded St Margaret’s […]
Read moreClifton House, King’s Lynn: a merchant mansion built in layers If you walk along Queen Street and glance up, Clifton House can seem almost too […]
Read moreStand on Purfleet Quay and you can still see why King’s Lynn became a port of consequence. The river meets the sea-world here, and the […]
Read moreIn 1303 some men from Lynn went to war in an unusual way. Bridges at Lynn: How Carpenters in Lynn Helped Edward I’s 1303 Campaign […]
Read moreThe Custom House, King’s Lynn: The Building That Announced a Port Few buildings in King’s Lynn declare the town’s old confidence more clearly than the […]
Read moreHunger on the Quay: When Bishop’s Lynn Stopped the Grain Ships A June day at the waterfront The grain was already on the move. On […]
Read moreIn 1805, the sudden death of William Richards’s twenty-eight year old wife led to his seven-year withdrawal from society. They had only been married for […]
Read moreFor centuries after the Reformation, Roman Catholics in King’s Lynn were easy to miss. They had no grand medieval parish church at the centre of […]
Read moreKing’s Lynn Minster is a building that tends to make people look up. The stone pulls the eye into height and distance, and the effect […]
Read moreKing’s Lynn played a part in one of the strangest schemes of the First World War. In 1917, as Britain struggled to keep up cordite […]
Read moreCooper Roller Bearings in King’s Lynn: a local factory behind a world-class idea If you want a reminder that King’s Lynn has never been only […]
Read moreThere are towns whose history can be told through a single building, a single family, or a single dramatic event. King’s Lynn is not one […]
Read moreIn the summer of 1643 King’s Lynn found itself caught in one of the sharpest local reversals of the early Civil War. A port with […]
Read moreRefugee in King’s Lynn Minster: Naomi Blake’s Quiet Monument in the Holy Trinity Chapel Finding the sculpture If you make your way beyond the choir stalls […]
Read moreA market monument at the heart of King’s Lynn At the northern end of King’s Lynn’s Tuesday Market Place there once stood one of the […]
Read moreImmigration, Religion, and Work in King’s Lynn, c.1565–1580 For a short period in the later sixteenth century King’s Lynn became, quite literally, a town of […]
Read moreThe King’s Lynn FEPOW Memorial Beside the Georgian Pulpit Step into King’s Lynn Minster and, once your eyes settle on the long nave, the first […]
Read moreLittle Massingham Manor: Reinvention in the West Norfolk Landscape Few buildings in West Norfolk demonstrate more clearly how the English country house has survived by […]
Read moreHow a Medieval Port Lost, and Regained, Its Freedom In the first years of the thirteenth century Bishop’s Lynn looked like a town with a […]
Read moreThe Listed Buildings of King’s Lynn: a Town Preserved in Plain Sight King’s Lynn is often described as a historic town, but that phrase barely […]
Read moreThe Medieval Artefact Wanted As A Weapon of War by Recent War Mongers On August 18, 1944, British codebreakers working at Bletchley Park intercepted an […]
Read moreFor most of its history, the building now numbered 2 Nelson Street, King’s Lynn, has been more than timber, plaster and brick. It has been […]
Read moreSee also: The Valiant Sailor (II):A King’s Lynn House of Sailors, Brewers, an Artist and a Doctor Tucked into the curve of Nelson Street stands […]
Read moreBlood on the Cobblestones: The Night a King’s Lynn Shopkeeper Became a Killer The moonlight filtering through the broken fanlight cast eerie shadows across the […]
Read moreMother Gabley of King’s Lynn: Witchcraft, Fear and a Storm off the Norfolk Coast Among King’s Lynn’s darker fragments of memory sits the story of […]
Read moreThe Boy, the Bishop, and the Blood Libel The story of William of Norwich, and the role played by Bishop William Turbe, reflects the twelfth-century […]
Read moreSir Edward Guy Dawber Sir Edward Guy Dawber is not a household name in King’s Lynn, yet he deserves far more recognition locally than he […]
Read moreThe paving of King’s Lynn was neither simple nor swift. It was a civic adventure that spanned decades, uniting merchants, ministers, and mayors in one […]
Read moreWalter Dexter (1876–1958) remains one of the most distinctive artists to emerge from West Norfolk. His paintings, illustrations, and writings offer not only a personal […]
Read moreFor more than two centuries the Bagges were at the heart of King’s Lynn’s story. They brewed its beer, owned its ships, lent its merchants […]
Read moreIn the later Middle Ages, Lynn was home to several friaries. The Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, Austin Friars, and for a time even the lesser-known Friars […]
Read more12th Century In 1171 as part of Henry II’s visitation of Ireland, the Earl of Pembroke, Richard de Clare (known as Strongbow) ordered 70 citizens […]
Read moreIn the winter of 1417 the crowds at St Giles’ Fields saw an unusual punishment: Sir John Oldcastle, once a royal companion and soldier of […]
Read moreThe Medieval “Good Death”: Faith, Ritual, and Reputation To the medieval mind, a “good death” was not simply a matter of dying peacefully in bed. […]
Read moreThe buildings where a guild and governance converge. The large building at the centre was originally the Guildhall of the Holy and Undivided Trinity. But […]
Read moreImagine the largest 60‑metre spire in the town smashing into the nave. On Tuesday 8 September 1741, the town of King’s Lynn was battered by a powerful storm […]
Read moreJohn Hawkwood: An English Mercenary Abroad John Hawkwood was an English soldier who rose from modest beginnings to become the most respected and feared mercenary […]
Read moreIn the chaos of the English Civil War, Valentine Walton (c.1592-1661/2) stood at the turbulent crossroads of loyalty, power, and principle. A Parliamentarian with deep […]
Read moreFrom 1956 to 1989, Ruth Lady Fermoy served as Woman of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother – a role that placed her […]
Read moreHenry Bell (1647–1711) was one of King’s Lynn’s more remarkable and versatile figures: a talented architect, a twice-elected mayor, a merchant, and a man with artistic […]
Read moreA Political Revolution in Tudor Lynn: The Rise of the Merchant Class and the Decline of Episcopal Power The story of King’s Lynn in the […]
Read moreIn 1588, England stood on the edge of crisis. The Spanish Armada – a fleet of over 130 ships – was on its way, aiming […]
Read moreSir Hamon L’Estrange: Background and Family Sir Hamon L’Estrange (1583–1654) was the head of the L’Estrange family, one of Norfolk’s oldest gentry lineages, with deep […]
Read moreThe Simple Story Lynn is situated on an estuarine lake. The name probably comes from the Celtic word “lyn” meaning pool reflecting its proximity to […]
Read moreI Greatly Dislike This Place (King’s Lynn) After only a few days living in King’s Lynn, a young man wrote to his wife complaining that […]
Read moreLord Horatio Nelson was born on 29 September 1758 in Burnham Thorpe, Norfolk, England (approximately 25 miles north-east of King’s Lynn). He was the sixth of eleven children […]
Read moreSaved by the False Hair: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, and Survival in King’s Lynn Victorian England, often romanticized for its elegance and propriety, […]
Read moreThe Fighting Bishop: Henry Despenser’s 1383 Crusade Henry Despenser: A Holy War with Unholy Motives? In 1383, an English bishop led an army across the […]
Read moreIt 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 […]
Read moreA Tragic Tale of Love, Death, and Victorian Justice A chilling drama unfolded on a cold January night in 1889 in King’s Lynn, Norfolk. This […]
Read moreThe Mesmerising Tale of Joe Clarke: From King’s Lynn to the Liverpool Gallows Joe Clarke’s story is a captivating tale of deception, hypnotism, and ultimately, […]
Read moreThe secret meeting with the seaman at the Pastons’ in Appleton was nearly fatal for Roger from Hunstanton. The seaman (perhaps sensibly) and his friend […]
Read moreThe Bungalow and the Steam Train to King’s Lynn Train drivers are unfortunately used to seeing hazards on the line – timber, random objects thrown […]
Read moreThe Woman Who Was Burned Alive For Unlocking A Door In the bustling streets of King’s Lynn in 1730, a young servant named Mary Taylor […]
Read moreIntroduction There may have been others, but according to the records we have, eight women were executed in King’s Lynn for being a witch. 1583 […]
Read moreHanging in Chains (Gibbeting): Unravelling the Dark Legacy of Britain’s Spectacular Justice System From 1751 to 1834, Britain employed one of the most macabre punishments […]
Read moreKing’s Lynn Farthing, 1668: A Token of Resilience in a Time of Need When the copper runs out, local traders find a creative solution. In […]
Read moreHave you ever heard the tale of Joseph Beeton, the dandy highwayman? His story is a mix of youthful charm, crime, and tragedy that captivated […]
Read moreMargaret of Antioch: A Closer Look at a Legendary Christian Martyr Who Left Her Mark on King’s Lynn Margaret of Antioch: Introduction Margaret of Antioch, […]
Read moreThe First Battle of Lincoln (February 2, 1141) The First Battle of Lincoln, fought on February 2, 1141, was a critical event during the period […]
Read moreOk. Technically it is a post mill. Medieval post mills were a remarkable feat of engineering and played a crucial role in the agricultural landscape […]
Read moreThe Life and Legacy of Bishop Herbert de Losinga: Architect of Ecclesiastical Power in Norman England Herbert de Losinga: Introduction Herbert de Losinga (1050-1119), is […]
Read moreIn June 1818 it was agreed that the contractors, Joliffe and Banks, would be paid to evacuate 25,000 floors of earth at 13 shillings and […]
Read moreThousands attend King’s Lynn Races in the mud. King’s Lynn Races: The Welcome Diversion In 1850 the King’s Lynn newspaper claimed that 20,000 – 30,000 […]
Read moreThe Walks is an historic urban park located in the heart of King’s Lynn, Norfolk. It is the only surviving 18th-century town walk in Norfolk. […]
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