A 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 moreCategory: Local Miscellany
Draining the Fens: How Water, Wealth, and Engineering Remade Eastern England
Draining 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 moreA Stone Boat in King’s Lynn: The Beautiful Star Disaster of 1875
The 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 moreBeer, Boots, and Ballots: How Immigrants Found a Place in Medieval Lynn
In 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 moreMoney, Mayors, and Mistrust in Bishop’s Lynn
Who 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 moreKing’s Lynn and the Railway: How Steam Changed an Old Port
On 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 moreCandles, Broken Windows, and Radical Words: John Wilkes and John Thelwall in King’s Lynn
A 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 moreReffley Temple: The Lost Secret Society of King’s Lynn
On 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 moreNo Empty Marsh: The Roots of King’s Lynn Before 1066
Not 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 moreThe 1347 Summer when Lynn Seized the Corn
Hunger 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 moreA New Margery Kempe for King’s Lynn’s Minster
King’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 moreWhen King’s Lynn Went Conkers: children, chemistry, and the work of war
King’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 moreThe King’s Lynn Invention That Saved Time and Money
Cooper 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 moreThe Crafty Strangers in King’s Lynn
Immigration, 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 Quiet King’s Lynn Cross with a Hard History
The 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 moreDeath by Eggs: Mother Gabley and the Sailors
Mother 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 moreLynn Before 1066: A Re-evaluation
The 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 moreKing’s Lynn’s Medieval Street Names
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 […]
Read moreCopper Shortage In King’s Lynn
King’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 moreKing’s Lynn’s Special Windmill
Ok. 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 moreA Lot of Digging: Eau Brink Cut
In 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 moreHorses, Pubs, and King’s Lynn Races
Thousands 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, King’s Lynn: Pilgrims, Promenade, and Parkour
The 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. […]
Read moreThe Man, The Galloper, And The Ice Cream Cone
Frederick Savage was a true visionary of his time, whose innovative spirit and engineering prowess transformed the landscape of fairground entertainment in 19th century England. […]
Read moreThe Wicked Farmer And Other Errors
A little knowledge can often be a dangerous thing. In telling stories historians can emphasise parts that seem important to them, or miss bits out […]
Read moreMade From Whales in King’s Lynn
Most people walking along the quayside in King’s Lynn would be astonished to learn that the town once had a whaling industry. The port, which […]
Read moreWhy Is King’s Lynn Called “King’s Lynn”?
If they think about it for a second, people are often puzzled by the name King’s Lynn. Most inhabitants of the town have no idea […]
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 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 moreLynn Priest Makes National History
One-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 at […]
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
Can you guess what you might find if you do a bit of digging into the history of King Street in King’s Lynn? The Crossroads, […]
Read moreNapoleon’s Soldiers in King’s Lynn
Book a Walk with a Trained and Qualified King’s Lynn Guide During the Napoleonic Wars King’s Lynn was designated as one of the ports to receive […]
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 metres towards the […]
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 […]
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