A ship could run aground in the Wash and its crew might feel, for a few hours, that they had been lucky. As the tide […]
Read moreTag: maritime history
When Lynn Went Fishing in Iceland
In the autumn of 1467, sailors from Bishop’s Lynn reached Iceland and killed the Danish king’s governor, Björn Þorleifsson. They plundered his household, burned buildings, […]
Read moreThe Sailors, the Mayor, and the Battering Ram: King’s Lynn’s Strike of 1814
A crowd with a heavy timber stood outside King’s Lynn’s gaol in December 1814. Inside were imprisoned sailors. Their supporters intended to batter down the […]
Read moreWhen Lynn’s Coal Measurers Cheated the King
On 11 July 1701, royal customs officers brought an embarrassing accusation before King’s Lynn Corporation. Men employed in the port had been taking bribes, falsifying […]
Read moreThe Dutch Captain, the Ship-Boys, and the Scandal Lynn Tried to Contain
In late July 1608, a furious Dutch shipmaster stepped into one of the most uncomfortable episodes in the civic history of King’s Lynn. His name […]
Read moreTide and Seek: The Purfleet and Lost Waterways of King’s Lynn
The town beneath the town King’s Lynn looks solid underfoot. Queen Street, King Street, Saturday Market Place, Tuesday Market Place, Pilot Street, Purfleet Quay, South […]
Read moreWhen the Music Stopped: King’s Lynn and the Plague of 1636
In September 1636, the official musicians of King’s Lynn asked the Corporation for financial help. The waits normally earned money by playing at civic ceremonies, […]
Read moreWhen the Wick Bay Broke Her Back: The Wreck that Changed King’s Lynn
A ship in the channel On a December afternoon in 1889, the iron steamship Wick Bay grounded in the approaches to King’s Lynn. She was not an […]
Read moreKing’s Lynn Press Gangs: Why 1755 Mattered
Britain and France were not officially at war in the spring of 1755. In King’s Lynn, however, sailors were already fleeing and the mayor was […]
Read moreJohn Aickman’s Foundry, King Street, King’s Lynn
Aickman’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 moreKing Street: Where Medieval Lynn Met the River
Walk 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 moreArchitecture, Trade, and Civic Ambition: The Custom House, King’s Lynn
The 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 […]
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