The River Great Ouse

The majestic River Great Ouse drains a vast area of low-lying rich fenland soil, that is the premier arable, agricultural region of the country. While it provided King's Lynn with its gateway to the sea and hence its prosperity, the river is dangerous. When large high tides, excessive rainfall inland and storm surges from the North Sea combine the river can rise to levels sufficient to flood the low-lying town. Today flood barriers and gates provide increased protection but the risk remains!

The South Gate

This imposing fortified gate used to stand on the outer defences of the town and was the principle entrance to Lynn for travellers and goods from the South and West. The original structure was brick built and later encased in stone. At nightfall the gates would have closed to keep out undesirables who may otherwise have disturbed the peace and order of the town! Those living in surrounding villages may have had the opposite view.

King's Lynn Town Guides

The Red Mount Chapel

It is clear from the accounts of the Priory that the Red Mount was a wise and profitable development. The income from the pilgrims using the Chapel rapidly reversed the dire state of the priory finances and provided a surplus that amongst other things paid for further development of Saint Margaret’s church. The Chapel remains a most unusual building whose architecture has been described as unique.

Greyfriars Tower

Greyfriars, the leaning tower of Lynn is not the only ancient building in the town to suffer from poor foundations on weak soil. It is the bell tower of the Franciscan monastery of 1235. Homecoming ships once used the distinctive tower as an aid to navigation in the difficult local waters. The main monastery structure has gone but the stonework reappears, recycled into in other buildings in King's Lynn. 

All Saints

Of the original Saxon church on this site nothing now remains, but parts of the rebuild undertaken in 1095 remain. All Saints or All Hallows, as it was originally known, is the oldest parish church in King's Lynn. Like its larger neighbour Saint Margaret’s the church suffered a catastrophic tower collapse which left cracks in some gravestones that can still be seen. The church is part of the catholic tradition within the Church of England.

Marriotts Warehouse

Marriotts Warehouse was a massive store for goods that were being imported and exported during Elizabethan times. It was Elizabeth who finally ended dominance of the Hansa merchants over the Baltic trade routes from England. The building was funded by Thomas Clayborne who’s son William co-founded the James Town colony in Virginia. He became a major figure in the politics and trade of that part of the new world. John Smith and John Rolfe, who married Pocahontas the daughter of the local native American tribe, are indelibly linked to the colony and all had associations with King's Lynn and Norfolk.

Hanseatic Warehouse

This remarkable building is the sole survivor of its type in the country and is the envy of other Hansa towns. Norfolk County Council restored the warehouse and it served for some time as Council Offices. The view along the cobbled street running beside the warehouse down towards the river is classical King's Lynn. You can almost hear the clamour of medieval traders, and smell the wool, pitch, fish and wine they exchanged.

Hampton Court

Hampton Court has known grandeur and gross neglect. In its heyday this merchants house and stores had a private gateway directly to the waterfront the remains of which can still be seen. Rescued from dereliction and decay in 1939 and again in 1958 this restoration project led to the formation of the Lynn Preservation Trust that has done so much to preserve the unique built environment of the town.

King's Lynn Minster

The imposing Minster church of Saint Margaret has undergone a series of stages of construction and deconstruction over it’s 900 years standing, here in the oldest part of the town. Nothing remains above ground of the very earliest simple church on this site, and what you now see is a complex structure created by the blending of styles, forms and functions over the years. Through all of King's Lynn’s periods of prosperity, decline, war, peace, natural disasters and regeneration, this church has been the physical and spiritual heart of the old town.

Gaol House

This building and its original function is betrayed by the ankle irons and chains hanging high on the wall. Here the law breakers of King's Lynn and surrounding areas were locked up and for some, released only for their trial and execution. In these more enlightened days the Gaol House displays King's Lynn’s treasures and artefacts of it's past in the Stories of Lynn exhibition.

Saturday Market Place

The Saturday Market Place is much smaller and older than the Tuesday Market Place at the other end of the town. Goods have been bought and sold on this site since at least 1100. While limited in size and crowded in by magnificent medieval buildings the Saturday Market Place would have been an important feature of the old town, not just for commerce but for fairs, meetings and social exchange.

Trinity Guildhall

The checker board façade of the Trinity Guildhall is a distinctive feature of this wonderful building but serves only as a taster for the magnificent interior. The once plastered ceiling has been removed to reveal the massive timbers of the roof. Beyond this grand space is a chandelier lit hall with walls bearing huge oil paintings of the great and the good. This is understandably a popular venue for weddings, meetings and musical recitals. 

Thoresby College

Thoresby College is a grand building forming a square around a peaceful courtyard and spreading Judas tree. It was home to the priests of the Holy Trinity Guild. The impressive oak front door with it's unusual parchment fold panels is the original and has seen the passage of 500 years of human traffic.

Clifton House

Clifton House is immediately recognisable for the tall brick tower which commands impressive views across the town and out over the river to the estuary. A rich merchant's house and store, Clifton House has an impressive doorway onto the street guarded by large ‘barley sugar’ columns. This house gives some indication of the wealth and taste of the merchant class in Lynn during the boom days of maritime trade and commerce.

The Bank House

This impressive building on the river front and near the Purfleet inlet was built by a rich merchant who imported wine, and shipped it on to Cambridge and other markets inland. Where there is business there is a need for banks and Gurneys bank opened here to serve the needs of the merchants. It nearly recorded the first ‘run’ on a bank in this country but was saved by the urgent arrival of sufficient gold to pacify customers. Samuel Creswell, King's Lynn’s famous Arctic explorer, lived in this house.

Custom House

Henry Bell surpassed himself with the design of what is now known as the Custom House but which was originally a merchants' exchange. In form, it is iconic and easily the best known building in King's Lynn. In function it no longer houses the Customs Service but very appropriately accommodates the Tourist Information Centre. The setting for this architectural gem is no less fitting with the waters of the once bustling Purfleet reflecting the custom house, Captain Vancouver’s statue and the compact King's Staithe Square. If any location in King's Lynn speaks for the vibrant maritime trade that made King's Lynn rich in the Medieval period this is it.

Guildhall of St George

The guildhall is part of an extensive complex of historically important buildings that reach from King Street all the way to the river. German Hanseatic merchants operated from the Guildhall in the medieval period. Below the Hall is a vast under croft used to hold merchandise. There is still an underground passage down to the river which originally would have allowed small boats to move cargo from larger moored vessels into the heart of the complex. Imagine when looking at the complex beamed ceiling of the Guild Hall, William Shakespeare’s voice echoing from them as once it did!

Tuesday Market Place

Tuesday Market Place has seen and still sees events of mass entertainment and celebration, perhaps no more so than at the end of the Napoleonic war when every single person in King's Lynn was seated in this square and served a full dinner.. History abounds in and around the Market Place. In what is now the Tudor Rose pub a certain John Smith started his first job and would have known a John Rolfe whose family business was on the nearby waterfront. They would later meet again in the first successful European colony in America at James Town, Virginia when the then Captain John Smith was the Governor and John Rolfe met Pocahontas…the rest is history.

Saint Nicholas Chapel

This huge Chapel of Ease is a medieval wonder with a spacious, uncluttered interior and a soaring spire. The Chapel’s greatest glory is its angel roof. This is one of the oldest such roofs and consists of 24 angels, most holding musical instruments. At night, illuminated by spot lights they make up a glorious host. Altogether more down to earth is the Consistory Court by the West door which is the oldest in the Country and served to hear and judge cases of morality.  Those West doors are now painted to appear as they would have been with colours re-created from tiny flakes of the original paint found still clinging to the timbers.

Trues Yard

Trues Yard is a very special museum dedicated to the history of the fishing community that occupied the Northern quarter of the town. The importance of fishing and whaling was much greater in the past and is now restricted to inshore shellfish harvesting. The museum occupies fishermen’s homes from the days when the community was proudly independent and distinctive. After a long period of restoration the Baden Powell, an original Lynn fishing smack, is back on the water as a seaworthy reminder of those days.