Colin Crosby Heritage Tours

Kings Lynn

Kings Lynn is a very historic and very picturesque Norfolk town, which deserves to be far better known than it is.

Usually known to local people simply as Lynn, the town was originally called Bishops Lynn, but this was changed to Kings Lynn at the Dissolution of the Monasteries in Henry VIII's day.

The town grew up as an important seaport where the River Great Ouse meets the Wash. Trading was chiefly with the Baltic states and the Hanseatic League, and there are many mediaeval and Tudor warehouses surviving.

Along the very fine waterfront stands the 17th century Custom House, which now houses the Tourist Information Centre.

The Market Place, properly known as Tuesday Market Place, is one of the largest in the country. Nearby are the 15th century St. George's Guildhall, possibly the oldest in the land, and St. Nicholas Church, also from the 15th century.

The main parish church, however, is the impressive 13th century St. Margaret's Church. This stands beside the Saturday Market Place.

Kings Lynn was formerly enclosed by town walls, fragments of which remain, along with the South Gate.

The Red Mount Chapel was used by pilgrims travelling to Walsingham, and the Greyfriars Tower is well out of the perpendicuoar.

George Vancouver, the explorer who first charted the West coast of North America, was born in Kings Lynn, as was the diarist Fanny Burney.

Also born in the town was Marjorie Kempe, the redoubtable 15th century pilgrim to the Holy Land who was influenced by Julian of Norwich. It was Marjorie who wrote the first English autobiography.

Blue Badge Guide Colin Crosby is available to lead Guided Walks around Kings Lynn for groups.