Category: King’s Lynn

I’ve been under this archway many times, but I’m not sure that I’ve ever walked down to have a closer look. King’s Lynn’s South Gate, which is Grade I listed, was first constructed in 1437 by Robert Hertanger as part of the town defences, although it also served as a useful way of tolling anything that came into Lynn. The structure is built in brick with a stone facade and the two pedestrian walkways weren’t knocked through until 1817 (the eastern chamber) and 1841 (the western chamber, which also saw the western staircase being removed). Since then, the two walkways have now been closed off and since 1899, traffic only now goes one way through the gate as another lane was added to the side.

The South Gate is at the top-right of this map (click on the image to make it larger), marked number 11, and shows that there was a different road system at the time. At this time, there was no London Road (that was constructed between 1800 and 1804), and the main access point was down Southgate Street and Friars Street, which is now gated off to prevent modern day motorists using it as a rat run.

I managed to stand in the middle of the road (well, sort of, most drivers notice that there is a big gateway in the way, so tend to focus their minds here) to get this photo of the gate, which I thought was rather brave of me. The room above the gate was used by the gatekeeper from the early seventeenth century, and likely before, and was long used as a private residence. There were plans to build a drawbridge in front of the gate early on during the Civil War, but this was never constructed. King’s Lynn was besieged in 1643, but the gate remained undamaged during the period of trouble which the town had. The role of gatekeeper was abolished in 1741, with the tolls having already been removed in 1721. The wooden gates were removed in 1795 when the threat of attack seemed remote.

The west side of the gate and this fifteenth century structure was located on the same site as an earlier medieval gate, with the footings of that remaining today. Although the design makes it look like there was a portcullis, there isn’t sufficient space inside for one to have been present. George Plunkett took a photo of the gate in 1935, when pedestrians still walked through the side tunnels.

A sign on the gate and this isn’t entirely accurate, as it’s older and there were just some renovations to the structure in 1520.

The east side of the gate. A new roof was added in 1966, but that didn’t last long as an archeological survey of the site in 1982 decided that the older medieval roof should be restored and some of the western stairway was put back.

A photo of the gate from 1891. The gate is accessible to the public during the summer months (or at least it is in normal times….) and hopefully I’ll get to go and see inside at some stage.

Well, this is nice, some normality has resumed as ‘my office’ has returned to a pub beer garden. I’d rather be inside a pub if I’m being honest, but this is a perfectly decent compromise whilst the weather isn’t too bad. And it’s nearly May when pubs can fully open up again, or at least, they can hopefully fully open up again.

The Globe Hotel is the JD Wetherspoons in King’s Lynn and it’s the only pub that I’m aware of at the moment in the town that’s open with a spacious beer garden. I don’t normally head this far down the beer garden, but there’s a pleasant view of the River Great Ouse for those sitting in this area.

The view from the other direction and the pub has a very long beer garden and I was surprised that it wasn’t a little busier in the pub. I had rather expected there to be a staff member on the door managing the number of customers, but the beer garden can hold so many people that there was no queueing required.

My drink arrived promptly and I was very sensible in just opting for a soft drink. A concern then occurred to me, which was that it was bloody freezing with the wind coming in off from the river. Also, a herd of seagulls were decimating the area and swooping down on tables, managing to smash two glasses during the process of lifting food from tables which were no longer occupied. This meant I slightly regretted ordering food, since I was in the middle of  Force 9 gale and was in danger of a pterodactyl attacking me. A staff member mentioned that customers have had steaks taken before, which doesn’t sound an ideal situation if I’m being honest.

When my food arrived, the staff member helpfully carried it over to a quieter, and much warmer, part of the beer garden after I commented about my poor choice of table selection. The seagulls didn’t bother this section of the beer garden and it was also something of a sun trap, away from the hurricane area nearer to the river. It’s just a Wetherspoons burger meal, so I needn’t dwell on that for too long, but it was all fine and entirely met my expectations. Keenly priced, at the appropriate temperature and a reliable option.

Service was all very efficient, the pub garden was kept clean (mostly due to the staff, although the seagulls were helping with food removal) and life feels just that bit more normal again. Long may this normality continue……

There’s not much left of St James Chapel and what remains isn’t accessible to the public, although at least the burial ground sort of survives. It was though once a substantial building and it was founded at the same time as the Chapel of St. Nicholas. It’s known as a chapel rather than a church, as it was intended to be used as a chapel of ease to the Church of St. Margaret. Work started on the chapel in the twelfth century, but because it was a chapel at ease, there isn’t a huge documented record from the medieval period.

As an aside, there was a man named William Sawtrey, who caused a considerable scene in the late fourteenth century by espousing Lollard views. They were early reformers and caused something of a threat to the Catholic Church, which meant that the authorities in Norfolk wanted to stamp down on this rebellion (and there’s a pub called Lollard’s Pit in Norwich which is located by a place where many of these reformers were burned at the stake).

Anyway, Sawtrey rejected Catholic saints, opposed pilgrimages and didn’t want images to be venerated. This was a bit of a problem for the church as Sawtrey was the priest at St. Margaret’s Church in King’s Lynn, so Henry le Despenser was called in as he was the Bishop of Norwich. Despenser was not really the kindest of men, he put down the Peasant’s Revolt in Norfolk in a bloody style, he maintained privilege and he also tried to destroy those who wanted reform of the Catholic Church. He is buried in front of the high altar of Norwich Cathedral, which might annoy him since the protestant reforms he fought against eventually took place and his body is now left in a Church of England building.

I digress though. Despenser sent Sawtrey to prison, but he was released as long as he condemned the Lollard movement and he had to do this in front of the Chapel of St. James (which is why I’m telling this convoluted story….). Sawtrey apologised to God in the churchyard of the chapel on 25 May 1399 and he promised Despenser that he would never again challenge the authority of the Catholic Church. To cut another long story short, Sawtrey just went to London instead to preach his Lollard views and he was executed in March 1401.

Moving forwards to the Dissolution of the Monasteries though, as this period was well recorded, and the Reformation had a large impact on the town of King’s Lynn, not least as it had been known as Bishop’s Lynn, but also as numerous monasteries and religious institutions were closed down, including this chapel.

On 17 December 1544, the plate belonging to the chapel of St. James was flogged off and the money was used to strengthen the town walls against the threats of the sea. On 2 February 1548, the authorities announced that the building would be taken down and the bells were sold in 1550, with the money being used to buy ordinance and artillery to defend the town. Work started to take down the stone, wood and lead, but it was agreed locally that the chancel area would remain standing and would be covered in tiles.

In 1560, the Lords of the Council came to have a little look at what arrangements were taking place in Lynn with regards to the chapel. Probably not very efficient ones, as the town corporation got quite grumpy at this situation and told them to clear off. Work continued slowly and in 1568 it was decided that the wealthy Duke of Norfolk could have 20 loads of freestone if he wanted it, and because he was so wealthy, the corporation wouldn’t charge him for that. Nothing really changes….

A fair sum of money was spent on turning the building into a workhouse, which opened on (or was decided on) 1 June 1582, a purpose which the site was to retain for a few hundred years. In 1597, when the plague hit King’s Lynn, it was also the location where the ill were sent, perhaps with not much concern for those already in the workhouse.

In the 1680s, what remained of the medieval structure was turned into a new workhouse building which was designed by Henry Bell, and it’s this that can be seen in the above image. Between 1805 and around the 1870s, the area near to the chapel was brought back into use as a burial ground, but the gravestones were collected together in 1903 and the space was turned into a park.

The central bay and the tower of this building collapsed in August 1854, which wasn’t entirely ideal. The incident came to the attention of the national media and it was reported that:

“About half past 11, the whole central tower came down with a tremendous crash, distinctly heard throughout the town. Scores of labourers at once set to work clearing away the debris as far as possible, in order to extricate those who might be below, it having been reported that many people had been killed. Fortunately, however, this turned out to be incorrect. The girls were at church at the time and the boys sitting in front of the building, to the right of the tower. A few minutes before the building fell in, Mr. Nelson, the governor of the workhouse, attended by Mr Andrews, went to the clock room to see what was amiss. Whilst they were there the fall took place, and they were carried down amidst an immense mass of material. These two gentlemen, it was concluded, were inevitably killed, with several old men who could not be found. The escape of several of the inmates was almost miraculous”.

There’s a story about someone kicking the clock which caused the whole structure to fall down, but none of the press at the time seemed to mention that, so I’m not sure where that information comes from. Other reports note that just one elderly man died, which was primarily as he refused to get out of bed. A new workhouse had to be constructed quickly and this opened on Extons Road in 1856.

What was left of the structure was mostly demolished in 1910, with just a small section now remaining. The central part of the remaining structure with the bricks and large window is from the sixteenth century, with the medieval stone of the earlier chapel being visible on either side of that.

This grave belongs to Thomas Barlow and is located at the relocated burial ground of St. James Chapel in King’s Lynn.

I like this gravestone as it actually offers some information about Thomas, namely that he was a bookseller on the High Street. It’s a shame more graves don’t have a few more details such as this, or, even photographs as is much more common in some mainland European countries. Although I recognise that since Thomas was buried in the early nineteenth century that a photograph would be more challenging, but I meant for more modern burials. Anyway, I digress.

Thomas was born on 18 March 1788 and christened at the Church of St. Margaret with St. Nicholas on 31 January 1789 and he was the son of William Barlow and Mary Barlow.

Thomas opened his bookshop on the High Street in 1821 and advertised this in the local press. This made me wonder where the shop was and there’s a clue in the advert, as it mentions a “Mr. Servante”. He owned a linen shop on the High Street and this had previously been occupied by Robert Redwell, with this freehold being advertised in the local paper. The advert for the freehold of the property mentions that the premises came with a “dwelling house, warehouse, stable, yard, garden and shop” and that they were “located directly opposite Norfolk Street”. That, I think, puts it at somewhere like 74 High Street, where Bonmarche currently is.

Thomas died on 2 May 1823 and was buried on 7 May 1823, but, unfortunately, the death wasn’t announced in any local press that I can find, so I don’t know the cause of why he died at the age of just 30.

Until 1903, this was the graveyard of St James Chapel (which had long since fallen into disuse as it was closed during the Reformation), although it had been closed to burials for some years. The area had been opened to burials from 1805, but there were also some medieval burials from when St. James chapel was still operating. It was decided that it would be beneficial for the town to use this space as a public park, although the Mayor added that it was primarily for the older population to relax and not for younger people to play in. I suspect that the town didn’t dislike younger people, they just felt that there was already sufficient provision in King’s Lynn for that.

The gravestones were all bundled up and shoved in one corner of the churchyard, something that I was surprised was seen as acceptable in 1903. However, after reading newspaper reports from the time, it makes a little more sense. It transpires that, for whatever reason, the graves had already been moved about a bit before, so they had lost their original placement. Given that, the council thought that moving them again wouldn’t be problematic, but they promised to ensure that the stones would be treated with care and respect.

The council also pledged to ensure that details of each of the graves were to be kept so that individuals were able to cross-reference the old and new locations. This documentation was to be placed in the town clerk’s office and it was felt that this care would be useful to the population of King’s Lynn and ensure that no information was lost in the move. I’m not really that keen on moving gravestones from where they were originally placed, but this action probably ensured that the stones remained better preserved since they’re all shoved close together and protected from the elements.

Anyway, some more photos, and I’ve got some (well, a lot) of photos of individual gravestones as some looked quite intriguing and might interest me to write about in the future. The stones are, I think, all from between 1805 and around 1870, which is when the churchyard opened and closed.

Well, this is quite marvellous, a project which has put seven benches around King’s Lynn with the theme of books. Indeed, it’s so popular that it’s been hard to even get these three photos, as so many families are walking around collecting photos of their kids on all the benches. And, I’m obviously all for projects which encourage children (or anyone) to go walking.

The organisers of the trail said:

“The trail consists of seven benches, supplied by Wild in Art, who have produced trails in this country and abroad. These benches are already decorated by artists, and will be temporarily placed in landmark locations around King’s Lynn. A further three benches have been decorated by local artists with designs submitted by local young people and these will remain as permanent features in King’s Lynn, Hunstanton and Downham Market.”

The only downside that I’ve noticed on several of the benches is that people think that they can sit on them to relax. They can in theory, it’s just that families keep coming by wanting photos so they have to move. But what a wonderful thing it is that families want to engage in a book-related project, and I saw some kids look excited as they ran towards them having spotted them.

For those who want to go and catch them all (or whatever that Pokemon phrase thing is), they’re at:

The Saturday Market Place

The Bus Station

Outside the Majestic Cinema

Clifton House

Red Mount Chapel

King’s Lynn Railway Stations

King’s Staithe Square

There’s more information at https://www.storiesoflynn.co.uk/explore-a-book/ and I am impressed at this community project. Most lovely.