Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: King’s Lynn

  • King’s Lynn – Bitson’s Fish and Chips

    King’s Lynn – Bitson’s Fish and Chips

    Another day, another chance to try chips somewhere else, and this is Bitson’s fish and chips in King’s Lynn. The set-up is well signed, customers go in to place their order and pay, then they move outside to collect their order. The staff member seemed all sufficiently friendly and I think it’s a family-run place. My perennial complaint comes to the fore here again, it’s cash only.

    There’s a bit of a Five Guys situation here, the medium chips are what I would consider large, so I perhaps should have just gone for small. The prices were high compared to other chip shops, a small battered sausage and medium chips was £3.60. But, then again, they’ve also given a large portion than others might. Anyway, my life is too short to worry too much about such things….. Two sachets of sauce would have been 70p, which is excessive, but being thrifty I always carry spare in my bag. I really do need to get out more….

    The chips tasted fine (perhaps slightly greasy if I’m being a little picky), but as I wrote earlier on another post, I’m not a very good judge of those. The battered sausage, which I do consider myself more of an expert on, was excellent and the quality of the batter was very high. I should have asked for scraps given how flavoursome that batter was. So, all fine, and I wouldn’t go back because it’s cash only and I prefer the convenience of cards, but I would have otherwise returned for anything they sell which is battered. I like to think they’re relying on traditional family cooking tips for their fish and chips, maybe some skills passed down the generations.

  • King’s Lynn – Westgate House

    King’s Lynn – Westgate House

    This is 42 Chapel Street and I had thought when taking this photo that the building was a little older, but the southern section (to the right-hand side of the photo) is from the eighteenth century. The northern section was added in the early nineteenth-century when the entire building was given a new facade to unite the new addition.

     

  • King’s Lynn – St Nicholas’s Chapel (No Bells)

    King’s Lynn – St Nicholas’s Chapel (No Bells)

    This is sad to see, the Grade I listed chapel has successfully raised money to restore its bell and to encourage a new wave of volunteers to bring back this historic tradition. Some local (I assume) denizen has scrawled “no bells” on the door in white paint, which must be a slightly soul-destroying sight for those involved with the chapel’s restoration. But it seems that the Churches Conservation Trust are undeterred and will continue with their work.

  • King’s Lynn – St Nicholas’s Chapel (Churchyard)

    King’s Lynn – St Nicholas’s Chapel (Churchyard)

    One of the most notable elements of the churchyard is the Exorcist’s House, located on its edge.

    But, sadly, the graves here are nearly all in a poor state of repair and many have been lifted up and propped up against the walls. It’s disappointing that the majority of gravestones are unreadable, there are many stories here that now can’t easily be told. I can’t find an old photo of the churchyard to establish when the stones were moved, but I imagine it was in recent decades.

    There’s an interesting mix of gravestones, with several from the seventeenth century, but I struggled to make out sufficient details to be able to identify the person listed on them.

  • King’s Lynn – 2 St Ann’s Street

    King’s Lynn – 2 St Ann’s Street

    This property is one of many reasons that King’s Lynn is so interesting historically, so many buildings with a long heritage that have survived the centuries. Much of this is because King’s Lynn was a relatively large town that never really grew rapidly, so there wasn’t the constant upgrading and rebuilding of structures.

    The building is now used as a shop and residential property, but was originally constructed in the late fourteenth century. The surround on the left-hand side of the building, going towards the rear courtyard, is from the nineteenth century, from a similar period to the shop frontage, which is from the mid-nineteenth century. The listed building record notes that “the interior was not accessible at time of the review but likely to be of considerable interest” and that sounds entirely sound given the long history of the structure.

    In many towns, a fourteenth-century building such as this might be seen as the pride of the area, but here, it’s just another historic building. All very lovely.

  • King’s Lynn – The Exorcist’s House

    King’s Lynn – The Exorcist’s House

    Whilst having a little look around the churchyard of the Chapel of St. Nicholas (which is frankly nearer to the size of a Cathedral than the usual chapel you might expect) I noticed this quaint little building. It’s evidently charming, although I’d never dare live in it given how close it is to the graves. And, also its name, it’s the Exorcist’s House.

    The house, also more delicately known as 8 Chapel Lane, was built in 1635 and other than the twentieth-century door, isn’t much changed. So, why the Exorcist’s House name? No-one is quite sure, but an exorcist used to have a more prosaic meaning to it than the modern horror linked word. It was simply a church official who would try to cast out a demon, which is not an unusual Christian theological tradition. It’s likely that the name is from a property that is older than the current one, so it probably relates to a different structure and the moniker just carried over.

    One former owner noted in the book Ghost and Legends that “the house is haunted, but not very enthusiastically” which sounds a nuisance, an uninspired ghost lumbering about the property.

    The house was placed on the market recently for £215,000, not a bad price for those who like their history. And ghosts.

  • King’s Lynn – War Memorial (Harry Leonard Aldren)

    King’s Lynn – War Memorial (Harry Leonard Aldren)

    Harry Leonard Aldren is one of the names on the war memorial in King’s Lynn.

    Born Henry Leonard Aldren on Saturday 18 December 1897, he was the son of Robert Aldren who worked as a carman and Mary Aldren. He was baptised on Thursday 13 January 1898 at All Saints church in South Lynn and the family lived in Gaywood.

    The school log exists of when Harry went to school at St Michael’s Church Of England School in South Lynn, which was on 3 October 1904. His family lived at the time at 10 Southgate Street and he remained at the school until 8 December 1905 when the records appear to suggest he went to school in Hunstanton. The school’s records are also a little wrong, they have him born on 18 December 1898.

    Any record from Hunstanton doesn’t seem to exist on-line, but the school log of Harry’s next school also exists, when on 22 October 1906 he went to St. Margaret’s National/Church Of England School in King’s Lynn. At that time, Harry and his family were living at 24 Albert Street and he remained at the school until 30 November 1911 when it was noted that he had left having found work.

    At the 1911 census, Harry was living at 8 Harrod’s Place, Providence Street in King’s Lynn with his mother Mary, who was listed as a widow. He was also living with his siblings Margaret (born in 1887, worked as a cook), Robert (born in 1889, worked as a farm labourer), Isabelle (born in 1891, worked as a general servant), John (born in 1896, worked as an errand boy), Edith (born in 1900, still at school), Bessie (born in 1903, still at school) and James (born in 1908).

    Harry joined the Norfolk Regiment to fight in the war, with service number 203713. He became a private in the 10th battalion of the Essex Regiment and changed to service number 203034, but he was sadly killed on 31 July 1917. His body was never found, but this was the first day of the Battle of Passchendaele, one of the bloodiest battles in history. Harry likely died at the Battle of Pilckem Ridge, the first stage of Passchendaele, which was where the 10th battalion was present.

    Harry is commemorated on panel 39 of the Menin Gate war memorial, a location I’ve been when they play the last post every evening, a haunting reminder of what happened in this area. He is listed as being 18 when he died, although he would have been 19. There are so many little bits of information wrong with regards to his service that I started to think there were two people of the same name, but I can’t imagine that’s likely. Harry’s service records also aren’t available, likely in the vast number that were burned following an air raid in the Second World War.

    Something appears to have also gone wrong though with the information provided by the Commonwealth War Graves, who list his next of kin as Robert and Hilary Aldren of 8 Harrod’s Place in King’s Lynn. I’m assuming that Hilary is just a mis-spelling of what was meant to be Mary. On a side note, and for a separate story, Harry’s brother John was also killed during the First World War.

  • King’s Lynn – War Memorial (List of Names)

    King’s Lynn – War Memorial (List of Names)

    This is a list of the war names on King’s Lynn’s war memorial, from the Imperial War Museum (IWM). I’ve left in the name of Herbert Doy, still on the IWM list, that was included in error and which was removed from the memorial. I’m hoping to write about a few of the names on here, although the death toll was so high from the town it’ll only ever be a small proportion of those who gave their lives.

    Adams, E W

    Ainger, W

    Aldren, H L

    Aldren, J C

    Allen, A A

    Allen, G

    Allen, S

    Allen, T N

    Anderson, C

    Anderson, J

    Anderson, T B

    Andrews, C H

    Armes, R L

    Armes, W M

    Arnell, R

    Ashby, G S

    Badcock, H J

    Bailey, A A

    Bailey, W H J

    Baker, S S

    Barber, F V

    Bardell, R J

    Barnaby, J

    Barnard, E A

    Barnard, P

    Barrett, J A

    Barrett, T W

    Barrett, W E

    Bartle, T

    Bartram, A H

    Bassham, R O

    Bates, W

    Batterbee, A J

    Batterbee, E R W

    Batterbee, R

    Beaty, G W

    Beck, B

    Belding, F E

    Benefer, G

    Bentley, J

    Bird, G E

    Blackburn, A H

    Block, E

    Bloom, H C

    Bloom, J E

    Blyth, J

    Blyth, W

    Bobbin, W

    Boldero, A J

    Bone, H

    Bonham, W D

    Bourne, W

    Bowen, J F

    Bowen, J W

    Bowker, F J

    Bowman, F

    Bracebridge, C A

    Bradfield, R C

    Bradfield, W L

    Braybrook, H E

    Bridges, J

    Brightmore, J C

    Brock, E V

    Brock, G

    Brooks, W J

    Brown, A

    Brown, E T

    Brown, J G

    Brown, S W

    Browning, G A

    Brunton, C

    Bunfield, W C

    Bunn, G

    Bunn, T

    Bunning, W H

    Bunting, C

    Bunting, D

    Bunting, E

    Bunting, W

    Burrell, F C

    Burton, C V

    Burton, E L

    Bush, W S

    Cannell, W G

    Carter, C T

    Carter, C W

    Carter, W E

    Catton, J C

    Causton, E E

    Cavell, J R

    Cawston, H J

    Chamberlain, J

    Chamberlain, W G

    Chaplin, E B

    Chapman, A E

    Chapman, A G

    Clarke, A

    Clarke, C

    Clarke, W

    Clover, H L

    Coates, A

    Cobbold, A G

    Collison, H T

    Connelly, J

    Cook, G S

    Cooper, C V

    Cooper, E C

    Cooper, J

    Cooper, R

    Corteen, W

    Coulton, A E

    Cowen, W C

    Crabtree, C

    Cracknell, E V

    Crake, B

    Creek, G F

    Creighton, B

    Cresswell, F J

    Crisp, W

    Crowe, H W

    Curley, W D

    Currey, E

    Cushing, A

    Dabb, H G

    Dabb, J G

    Davis, C

    Dawber, J H

    Dawson, G H

    Day, J W

    Dent, S O

    Depear, H J

    Dexter, L

    Dines, J

    Dixon, E

    Dobson, E W

    Docking, J

    Donger, T W

    Doy, H

    Doy, S M

    Drew, E

    Drew, G W H

    Dunbabin, J H

    Dunn, J

    Dye, W H

    Eagleton, S T

    Earl, W C

    Edwards, A

    Ellis, G R

    Ess, C R

    Evans, T A

    Fake, H

    Farr, J

    Fayers, T R

    Fendley, H C

    Fickling, A

    Finch, R G

    Finney, J R

    Fisher, G A

    Flanders, V

    Flanders, W

    Flegg, H

    Fox, B R

    Fox, D

    Fox, G A

    Fox, J F

    Franklin, D

    Franklin, H W

    Franklin, L F

    Froggitt, W G

    Fromow, E F

    Frost, F

    Frost, R H

    Fysh, G E

    Fysh, H

    Fysh, J W

    Fysh, W

    Gage, H T

    Gamble, E

    Gamble, E A

    Gamble, F H

    Gamble, W M

    Gardiner, E J

    Gardiner, F J

    Garland, V R

    Garnett, W

    Gash, G

    Gathercole, W J

    Gazley, J W

    Gazley, P G

    Gee, G

    Gilbert, A

    Gilbert, G

    Giles, F T

    Giles, J G

    Gill, J T

    Girdlestone, B

    Girdlestone, B F

    Goate, G F

    Goate, R T

    Golding, F

    Goldsmith, F

    Goodson, F J

    Gorden, R

    Granger, A F

    Granger, A L

    Green, A E

    Green, C W

    Green, E G

    Green, E J

    Green, H

    Green, J W

    Greenacre, H P

    Greenacre, W H

    Greeves, C

    Gribble, F

    Grice, H C Le

    Griffin, A

    Griffin, E

    Griffin, E

    Griffiths, W

    Griffiths, W S

    Grimes, G W

    Gunns, F W

    Guy, E W

    Guy, F T

    Hall, F

    Hall, R W

    Hammond, C

    Hammond, H W

    Hammond, R

    Hampston, W

    Hamson, A W F

    Hansell, F J

    Harbage, T W

    Hardy, A G

    Hardy, E J

    Harris, J B

    Harrison, E G

    Harrison, F W G

    Harrison, G W

    Harrison, L G

    Hart, A T

    Hart, H

    Hart, W W H

    Haverson, L

    Heil, S

    Hendry, P R

    Heseltine, F

    Hewitt, J H

    Hitchcock, F N

    Holmes, A A

    Holmon, J J

    Holroyd, W

    Horsley, H E

    Howard, C

    Howard, C E

    Howard, H S

    Howard, J W

    Howell, R

    Howlett, J

    Howlett, R

    Hudson, G E

    Hughes, J

    Humphrey, W L

    Hunt, D

    Jackson, A H

    Jackson, G R W

    Jacobs, C H

    Jacobs, D A

    Jacobs, W G

    Jarvis, H J

    Jary, S R

    Jennings, H J

    Johnson, A V

    Juby, J S

    Juby, S A

    Juniper, A F

    Kelly, E H

    Kemp, H

    Kendle, F E

    Kent, W

    Kew, W E

    King, G

    King, W E

    Knight, F N

    Knight, S

    Knights, C W

    Lake, C W

    Lake, W

    Lambert, E C

    Lancaster, R

    Langford, A F

    Leaford, C

    Lee, J S C

    Leeder, A

    Leggett, A

    Lester, J N

    Lewis, A

    Lift, A L

    Lincoln, A T R

    Link, F J

    Link, O L

    Little, A V

    Lovell, T A

    Lusher, W H

    Lyon, A E

    Lyon, E

    Main, F W

    Major, E F

    Major, J G

    Mann, A

    Manning, A

    Manning, H F

    Marriott, E

    Marsters, E

    Marsters, F A

    Marsters, H S

    Marsters, J V H

    Mason, S A

    Massingham, J

    Mayes, F

    Mcclune, S

    Mclean, P D

    Mears, A E

    Mears, F

    Mears, F H

    Medlock, B

    Medlock, F

    Medlock, W J

    Meggitt, E M

    Meggitt, F C

    Meggitt, R D

    Middleage, J

    Mindham, J T

    Minister, G

    Mitchell, W

    Mitchell, W G

    Mitchelson, F

    Mitchley, S R

    Moates, H

    Morgan, W C

    Morley, J S

    Morris, W B

    Morriss, E

    Moy, J

    Murrell, A

    Myers, C

    Neale, A

    Neale, R H

    Neave, W R

    Nelson, C J

    Newdick, G E

    Newman, R H

    Nichole, H G

    Nicholls, E

    Nuccoll, H W

    Nuccoll, T

    Oakes, D E

    Oakes, E J

    Oakes, H G

    Ollett, J W

    Osborne, H

    Overland, E

    Overton, E

    Owen, T A

    Owen, T E

    Oxbury, M

    Page, H

    Palfrey, F A

    Park, A

    Partridge, R H

    Patrick, C B

    Patterson, A W

    Patterson, L V

    Patterson, R G

    Pattrick, A D

    Pearman, W F

    Pells, J W

    Percy, E D

    Ping, W R W

    Pishorn, F

    Pitcher, G W

    Pitcher, J H

    Pitt, C A

    Plain, H H

    Plain, J T

    Playford, J E

    Plowright, W

    Priestley, D S

    Pryke, E W

    Pyshorn, G F

    Quinee, E C

    Raper, W T

    Rasberry, R

    Rasberry, W

    Rayner, J

    Read, E D

    Ream, A D

    Reed, F W

    Reed, R J

    Richardson, A

    Riches, A W

    Ringwood, G

    Robinson, C S

    Robotham, J F

    Rodgers, H G

    Rogers, C

    Rogers, C

    Roper, C

    Rose, G

    Rose, J

    Rose, T

    Rowe, J F

    Rowe, W T

    Rust, G A

    Scott, J R

    Searle, G W S

    Shaw, P

    Shaw, W V

    Sheaman, E

    Shearman, E T

    Shearman, W

    Shears, G

    Shirley, J

    Shreeve, G

    Simmonds, P G

    Slater, W J

    Slegg, W G

    Smith, B A

    Smith, D W

    Smith, F W

    Smith, G T

    Smith, H W

    Smith, S O

    Smith, W

    Smith, W

    Snelling, E T

    Sparkes, H

    Spreckley, F A

    Staley, J

    Stalham, A

    Stanford, W

    Stannard, S E

    Stebbings, F J

    Stephenson, A H

    Stephenson, C

    Stevens, H C

    Stevens, S J

    Steward, H J

    Stokes, M K

    Suggett, F E

    Taylor, A W

    Taylor, T G

    Taylor, W

    Terrington, C E

    Terrington, F R

    Terry, R

    Thorley, R T

    Thorpe, C

    Tice, W G

    Tilson, W

    Towler, H

    Trenowath, W

    Tullett, W A

    Turnbull, J G

    Turner, A G

    Turner, R

    Tweedy, R V

    Tyzack, W H

    Valentine, J W

    Varney, H

    Wagg, A

    Wagg, B

    Wagg, H S

    Wagg, J

    Wagg, P

    Wakefield, A H

    Walker, H A

    Walker, R

    Walker, S

    Wallis, R

    Wanford, A J

    Ward, A G

    Ward, J W

    Ward, S A

    Wardby, W

    Warnes, D H

    Watkins, A R

    Watling, G V

    Watling, L E

    Watson, C R

    Watson, F

    Watson, H B

    Watson, H J

    Watts, H S

    Watts, V G

    Watts, W H

    Webb, T

    Webster, G V

    Webster, P

    Weldrick, A E

    Welham, W F

    Wellsman, C

    Wenn, R W

    West, F W

    West, G

    Westfield, R

    Whitrick, W

    Whomes, T W

    Wildbur, S A

    Wilkin, G H

    Wilkinson, J G

    Williams, E E

    Williamson, J T

    Willimott, H H

    Winch, E L

    Witt, J H

    Woodby, J

    Woodhouse, C R

    Woodhouse, G W

    Woodwark, E R

    Wright, A

    Wright, P R

    Wright, R

    Wright, R C

    Wright, W

    Wright, W P

    Younge, G H

    Younge, H O

    Youngs, J W

  • King’s Lynn – Tower Gardens (Bank Lane Arches)

    King’s Lynn – Tower Gardens (Bank Lane Arches)

    At first sight, these historic arches in Tower Gardens look like they’re part of the Greyfriars complex of buildings. Although they are on land that was once part of the orchard of Greyfriars, the arches were brought here for the new park in 1911 from a building being demolished on Ferry Street. This section of land was used as a cattle holding area before the market until it became part of Tower Gardens and it adds some heritage to the whole arrangement.

  • King’s Lynn – War Memorial

    King’s Lynn – War Memorial

    King’s Lynn war memorial was unveiled on 26 January 1921 by HRH Princess Mary and was dedicated by Bishop Suffragan of Thetford. The memorial was designed by Oswald Partridge-Milne (1881-1968) who was an architect that had a broad portfolio of work, he also designed the interior of Claridge’s Hotel and Sprowston Court in Norwich.

    There are 563 names on the memorial commemorating those who lost their lives during the First World War, and the monument was later amended to mark those who died during the Second World War.

    There was a little issue though discovered after HRH Princess Mary had unveiled the memorial, which was that Herbert Doy was surprised to find his name listed amongst the dead. His name was been reported as missing during the First World War and his safe return was overlooked when the memorial was being prepared. The town said that it would remove his name from the war memorial, although there’s no gap and so I’m unsure how they did this unless they prepared another bronze section.

    Here’s a full list of the names on the memorial.