This carved wooden chancel screen was originally made in 1584 and it’s another one of those marvels of history that it’s still here, although not in its original location within the church. I can’t find any actual evidence of this, but I assume that the chancel screen was built to replace the rood screen which would have been destroyed during the reformation.
The screen was “beautified” in 1621 and although its age is apparent from the design, it’s still in excellent condition.
The west facade of King’s Lynn Minster, with the tide clock visible on the top right and the flood markers by the main entrance.
And a very helpful illustration to the west front of the building, produced by the church.
This eagle lectern is made from brass, dates to the fifteenth century and it was once covered in rich jewels. The feathers are apparently slightly later replacements, but this bird is still something of a survivor given its age.
There is a hole in the lectern’s beak which was once used to collect Peter’s Pence, money which was meant to go to the Catholic church although how far it actually went is a different matter. Despite Peter’s Pence being abolished at the time of the reformation, it was still collected in some areas, with it instead being seen as a tax to the church.
King’s Lynn Minster was, until the Reformation, once a Benedictine priory, and this chapel at the rear was part of that building. This section dates from around 1433 and it’s now used as an area for private prayer.
The Minster’s tide clock, with the lettering around the dial spelling out ‘Lynn High Tide’. When it’s high tide, which it wasn’t on my visit, the man in the moon will appear on the right hand side of the clock. It’s all rather clever, especially given that the original dates to around the seventeenth century. The original clock, which had been donated by Thomas Tue, was damaged during the tower’s collapse in the eighteenth century and then wasn’t looked after particularly well.
The history of this tide clock seems confused, as some authors are claiming that this is the original clock, others that it’s a later replacement. It was certainly worked on during the 1990s by Colin Shewring, but it does appear to me to be the original clock restored rather than something entirely new. However, I’m not a tide clock expert to be able to know for sure……
This one defeated me, I can’t read the name on the gravestone. Answers on a postcard (well, messages through the contact page of this blog) welcomed…
King’s Lynn Minster had to be reconstructed when there was a little incident in 1741 when part of it collapsed. The structure was rebuilt internally by Matthew Brettingham and the supporting columns of the church were reconstructed. The original larger column footprint is still visible, showing how substantial the foundations originally were, although since the building collapsed I wonder about the quality of the original civil engineering team….
Anyway, as I understand, Brettingham changed the floor level by making it a little higher, which was later undone in the mid-nineteenth century during another reconstruction. This meant that the original floor level was restored, making these foundations visible once again. And, this looks better to me, it tells a clearer story about the architectural history of the church.
I’m not sure that I’ve seen gravestones placed in neat rows around the edge of the churchyard quite like this before. I imagine it was something done in the 1970s or 1980s when they were moved here from around the churchyard. Not that much can be done about it now, but this still always feels like a sad decision to me as moving the stones means that they site of the original burial is potentially lost if no clear records have been kept.
However, there was likely a reason behind it at some point in the past, sometimes it’s to make the churchyard easier to keep maintained, sometimes it’s to stop gravestones falling on people, although in this case, the flooding to King’s Lynn may have caused some damage.
Fortunately, some gravestones have remained in situ in the churchyard and a number of these are particularly interesting (more of these in another post).
I’m not sure that I’ve been to a church which has these high water and flood level markings by the front entrance, but it’s a reminder of the impact that the North Sea has had on the town over the decades.
The highest of the flood level stones remembers the North Sea floods of 11 to 12 January 1978. Flood warnings failed and so little notice was given of the impending disaster, with the River Ouse reaching dangerous levels before finally flooding the town of King’s Lynn. Damage was also down to other towns along the coastline, including at Wisbech, Wells, Cleethorpes and Boston. It also marked the end of Hunstanton Pier, which succumbed to the floods after 100 years of history.
As an additional note to this post, I’ve now read that the flooding on 5 December 2013 reached a higher level than in 1978, but the extensive new flood defence system in the town fortunately held.
This rather glorious chest, made from pine, dates from the fifteenth century and is known as a Danzig Chest. It’s perhaps surprising that it survives, although of all places this isn’t an unexpected location for it, as these chests were imported into the country via King’s Lynn, Boston and Ipswich.
