Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: King’s Lynn

  • King’s Lynn – King’s Lynn Minster (Rows of Gravestones)

    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).

  • King’s Lynn – King’s Lynn Minster (Flood Level Markings)

    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.

  • King’s Lynn – King’s Lynn Minster (Hanseatic Chest)

    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.

  • King’s Lynn – Lattice House

    It’s a few years now since JD Wetherspoon sold off the Lattice House in King’s Lynn, which I thought was just a little unfortunate as it was one of my favourite JDW pubs. It made sense though since they have the large Globe Hotel just around the corner and probably didn’t need two pubs so close together.

    But then something potentially rather impressive happened after a short spell under a different pub operator, the building was rebranded as the Bishops Dining Rooms and the whole concept seemed very much in keeping with the historic building. The south end of the building had been in use as an inn since at least 1714, so it can claim some considerable heritage.

    And then they did something quite bizarre. They decided to ban young people. Not children to create a slightly quieter and relaxed dining environment, but they banned people in their early 20s. Somehow, and perhaps this could only happen in Britain, it was thought that people in their early 20s couldn’t enjoy a decent dining experience.

    And, the rest is of course history. As soon as that decision was made, it was perhaps inevitable that the ill feeling caused would lead to the restaurant being considerably less busy than it might otherwise have been. Particularly irritating when the restaurant actually seemed to have been pitched so well in terms of price, decoration and menu choice.

    Anyway, that’s not really relevant, what is relevant is that the Lattice House name is now coming back and the restaurant is being restored into being a pub once again. The new owners have confirmed they don’t have a problem with younger people, so the age limits have been dropped. So I’ll make an effort to visit in the next few weeks……