Encyclopedia
King's Lynn is a
town and
port in the
English county of
Norfolk. Over the years, the town has been known variously as
Bishop's Lynn and
Lynn Regis; to local people it is simply
Lynn.
King's Lynn is situated on the
River Great Ouse close to the point where it flows into the
Wash, some 35 miles north-east of the city of
Peterborough, 44 miles west of the city of
Norwich, and the same distance north of the city of
Cambridge.
London lies about 110 miles to the south.
The Ouse at Lynn is about 200 m wide, and is the outfall for much of the drainage system that created the
Fens . It flows into the
Wash, a bleak landscape of saltmarsh, shifting sandbanks and tidal flows.
The unparished urban area that makes up the town of King's Lynn has an area of 28.41 kmē and in the
2001 census had a population of 34,564 in 15,285 households. It is the main town in the larger district of
King's Lynn and West Norfolk.
History
Originally named Bishop's Lynn, the town was part of the
manor of the Bishop of
Norwich in the
12th century. By the
14th century, the town ranked as the third port of
England. It still retains two buildings that were warehouses of the
Hanseatic League that were in use between the 15th and 17th centuries.
When
Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1538, the town and manor became royal property. The names King's Lynn and Lynn Regis reflect this change. The town became very prosperous from the 17th century through the export of
corn; the fine Customs House was built in 1683 to the designs of local architect Henry Bell.
The town went into decline after this period, and was only rescued by the relatively late arrival of railway services in 1847 - with services mainly provided by the
Great Eastern Railway and its fore-runners, and by the
Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway, which had its headquarters in the town at Austin Street, and an important station at South Lynn which was also its operational control centre.
In the post-Second World War period King's Lynn was designated a London Expansion Town, and its population roughly doubled as thousands of people were relocated from the capital.
Today
The town is mainly situated on the east bank of the Great Ouse, with a small part, known as West Lynn, on the west bank. Other districts of King's Lynn include the town centre, North Lynn, South Lynn, Gaywood, North Wootton, South Wootton, and Fairstead.
In the town centre, the Guildhall and the Town Hall are King's Lynn's most impressive secular buildings, built with flint-chequered facades, and adjacent to the Saturday Market Place . It also has two impressive churches: St Margaret's and St Nicholas' Chapel - the latter built close to the newer Tuesday Market Place, at the heart of a massive Georgian expansion and one of the finest public squares in England. The roads connecting the two markets contain many fine historic buildings, and run parallel to the quays that lined the
River Great Ouse . In 1988, the town became the first in the UK to install town centre
CCTV . The single most numerous crime prosecuted as a result of this comprehensive system is men urinating on their way home at night from pubs.
King's Lynn has always been a centre for the fishing and seafood industry . There have also been
glass-making and small-scale engineering works , and today it is still the location for much agricultural-related industry including food processing. There are a number of chemical factories and the town retains a role as an import centre. It is a regional centre for what is still a sparsely-populated part of England.
King's Lynn railway station is the terminus of the Fen Line, and gives connections to Ely,
Cambridge and
London King's Cross.
The town is connected to the local cities of Norwich and Peterborough via the A47 and to Cambridge via the A10.
The town has three secondary schools, educating students from the town and the surrounding areas: King Edward VII High School, The Park High School and Springwood High School. There is also The College of West Anglia .
Sandringham House, the Norfolk residence of the Royal family, is 6 miles north of King's Lynn.
The "Lynn News" is the local newspaper.
KL.FM 96.7 is the local commercial radio station.
The town holds two festivals each summer, 'King's Lynn Festival' and 'Festival Too'. The latter is a large free festival and is held on The Tuesday Market Place: it has attracted crowds of more than 12,000. Past performances include Midge Ure, Wizard, Deacon Blue, Suzi Quatro, Gerry and The Pacemakers, Mungo Jerry, and The Human League. The King's Lynn Festival is primarily a classical music festival; it is held in historic venues throughout town, and attracts big names from Orchestras to Opera and stage-plays. There are also Literature and Poetry festivals.
The town is currently undergoing a multi-million pound regeneration scheme. A new shopping area has been built in the town centre in place of the dated
1960s Vancouver Centre. And to the south of town a huge swathe of brown-field land is being transformed into a housing development , a business park, parkland, a school, shops and a new relief road. A 250-berth marina, surrounded by apartments, hotel, shops and bar/restaurant is also planned.
Entertainment and things to do in King's Lynn
King's Lynn is the 3rd largest town in Norfolk after the city of Norwich and the town of Great Yarmouth, so there are plenty of activities for people to do all year round.
Every year on St Valentine's Day, a travelling funfair called The Mart sets up residence in the Tuesday Market Place for roughly a fortnight, after which it moves on to other towns around the United Kingdom. There are two cinemas in the town centre, the biggest being the Majestic Cinema, which has been refurbished in the last few years in order to compete with the cinemas of Norwich and Peterborough. However the King's Lynn Arts Centre also shows films as well as performances, it is one of the Festival Too venues during the summer months. Football fans can attend Linnet matches at The Walks football ground on Tennyson Avenue. The town centre also has a park called The Walks. For those who like going out in the evening, there are plenty of pubs in the town centre, as well as three night clubs, called Zoots, Chicago's and Diva, which are mainly open at weekends.
Out & About is a charity supporting disabled children in Kings Lynn to take part in local leisure activities, such as cubs, brownies, youth clubs, sports, etc. Volunteering to work with disabled children or fundraise is an excellent "thing to do" in Kings Lynn. Visit to find out how you can get involved.
Popular Culture References
King's Lynn is referred to in the film
The Eagle Has Landed is a book by Jack Higgins [i] first published in 1975 [i]. ...
. The historic heart of King's Lynn was used as a location in the 1985 film
Revolution, where it stood in for
New York during the
American Revolutionary War.
And, of course, no town is complete without the workings of a local football team, Kings Lynn FC, or, the Linnets, are a team in the British Gas Southern League Premier Division - and are title favorites for the season.
Twinned Town
King's Lynn's Twinned town is
Emmerich, in eastern
Germany.
Notable people
Notable current and former residents of King's Lynn include:
...
.
17th century actor and known homosexual.
...
artist and explorer.
Formula One, abbreviated to
F1, and also known as [[Grand Prix motor racing|Grand Prix racing]...
and sports commentator.
...
novelist and diarist.
...
leading developer and manufacturer of steam roundabouts and other fairground machinery.
...
inventor of the lifesaving rocket apparatus used until recently by
HM Coastguard to pass line and breeches buoy to wrecked ships.
- Peter Parfitt. 20th century Test cricketer.
- Sir William Lancaster Joint founder of Prudential Assurance.
- Princess Diana 20th century attendee of a primary school in King's Lynn.
- Helen McCrickerd 20th century Born sorta near King's Lynn but only lived there for a few months.
References
External links
.
