KING'S LYNN

'King's Lynn' is an English town and port in the county of Norfolk, East Anglia. Over the years, the town has been known variously as 'Bishop's Lynn' and 'Lynn Regis', while it is occasionally referred to by locals as simply 'Lynn'.
King's Lynn is the third largest settlement in Norfolk after the city of Norwich and the town of Great Yarmouth. Sandringham House, the Norfolk residence of the British Royal Family, is 6 miles north-east of King's Lynn.

Contents

Geography

Administration

History

Early

Recent

Post war

Today

Industry and commerce

Transport

Education

Culture

Sport

Charities

References in popular culture

Twinned town

Notable people

References

See also

External links

Geography

King's Lynn is situated mainly on the east bank of the River Great Ouse close to the point where it flows into the Wash, some 35 miles (55 km) north-east of the city of Peterborough, 44 miles (70 km) west of the city of Norwich, and the same distance north of the city of Cambridge. London lies about 112 miles (180 km) to the south.^[1][2] The Ouse at Lynn is about 200 m wide, and is the outfall for much of the drainage system that created the Fens (systematically drained from the seventeenth century onwards). It flows into the Wash, a bleak landscape of saltmarsh, shifting sandbanks and tidal flows. The much smaller, River Gaywood also flows through the town joining the Great Ouse at the southern end of South Quay close to the town centre.

A small part, known as West Lynn, is 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.

Administration

The unparished urban area that makes up the town of King's Lynn has an area of 28.41 km² 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.^[3]

History

Early

Whilst it is believed that there has been some form of habitation at King's Lynn for well over a thousand years it was not until St Margaret's Church was founded in 1101 by Bishop Herbert de Losinga that the town started appearing on records. The town was originally named Bishop's Lynn, as 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 - and is considered to be as important to England in Medieval times as Liverpool was during the Industrial Revolution. It still retains two buildings that were warehouses of the Hanseatic League that were in use between the 15th and 17th centuries. They are the only remaining building structures of the hanseatic league in England.
When Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries in 1538, the town and manor became royal property. As a result, the town became renamed King's Lynn and Lynn Regis; however, it was King's Lynn which stuck. 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.

Recent

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 (subsequently London and North 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 (now dismantled) which was also its operational control centre.

Post war

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.
In 2006 King's Lynn formally became Great Britain's first member of Die Hanse - the modern day equivalent of the Hanseatic League.^[4]

Today

In the town centre, the Guildhall (1421) and the Town Hall (1895) are King's Lynn's most impressive secular buildings, built with flint-chequered facades, and adjacent to the Saturday Market Place (the original hub of the town). It also has two impressive churches: St. Margaret's (also on the Saturday Market Place) 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 (now largely superseded by docks). In 1987, the town became the first in the UK to install town centre CCTV (though Bournemouth had previously used CCTV in non-central locations). The single most numerous crime prosecuted as a result of this comprehensive system is men urinating on their way home at night from pubs.
The town has undergone a multi-million pound regeneration scheme. In 2005 the Vancouver Shopping Centre, originally built in the 1960s, was refurbished as a part of the town centre regeneration project which also saw a new £6 million multi-storey car park built, which has won several awards. And to the south of town a huge swathe of brown-field land is being transformed into a housing development (including contemporary apartments lining the River Nar), 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.

Industry and commerce

King's Lynn has always been a centre for the fishing and seafood industry (especially inshore prawns, shrimps and cockles). There have also been glass-making and small-scale engineering works (many fairground and steam engines were built here), 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.

Transport

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.

Education

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 (the largest further education campus in town).

Culture

The ''Lynn News'' is the local newspaper which is published twice a week, while the biggest selling regional morning newspaper in the country, the Eastern Daily Press, publishes a specific West and Fens edition daily from its district office in King's Lynn High Street. 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 one of the top three largest free music festivals in Europe 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,10CC, Mungo Jerry, The Human League and (2007) The Buzzcocks and M People take to the stage. 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 Guildhall stages many events and there is a tradition that Shakespeare's company may have performed there.
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. Traditionally, this is the first funfair in the Showmen's calendar where new rides are tried out and old favourites brought out from winter storage. 500 years ago, Lynn had two marts and these were importaint trading fairs which would attract visitors from as far afield as Italy and Germany. Over the years trading fairs became less important and the Mart's nature changed from a trading fair to a funfair. It also became an annual event. Also upon the Tuesday Market Place, the town holds several "Vehicle Shows" where the local car dealers display their offers.

There are two cinemas in the town centre, the biggest being the Majestic Cinema, which has been refurbished in the last few years. The Majestic Cinema had been the butt of jokes on the Scott Mills show on BBC Radio 1. 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. The town centre also has a park called The Walks. The town centre has a wide variety of pubs as well as three night clubs, Zoots, Chicago's and Heights.

Sport

King's Lynn F.C. football club (nicknamed "The Linnets") is in the Southern League, Premier Division. Its ground is The Walks football ground on Tennyson Road.
King's Lynn also has a motorcycle speedway team, the King's Lynn Stars, who race at the Norfolk Arena on Saddlebow Road.
The successful basketball team West Anglia Fury, who compete in the second-tier English Basketball League, is also based in King's Lynn.

Charities

Out & About is a charity supporting disabled children in King's Lynn to take part in local leisure activities, such as cubs, brownies, youth clubs, sports, etc.

References in popular culture

King's Lynn is referred to in the film ''The Eagle Has Landed''.
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.
It has appeared in the 1943 The Silver Fleet url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036356/
King's Lynn recently appeared on the Channel 4 TV Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares as the featured restaurant - the Rococo - is on the town's Saturday Marketplace. The restaurant was renamed to Maggie's during filming, in reference to St. Margaret's Church - which is also situated on the marketplace.
The Greyfriars Tower was featured in the first season of the BBC TV series Restoration^[5] for the Eastern region. While the tower won its regional and proceeded to the national final, the contest was won by the Victoria Baths in Manchester.
In the ITV Sherlock Holmes series, the area around Purfleet Quay and alleyways nearby were used in ''The Man with the Twisted Lip''.
The BBC Drama series Kingdom (starring Stephen Fry) is set in Norfolk and filmed in King's Lynn.

Twinned town

★ Emmerich in Western Germany.

Notable people

Notable current and former residents of King's Lynn include:

★ Eugene Aram. 18th century "Usher", namely Assistant Master at the Grammar School: murderer and subject of poem by Thomas Hood.

★ Thomas Baines. 19th century artist and explorer.

★ Martin Brundle. 20th century Formula One driver and sports commentator.

★ Fanny Burney. 19th century novelist and diarist.

★ Ruth, Lady Fermoy. Founder of the Kings Lynn Festival of the Arts, Lady in Waiting to HM Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother (also grandmother of Princess Diana)

★ Stephen Fry 20th century English comedian, actor, author and film maker. Owns a house in West Bilney, outside King's Lynn. He also attended the College of West Anglia in the town.

★ Margery Kempe. 15th century author.

★ Sir William Lancaster (19th/20th century) Joint founder of Prudential Assurance.

★ Roger Taylor. 20th century drummer and vocalist with rock band Queen.

★ Derek Oldfield, musician, friend of Sir Malcolm Arnold, composer, and promoter of events for the Festival fringe.

★ Peter Parfitt. 20th century Test cricketer.

★ Frederick Savage. 19th century leading developer and manufacturer of steam roundabouts and other fairground machinery.

★ Princess Diana 20th century attendee of a primary school in King's Lynn.

★ George Vancouver. 18th century naval officer and explorer, gave his name to Vancouver Island and the city of Vancouver. (Birthplace.)

★ Robert Walpole. 18th century statesman, Member of Parliament for King's Lynn.

★ George William Manby. 19th Century inventor of the lifesaving rocket apparatus used until recently by HM Coastguard to pass line and breeches buoy to wrecked ships.

★ Desmond Hayes-Lynge. 21st century commanding officer, French Foreign Legion, and musicologist.

References

1. OS Explorer Map 250 - Norfolk Coast West, , , , Ordnance Survey, 2002,
2. OS Explorer Map 236 - King's Lynn, Downham Market & Swaffham, , , , Ordnance Survey, 1999,
3. Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes
4. Kings Lynn, a Hanse League Member
5. Restoration - Series 1


★ See King's Lynn Festival for details of its history and the role of Lady Fermoy

See also

★ Buildings in King's Lynn

External links

★ A website with a vast catalogue of photographs and information on King's Lynn taken in 2002
.

★ Information from Genuki Norfolk on King's Lynn.

★ History of medieval Lynn

★ Port of King's Lynn

★ Out & About - volunteer to help disabled kids in Kings Lynn

★ The Linnets, King's Lynn Football Club

★ King's Lynn Online News, pictures, events, community

★ Lynn News

★ Details of things to do in King's Lynn with photos

★ Photographs and more details about Kings Lynn

★ Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk