King's Lynn is a typical English town on the east bank of the Ouse, 2.5mi/4km from its outflow into the Wash. It was once the fourth largest town in England and a member of the Hanseatic League. This period of prosperity is still recalled by a 15th century Hanseatic warehouse. The original name of the town was Lynn: the prefix "King's" was added when Henry VIII granted it the right to hold an additional market. Hence there are two market places in the town, the Tuesday Market and the Saturday Market, around which the older houses are clustered.
King's Lynn holds two music festivals each summer as well as literature and poetry festivals. There is a large urban park in King's Lynn known as the Walks, currently undergoing restoration.
The Guildhall of the Holy Trinity, with a checkered pattern facade, was built in 1421 and is said to house the crown jewels and other important items of King John.
Sandringham House, a residence of the queen, offers tours when the royal family is elsewhere. The neo-Elizabethan house is surrounded by gardens which are particularly attractive in the spring.
King Street runs past St George's Guildhall (1406), now used as a theater and art gallery, to the Tuesday Market.
This is the largest surviving English medieval guildhall, now used as an arts center. It is under the ownership of the National Trust.
Address: St George's Guildhall, 29 King Street, King's Lynn PE30 1HA, England
Hours:
January 1 to December 31: 10am-4pm; Sat:10am-3:30pm; Closed: Sun
Always closed on: New Year's Day (January 1), Summer Bank Holiday - Britain outside Scotland (last Monday, August ), Christmas - Christian (December 25), Day after Christmas, St Stephen's Day, Boxing Day (December 26), Good Friday - Christian
Disability Access: Partial facilities for persons with disabilities.
The African Violet Centre in Kings Lynn is a unique nursery which won the Chelsea Show Gold Medal in 1994. There is a children's play area, a cafe and knowledgable staff to answer questions.
Address: African Violet Centre, Terrington St Clement, King's Lynn PE34 4PL, England
Hours:
February 1 to December 24: 9am-5pm; Sun:10am-5pm
Always closed on: New Year's Day (January 1), Christmas - Christian (December 25), Day after Christmas, St Stephen's Day, Boxing Day (December 26)
Brancaster is a region of saltmarshes and sandflats that includes the site of a Roman fort, Branodunum. It is preserved and protected by the National Trust.
Address: Dial House, Brancaster Staithe, King's Lynn PE31 8BW, England
Tips: Be aware of tide schedule when crossing over salt marshes and sand flats at low tide.
Parking: Pay
Transit: Bus: Sanders/Dunthrone/First Eastern Counties Coastliner Hunstatno-Wells with connections from King's Lynn.
Of this once mighty Castle Rising stronghold (4.5mi/7km northeast of King's Lynn) there remain a Norman keep and the defensive wall. The parish church is Late-Norman with a beautiful west front.
Address: Castle Rising, King's Lynn PE31 6AH, England
Hours:
March 21 to November 1: 10am-6pm
November 2 to March 20: 10am-4pm; Closed: Mon, Tue
Always closed on: New Year's Day (January 1), Christmas Eve - Christian (December 24), Christmas - Christian (December 25), Day after Christmas, St Stephen's Day, Boxing Day (December 26)
Tips: 15% discount for groups of 11 or more.
Disability Access: Partial facilities for persons with disabilities.
King's Lynn has a number of interesting sites and places to stay.
Among these is an impressive collection of 20,000 model soldiers. The display featuring many different scales and the craftsmanship of famous makers. As well as the models, there is a collection of watercolors and prints by leading military artists of the late 19th century.
Address: Cholmondeley Collection of Model Soldiers, Houghton Hall Houghton, King's Lynn PE31 6UE, England
Hours:
April 8 to September 30: 2pm-5pm; Closed: Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat
Always opened on: Spring Bank Holiday - Britain (last Monday, May ), Summer Bank Holiday - Britain outside Scotland (last Monday, August )
Leading north from Queen Street is King Street with the former Custom House, built in 1683 by Henry Bell in Palladian style with a statue of Charles II above the door.
South of Bridge Street is the Greenland fishery, the wooden office of the Greenland sailors built in 1605, testimony from the town's illustrious period when the Greenland sailors set sail from the port of Lynn.
The octagonal late 14th century Greyfriars Tower, reached by way of the High Street and St James's Street, is a relic of a former priory in King's Lynn.
This fine classical house is famed as being the home of the first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole.
It holds fine examples of work by Colen Campbell, a pioneer of the Palladian style, and William Kent, the famed interior decorator.
Hours:
April 8 to September 30: 1pm-5:30pm; Closed: Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri, Sat
Always opened on: Spring Bank Holiday - Britain (last Monday, May ), Summer Bank Holiday - Britain outside Scotland (last Monday, August ), Easter - Christian
There are a number of handsome Tudor and Georgian houses in the area around King Street. One of the most picturesque spots is where the old ship canal flows into the Ouse.
In Long Sutton visitors can wander through a tropical house containing over 500 exotic free-flying butterflies. The park also features falcons, hawks, owls and vultures in flying displays twice daily. On weekends there is a special dog display team.
Address: Butterfly and Falconry Park, Long Sutton, Spalding PE12 9LE, England
Hours:
March 22 to August 31: 10am-6pm
September 1 to October 31: 10am-5pm
Parking: Free
Disability Access: Full facilities for persons with disabilities.
To the east of Lynn Museum on the Walks the Red Mount Chapel can be seen, an octagonal brick building, once frequented by pilgrims on their way to Walsingham.
In Saturday Market, near the river, is the principal church of King's Lynn, St Margaret's, with massive west towers which give it almost the air of a cathedral. It was built by the bishop of Norwich in the 12th century, when the town was known as Bishop's Lynn. The west front is particularly fine. It contains two very fine brasses, probably of Flemish workmanship. These magnificent 14th century pieces represent a vintage scene and a peacock feast (Peacock Brass).
The Park Farm at Snettisham not far to the north of King's Lynn provides interesting insights into aspects of country life such as cattle rearing, wool production and sheep shearing.
Address: Snettisham Park Farm, King's Lynn PE31 7NQ, England
Hours:
February 1 to October 31: 10am-5pm
Always closed on: Christmas - Christian (December 25)
Parking: Free
Disability Access: Partial facilities for persons with disabilities.
In St Anne's Street is St Nicholas's Chapel, rebuilt in English Perpendicular style between between the 1380s and 1415. There is interesting window tracery and a late 15th century brass lectern.
Hours:
June 1 to September 30: am-am; Closed: Sun, Mon, Wed, Thu, Fri
Tips: Open at other times by key available locally at True's Yard or Tudor Rose Hotel.
In Queen Street are Thoresby College, a priests' seminary founded in 1500, with a 17th century front (now a youth hostel) and Clifton House, a Georgian house with an Elizabethan watch-tower.
Opposite the Castle Rising parish church is an almshouse, founded by Henry Howard in 1614 for women. It comprises nine rooms grouped around a courtyard, a communal room and a small chapel. The old ladies who still live there dress in Jacobean costume, red coats and black pointed hats.
Two of the last fishermen's cottages in North Street were lovingly restored in 1991 and now house a fishing museum with displays of traditional fishing equipment.
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Guildhall of the Holy Trinity
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Long Sutton, England
King's Lynn
