A Look at King's Lynn by Local Historian Dr Paul Richards

A Look at King's Lynn

King's Lynn (Lynn in local parlance) was founded around 1100. During the Middle Ages it established itself as a major seaport and market town. Wool, cloth, wine, fish, salt, furs and spices attracted overseas merchants to the annual fairs. Lynn was still one of England's premier seaports in the 18^th century trading in timber, corn, coal, and wine. Ship building was a major industry too. There is a restored full sized ship at True's Yard Fishing Museum.

The wealth generated by the trade was invested in merchant houses and public buildings as well as port facilities. Lynn's rich maritime past is clearly visible today. The Hanseatic  Steelyards, Town Hall, Custom House, Clifton House, and True's Yard Fishing Museum and many other buildings are all noteworthy.  Adding to the region's maritime heritage, less than 20 miles north east of the town, is the quiet hamlet of Burnham Thorpe, birthplace of Horatio Nelson. Born in1758, Nelson joined the Royal Navy at the age of twelve and became Britain's most famous sailor.

Captain George Vancouver was born in Lynn in 1757 and surveyed 5000 miles of the west coast of North America in the 1790's ( The city of Vancouver is named after him).

In 2004 Lynn celebrated the 800^th anniversary of it's charter from King John who gave the town a council and a mayor after London, and Southampton the wash ports of Lynn and Boston were the most important in England in 1204 and not surprisingly merchants from Hamburg and the growing Baltic harbour towns traded with them. In August 2004 the Kieler  Hansekogge  (a replica of a 1380 ship) visited Lynn and 20 citizens joined the German Crew to sail to Boston

The Hanseatic  Steelyard at Lynn was built after the Treaty of Utrecht (1475) and is the only one in England to have survived from the middle ages. There were very close commercial and cultural ties between Lynn and Hamburg, Bremen, Lubeck, Gdansk and the other members of the Hanseatic League between about 1250 and 1550. Trade between Lynn and the Baltic continued after 1550 into the 20^th century and the port of Lynn is still busy today.  

Lynn has become the home of a number of new industries since 1960 (light engineering and food  processing) and the shopping centre of the 1960 is been redeveloped along with a large area to the south of the town (new housing and  businesses). A marina has been proposed, with a population of 44,000. Lynn is looking forward to a bright future , the latest development is the new Palm Paper factory on the old Sugar Factory site at South Lynn, Lynn has also had a golden past.