About King's Lynn

Most people have not heard of King's Lynn, let alone where it might be, so we've pin-pointed our position on the picture of the British Isles to your right to give you an idea.  King's Lynn is approximately 100 miles north of London and is situated in the county of Norfolk.

King's Lynn is a medium sized Market town with a long history based on being an important medieval port. The town is sited alongside the River Great Ouse approximately 2 miles inland of its mouth.

The mouth of the River Great Ouse opens out into a large estuary, known as 'The Wash', which is a substantial wilderness area of tidal mud-flats that is a haven for migrating sea birds being rich in marine life. It is the largest area in the UK granted S.S.S.I protection - Site of Special Scientific Interest). 

Being low lying, the central part of the King's Lynn is dominated by the presence of the River and the danger posed from flooding due to its large tidal range (approx 6m, 18ft) and tidal surges. These tidal phenomena are caused by the geography of the East coast of the UK and the European coast, which narrows down like a funnel towards the Straits of Dover at Kent, at which point it is only 20 miles across to Calais. The flood of 1953 is embedded in the memory of King's Lynn but thankfully subsequent improvements to the flood defences have so far prevented a reoccurrence of major flooding. 

In the introduction to the book 'King's Lynn' by Paul Richards, the publishers in 1990 write: "Lynn has a long history. As important to the middle ages as Liverpool was to become in the Industrial Revolution, it was a major port for centuries, with access to ten counties through the Ouse river system. Aptly described as "the warehouse on the Wash" it maintained its position until the railway robbed it of much of its traffic in mid-19th century. After a century in relative decline, the last thirty years have seen vigorous expansion and revival in the town...."

Today King's Lynn still has a port, though is only a minor one, exporting grain and scrap metal and importing timber and timber products from Scandinavia.  Expansion of the town has slowed with the loss of some industries but we now have a new shopping centre and many newly built homes, some entailing the re-use of long-disused industrial sites.  A new paper-recycling mill has recently opened on the outskirts of town and work to the local Victorian park, known as 'The Walks' is now complete.

King's Lynn's latest challenge is the influx of substantial numbers of migrant workers from the newly expanded EU.

The royal residence of Sandringham Estate (Princess Diana was born and grew up at Park House, Sandringham) and the seaside town of Hunstanton are within 8 and 15 miles respectively of King's Lynn.