Editing King's Lynn (section)

==History==
===Toponymy===
The [[etymology]] of King's Lynn is uncertain. The name ''Lynn'' may signify a [[body of water]] near the town – the Welsh word {{lang|cy|llyn}} means a lake; but the name is plausibly of [[Old English|Anglo-Saxon]] origin, from ''lean'' meaning a [[Tenure (law)|tenure]] in fee or farm.<ref name="regis"/> The 1086 [[Domesday Book]] records it as ''Lun'' and ''Lenn'', and ascribes it to the [[Bishop of Elmham]] and the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]].<ref name="regis" /> The Domesday Book also mentions saltings at Lena (Lynn); an area of partitioned pools may have existed there at the time. The presence of salt, which was relatively rare and expensive in the early medieval period, may have added to the interest of [[Herbert de Losinga]] and other prominent Normans in the modest parish.

The town was named ''Len {{lang|la|Episcopi|italic=unset}}'' (Bishop's Lynn) while under the temporal and spiritual jurisdiction of the [[Bishop of Norwich]], but in the reign of [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] it was surrendered to the crown and took the name ''Lenne {{lang|la|Regis|italic=unset}}'' or King's Lynn.<ref name="regis"/> However, the town is generally known locally as ''Lynn''.

Other places with Lynn in the name include Dublin, Ireland, with An Dubh Linn meaning “the Black Pool.”  The city of [[Lynn, Massachusetts]], north of [[Boston]], was named in 1637 in honour of its first official minister of religion, Reverend Samuel Whiting Sr, who arrived there from Lynn, Norfolk.<ref name="Whiting_1637">{{Cite web |url=http://www.lynnma.gov/about/history.shtml |title=A BRIEF HISTORY OF LYNN |author=<!--Not stated--> |website=About Lynn |publisher=City of Lynn |access-date=1 December 2021 |quote=When the first official minister, Samuel Whiting, arrived from King's Lynn, England, the new settlers were so excited that they changed the name of their community to Lynn in 1637 in honor of him.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ci.lynn.ma.us/aboutlynn_history.shtml |title=Brief History of Lynn |publisher=Ci.lynn.ma.us |date=30 May 1912 |access-date=9 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829100613/http://www.ci.lynn.ma.us/aboutlynn_history.shtml |archive-date=29 August 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Middle Ages===
Lynn originated on a constricted site south of where the [[River Great Ouse]] now discharges into [[the Wash]]. Development began in the early 10th century, but the place was not recorded until the early 11th century. Until the early 13th century, the Great Ouse emptied via the Wellstream at [[Wisbech]]. After its redirection, Lynn and its port gained significance and prosperity.<ref>"History of Lynn" Volume 1 by William Richards M.A. 1812</ref>

In 1101, Bishop [[Herbert de Losinga]] of [[Thetford]] began to build the first [[Middle Ages|medieval]] town between the rivers Purfleet to the north and Mill Fleet to the south. He commissioned [[King's Lynn Minster|St Margaret's Church]] and authorised a market to be held on Saturday.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lambert |first=Tim |url=http://www.localhistories.org/Kingslynn.html |title=A history of King's Lynn |access-date=2 June 2010}}</ref><ref name="Heritage">{{Cite web |url=http://www.west-norfolk.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=21900 |title=History and Heritage of King's Lynn |access-date=25 May 2010 |publisher=Borough Council of King's Lynn & West Norfolk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100507174416/http://www.west-norfolk.gov.uk/Default.aspx?page=21900 |archive-date=7 May 2010 }}</ref> Trade built up along the waterways that stretched inland; the town expanded between the two rivers.

Lynn's 12th-century Jewish community was exterminated in the widespread [[History of the Jews in England (1066–1290)|massacres of 1189]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Jewish Community of King's Lynn |url=https://dbs.bh.org.il/place/kings-lynn |publisher=[[The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot]] |access-date=2 July 2018}}</ref>

During the 14th century, Lynn ranked as England's most important port. It was seen to be as vital to England in the [[Middle Ages]] as [[Liverpool]] was during the [[Industrial Revolution]]. Sea trade with Europe was dominated by the [[Hanseatic League]] of ports; the [[wikt:transatlantic|transatlantic]] trade and the rise of England's western ports began only in the 17th century. The [[King's Lynn Guildhall|Trinity Guildhall]] was rebuilt in 1421 after a fire. Walls entered by the [[South Gate, King's Lynn|South Gate]] and East Gate were erected to protect the town.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.poppyland.co.uk/index.php?s=KINGS_LYNN |title=King's Lynn |access-date=8 June 2010 |work=Poppyland Publishing}}</ref> It retains two former Hanseatic League warehouses: Hanse House of 1475<ref name=hansehouse>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1195393 |desc=Hanse House |access-date=12 January 2014}}</ref> and Marriott's Warehouse, in use between the 15th and 17th centuries.<ref name=marriotts>{{National Heritage List for England |num=1212000 |desc=Marriott's Warehouse |access-date=12 January 2014}}</ref> These are the only remaining buildings of the Hanseatic League in England. The town was designated a [[Royal Port]] by [[John, King of England|King John]].

===Modern===
[[File:Hanseatic Warehouse King's Lynn.JPG|thumb|right|[[Hanseatic League|Hanseatic]] warehouse]]
[[File:Kings Lynn Guild Hall (geograph 4626827).jpg|thumb|[[King's Lynn Guildhall|Trinity Guildhall]]]]

In the first decade of the 16th century, [[Thoresby College]] was built in Lynn by Thomas Thoresby to house priests of the Guild of The Holy Trinity. It had been incorporated in 1453 under a petition of its alderman, chaplain, four brethren and four sisters, who were licensed to found a [[chantry]] of chaplains for the altar of Holy Trinity in [[Wisbech]]. Lands were granted in [[mortmain]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pugh |first=R. B. |title=A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 4: City of Ely; Ely, N. and S. Witchford and Wisbech Hundreds |year=2002 |pages=255–256 |chapter=Guild of the Holy Trinity}}</ref> Lynn acquired a [[mayor]] and corporation in 1524. In 1537 the king took over the town from the bishop. In the same century the town's two annual fairs were reduced to one. In 1534 a [[grammar school]] was founded; four years later [[Henry VIII]] closed the Benedictine priory and the three friaries.

A piped [[water supply]] was created in the 16th century, although many could not afford to connect to the [[elm]] pipes carrying water under the streets. Lynn suffered from outbreaks of [[Bubonic plague|plague]], notably in 1516, 1587, 1597, 1636 and finally in 1665. Fire was another hazard – in 1572 thatched roofs were banned to reduce the risk. In the [[English Civil War]], King's Lynn supported Parliament, but in August 1643 it was in Royalist hands. It changed sides again after Parliament sent an army and the town was besieged for three weeks. [[Valentine Walton]] brother-in-law of [[Oliver Cromwell]] was appointed governor.

A heart carved on the wall of the Tuesday Market Place supposedly  marks the burning of an alleged witch, Margaret Read, in 1590. It is said that as she was burning her heart burst from her body and struck the wall.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Castelow |first=Ellen |title=The history of witches in Britain |url=http://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Witches-in-Britain/ |publisher=Historic UK |access-date=22 August 2014}}</ref> Other sources put forward Mary Smith, hanged in 1616, as the witch.<ref>{{cite book|title= Ghosts & Legends of Lynn|author= Alison Gifford|publisher= True's Yard}}</ref>

[[File:Kings-lynn-customs-house.JPG|thumb|right|The [[Buildings in King's Lynn#Custom House|Custom House]]]]
In 1683, the architect [[Henry Bell (architect)|Henry Bell]], once the town's mayor, designed the [[List of buildings in King's Lynn#Custom House|Custom House]]. He also designed the ''[[Duke's Head Hotel, King's Lynn|Duke's Head Inn]]'', [[North Runcton#All Saints' Parish Church|North Runcton Church]] and Stanhoe Hall, having gained ideas while on travel in Europe as a young man.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.edp24.co.uk/content/edp24/norfolk-life/norfolk-history/content/22CustomHouse.aspx |title=Custom House, King's Lynn |access-date=8 June 2010 |work=[[Eastern Daily Press]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100709083956/http://www.edp24.co.uk/content/edp24/norfolk-life/norfolk-history/content/22CustomHouse.aspx |archive-date=9 July 2010}}</ref>

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the town's main export was grain. Lynn was no longer a major international port, but iron and timber were imported. King's Lynn suffered from the discovery of the [[Americas]], which benefited ports on the west coast of England. It was also affected by the growth of London.

In the late 17th century, imports of wine from Spain, Portugal and France boomed, and there was still much coastal trade. It was cheaper to transport goods by water than by road at the time. Large amounts of coal arrived from the north-east of England.

[[The Fens]] began to be drained in the mid–17th century and the land turned to farming, allowing vast amounts of produce to be sent to London's growing market. Meanwhile, King's Lynn was still a major fishing port. Greenland Fishery House in Bridge Street was built in 1605. By the late 17th century shipbuilding and glass-making had also developed.

In the early 18th century, [[Daniel Defoe]] called the town "beautiful, well built and well situated". Shipbuilding thrived, as did associated trades such as sail-making and rope-making. Glass-making prospered; brewing was another important industry. The Norwich company of comedians had been visiting since the 1750s, in 1766 a permanent theatre was created. A new playhouse was built in 1805.<ref>{{cite book|title= Treading the Boards|author= Neil R Wright|publisher= SLHA|page= 92|year= 2016}}</ref> The first bank in King's Lynn opened in 1784.

A fearsome example of penal brutality occurred on 28 September 1708, when a seven-year-old boy, Michael Hammond, and his 11-year-old sister Ann were [[convicted]] of stealing a loaf of bread and sentenced to [[hanging]]. Their public executions took place near the [[South Gate, King's Lynn#South Gate|South Gate]]s. The Member of Parliament at the time was [[Robert Walpole|Sir Robert Walpole]], generally regarded as the first [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.information-britain.co.uk/famdates.php?id=282 |title=18 December 1969, Death penalty abolished |date=1 April 2007 |access-date=14 March 2013}}</ref>

[[File:cmglee_Kings_Lynn_railway_station.jpg|thumb|right|[[King's Lynn railway station]] in July 2017]]
The town's decline from the late 17th century was reversed by the arrival of the railways in 1847, mainly by the [[Great Eastern Railway]], later the [[London and North Eastern Railway]], running to [[Hunstanton]], [[Dereham]] and [[Cambridge]]. The town was also served by the [[Midland and Great Northern Joint Railway]] (M&GN), with offices at Austin Street and a station at South Lynn (now dismantled), which was also its operational control centre. It relocated to [[Melton Constable]]. The M&GN lines across Norfolk closed to passengers in February 1959.

The town's amenities continued to improve in the 20th century. A museum opened in 1904 and a public library in 1905. The first cinema, the [[Majestic Cinema, King's Lynn|Majestic]], officially opened on 23 May 1928. (The year is marked in a stained-glass window on the front of the building.) The town council began a programme of [[urban renewal|regeneration]] in the 1930s.

During the [[World War I|First World War]], King's Lynn was one of the UK's first towns to suffer aerial bombing, on the night of 19 January 1915 by a naval [[Zeppelin]], L4 (LZ 27),<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://blog.ezep.de/2011/02/zeppelin-l4-lz–27-crashed-at-denmark-fuel-shortage/ |title=Zeppelin L4 (LZ–27) crashed at Denmark, fuel shortage {{pipe}} eZEP-blog |publisher=Blog.ezep.de |access-date=9 August 2012}}</ref> commanded by Captain Lieutenant Magnus von Platen-Hallermund. Eleven bombs were dropped, both incendiary and high explosive, doing much damage, killing two people in Bentinck Street and injuring several more. When the [[World War II|Second World War]] began in 1939, it was assumed that King's Lynn would be safe from bombing and many evacuees were sent from London, but the town suffered several raids.

The local breweries had closed by the 1950s, but new industries included food canning in the 1930s and [[Campbell's soup|soup-making in the 1950s]]. In the 1960s, the council sought to encourage development by adding an industrial estate at Hardwick.

In 1962, King's Lynn was classed as an overflow town for London. The population grew and estates were built at Woottons and [[Gaywood, Norfolk|Gaywood]]. The town centre was redeveloped in the 1960s and many earlier buildings knocked down. Lynnsport, a sports centre, opened in 1982. The [[Corn Exchange, King's Lynn|Corn Exchange]] in Tuesday Market Place became a theatre in 1996.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.kingslynncornexchange.co.uk/about-us/history-and-heritage/ |title=History and Heritage|publisher= King's Lynn Corn Exchange| access-date=14 May 2023}}</ref>

===Recent changes===
[[File:Kings-lynn-river-great-ouse.JPG|thumb|upright=1.4|right|King's Lynn, as viewed from across the [[River Great Ouse]]]]
Since 2004, work has been under way to [[Urban renewal|regenerate]] the town under a multi-million-pound scheme. The 1960s Vancouver Shopping Centre (now the Vancouver Quarter) was refurbished in 2005 under the scheme, but was expected to last only 25 years, according to the construction firm, even with a planned extension.{{when|date=May 2019}} An award-winning £6 million [[multi-storey car park]] was built.

To the south of the town, residential housing appeared on a large area of [[brownfield land]]. Plans for another housing estate alongside the [[River Nar]] were opposed locally and halted by the economic situation. There is also a business park, parkland, a school, shops and a new relief road in a £300 million-plus scheme.

In 2006, King's Lynn became the United Kingdom's first member of The Hanse (''Die Hanse''), a network of towns across Europe that belonged historically to the [[Hanseatic League]]. The league was an influential medieval [[Trade association|trading association]] of merchant towns around the [[Baltic Sea]] and the [[North Sea]], which contributed to Lynn's development.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.west-norfolk.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=23286 |title=King's Lynn, a Hanse League Member |publisher=King's Lynn and West Norfolk Borough Council Website |access-date=15 January 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927201703/http://www.west-norfolk.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=23286 |archive-date=27 September 2007}}</ref>

[[File:Dow Chemical works - geograph.org.uk - 650287.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|[[Dow Chemical Company]] works in King's Lynn.]]
The Borough Council commissioned and accepted a 2008 report by DTZ that dubbed King's Lynn's workforce as "low-value" with a "low skills base" and the town as having a "poor lifestyle offer". The quality of services and amenities was "unattractive to higher-value inward investors and professional employees with higher disposable incomes". Average earnings were well below regional and national levels, and many jobs in tourism, leisure and hotels were subject to seasonal fluctuations and likewise poorly paid. Education and workforce skills were described as below the national average. The borough ranked 150th out of 354 for social deprivation.<ref name="marina-report">{{Cite web |url=http://www.west-norfolk.gov.uk/pdf/The%20Economic%20Impact%20Assessment.pdf |title=Economic Impact Assessment of King's Lynn Marina |date=June 2007 |access-date=22 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721225727/http://www.west-norfolk.gov.uk/pdf/The%20Economic%20Impact%20Assessment.pdf |archive-date=21 July 2011}}</ref>

In 2009, a proposal was made for the Campbell's Meadow factory site to be redeveloped as a {{convert|5|ha|acre|adj=on}} employment and business park. In June 2011 Tesco gained a permit for a superstore.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.campbellsmeadow.co.uk/01_01_investment.html |title=Welcome to Campbells Meadow |publisher=[[Tesco]] |year=2009 |access-date=25 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100123172649/http://www.campbellsmeadow.co.uk/01_01_investment.html |archive-date=23 January 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> On 8 June 2010, it unveiled regeneration plans that would cost £32 million and were billed to bring 900 new jobs.<ref name="store wars">{{Cite news |title=Supermarket giants battle it out for Hardwick contract |url=http://www.lynnnews.co.uk/news/features/supermarket_giants_battle_it_out_for_hardwick_contract_1_648674 |publisher=[[Lynn News]] |date=8 June 2010 |access-date =8 June 2010}}</ref> Tesco pledged £4 million of improvements in other areas of the town. While it planned to spend £1.6 million widening Hardwick Road, the Sainsbury's bid was preferred by the Council as offering the town more benefits.<ref name="store wars"/>

[[File:Kings-lynn-campbells-soup-tower.JPG|thumb|upright=1.4|right|Campbell's tower in 2006, prior to its demolition in 2012]]
Sainsbury's £40 million plans for a superstore opposite Tesco on the Pinguin Foods site yielded an estimated 300 jobs. This was the key to securing the future of Pinguin Foods in King's Lynn.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sainsburys-kingslynn.co.uk/ |title=A New Sainsbury's for King's Lynn |publisher=[[Sainsbury's]] |year=2009 |access-date=11 June 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090303213433/http://sainsburys-kingslynn.co.uk/ |archive-date= 3 March 2009}}</ref> Pinguin Foods released {{convert|12|acre|ha|0}} of its {{convert|44|acre|ha|adj=on}} site to accommodate the proposed store. Mortson Assets' and Sainsbury's plan included a link road between Scania Way and Queen Elizabeth Way to improve access and allow the industrial estate to attract new employers, while Sainsbury's maintains its store in the town centre. It has pledged £1.75 million for highways improvements and a further £7 million to invest in the Pinguin Foods factory.<ref name="store wars"/>

At 8 am on 15 January 2012, the landmark Campbell's Tower was demolished – competition winner Sarah Griffiths pulled the switch. Her father, Mick Locke, had died in 1995 aged 52 after being scalded by steam at the factory. It was Campbell's first UK factory when it opened in the 1950s. At its peak in the early 1990s it employed over 700.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/video_thousands_gather_to_watch_campbell_s_tower_demolished_in_king_s_lynn_1_1177765 |title=Video: Thousands gather to watch Campbell's tower demolished in King's Lynn – News – Eastern Daily Press |date=14 January 2012 |publisher=Edp24.co.uk |access-date=9 August 2012}}</ref>

A [[fire station]] was opened by Queen [[Elizabeth II]] in February 2015.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Winchester |first1=Levi |title=Queen and Duke of Edinburgh brave the cold to open new fire station in King's Lynn |url=http://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/555728/Queen-Duke-of-Edinburgh-open-new-fire-station-King-s-Lynn |work=Daily Express |date=2 February 2015}}</ref>