A Port on a Silty River

Cobbled lanes to King's Lynn's museums, the river and a ferry ride.

Distance 4.2 miles (6.8km)

Minimum time 2hrs (allow longer for museums)

Ascent/gradient Negligible

Level of difficulty Easy

Paths Pavements, cobbled streets, grassy river path and steps to ferry (operates all year but NOT on Sundays!)

Landscape Town buildings and open riverside

Suggested map aqua3 OS Explorer 250 Norfolk Coast West

Start/finish TF 620199

Dog friendliness Dogs can roam free, but watch for traffic in town

Parking Clough Lane car park (pay-and-display)

Public toilets At bus station, also Abbey Street, Queen Street car parks

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Directions
Background
Information

1 Walk towards the King's Lynn Auction Rooms. Pass the fitness centre and cross the road to the park. Take the path towards the chapel of St John the Evangelist.

2 Turn right by the pond. On a little knoll to your left is Red Mount Chapel, built in 1485 for pilgrims travelling to Walsingham. When you reach the ruinous walls of the town's defences, continue along Seven Sisters Walk with the football ground to your left.

3 Pass the Beeches Guest House into Guanock Terrace, and continue past the Lord Napier pub and the statue of Mayor Savage. Bear left at London Road and, when you see the 15th-century South Gate, cross and aim for the Honest Lawyer pub. Turn right along Saddlebow Road, until you see the footpath sign on your right after you cross the Nar River.

4 Turn right on to the Nar Valley Way, a grassy footpath between scrub and a townscape of terraced houses. The path follows the Nar to the Nar Outfall Sluice. The path then turns south to follow the Great Ouse. When you reach the bridge, turn right on the road and cross the bridge.

5 Turn right at the sign marking the Fen Rivers Way. Follow this, where you have views across the river to King's Lynn itself. Initially, the path is grassy, but then becomes a boardwalk leading past the various factories on the west bank of the river and eventually to the ferry station.

6 Take the ferry, which runs about every 20 mins from 7am to 6pm (not Sundays) back to King's Lynn, then walk up Ferry Lane as far as King Street. Turn left to see the Tuesday Market Place with its 750-seat Corn Exchange concert hall.

7 Retrace your steps and head for Purfleet Quay, which houses the Custom House and a statue of explorer George Vancouver, Lynn's most famous son. Cut through Purfleet Place and into Queen Street to see gracious Georgian houses, then back down King's Staithe Lane and up College Lane to Thorseby College, built in 1500 for 13 chantry priests. Go round the corner to the Saturday Market Place, looking at the Town House Museum and the Town Hall (built in 1421) before bearing right to reach Priory Lane to see Priory Cottages. Turn left on Church Street to see St Margaret's Church (founded in the 1100s).

8 Turn right on to the pedestrian High Street for a flavour of the modern town, going right again into New Conduit Street (where Vancouver was born), then along Tower Street and to the car park.

King's Lynn was originally just called Lynn, and was an unassuming little place. But in the early Middle Ages, things began to take off. Lynn was strategically placed on one of the most important waterways in medieval England and soon a huge amount of trade was passing through. It exported corn from Lincolnshire, lead from Derbyshire, salt from Norfolk and Lincolnshire and, most importantly, wool from the East Midlands. It imported dried cod from Iceland and timber, pitch and resin from the Baltic, as well as Flemish and Italian cloths.

With all these revenues, it became a wealthy place, and Herbert de Losinga, the first Bishop of Norwich, decided he wanted it for himself. It became known as Bishop's Lynn, and so remained until the 1530s, when Henry VIII squashed its ecclesiastical association and named it King's Lynn, after himself. The change in name meant little to Lynn's merchants, who remained prosperous and continued to build their grand houses and churches, many of which can still be seen today.

King's Lynn is an architectural dream, with almost every period represented, ranging from St Nicholas's Chapel, built between 1145 and 1420, to picturesque Burkitt Court Almshouses, built in 1909 in memory of a Lynn corn merchant. One of the most visible landmarks is the Greyfriars Tower, which was part of a Franciscan Friary and was built in the 14th century. The beautifully proportioned Custom House is now a tourist information centre and was originally built in 1683 as a merchants' exchange.

St George's Guildhall is the largest surviving guildhall in England. It was built around 1410, and has been used as a warehouse, a store for guns during the Civil War and a court house. It is now the King's Lynn Centre for the Arts and houses an art gallery, a theatre and a coffee shop.

Not all of Lynn's history has been a tale of success and prosperity. The town suffered during the Civil War, when Cromwell's Parliamentarians besieged the Royalist troops stationed here. In 1643 a cannon ball went through the west window of St Margaret's Church. The town also endured terrible floods, and the levels they reached are marked near the west door of St Margaret's. King's Lynn is a charming town, whether you are interested in walks laden with history, in parks and gardens, or in shopping and eating. Don't rush this town; it deserves to be lingered in.

Where to eat and drink

There is no shortage of nice places to eat in King's Lynn. True's Yard and the Green Quay have friendly cafés, and there are plenty of cafés and restaurants in the pedestrian section of town. Schnell Imbiss, in South Clough Lane near the car park, offers German food. The Tudor Rose hotel and restaurant dates from the 15th century.

While you're there

There are a number of attractions off the walk. These include True's Yard, which explores the harsh realities of life as a fisherman in old King's Lynn. The Green Quay has an interactive discovery centre dedicated to the Wash. The Lynn Museum concentrates on local history. If you have time for a longer excursion, you can take the new Peter Scott Board Walk, north along the Great Ouse from West Lynn.

What to look for

There are too many historically and architecturally important buildings to mention on this walk, but you pass two museums. The Gaol House explores the darker side of the town, looking at smuggling, witches and crime. Next door, the Town House Museum tells what life was like in medieval, Tudor and Victorian times. Both are worth visiting.