Yesterday was King’s Lynn Heritage Open Day 2025 (Downham Market will be having their equivalent this coming Sunday, and I may pay a visit). This post looks back at the day. This post of course covers only a fraction of the sites that were open for the day – the official brochure listed 58 sites.

HERITAGE OPEN DAY

I set forth from home at about 10:15, intending to see a few things before doing my stewarding, and then either go home or look at a few more places after stewarding. I started with a look at some of the classic cars in the Tuesday Market Place…

My next port of call was the Guildhall of St George on King Street, a building that dates from the late 14th century, meaning that it was over 200 years old when Shakespeare came to town (this guildhall includes a theatre that has been staging live performances for over six centuries, and the Bard of Avon was among those to visit in that capacity).

The frontage of the Guldhall of St George

My next port of call was another guildhall, the Guildhall of the Holy Trinity, which also serves as King’s Lynn’s Town Hall.

The massive front window of this guildhall, viewed from inside…

After this I headed to the river front, and Sommerfeld & Thomas, some of which was open for viewing for the first time.

I then headed along the river front and past Custom House to King Street.

Back on King Street I made a quick visit to the What a Hoot Distillery. I did not purchase anything there, though until I saw the price I was briefly considering their golden rum.

I then visited numbers 23-25 King Street, once private residences, now a solicitor’s practice – the two houses were joined together in 1989.

My last visit before heading towards the Bank House for my stewarding commitment was to another solicitor’s building, a regular port of call of mine, because it is Norman in origin and therefore among the oldest in King’s Lynn (the oldest building in the town is All Saints Church, Hillington Square, also Norman).

The stewarding, at the Bank House, was not especially difficult, although the placing of the hotel’s coffee machine was unhelpful, and a lack of functioning lighting restricted the portion of the cellars that was open to the public. My fellow steward then disappeared without telling me anything somewhat less than half way through our slot, and the Bank House being popular I never had a long enough quiet spell to be able to make a phone call, so had do all the stewarding myself. I waited until both stewards for the final session had arrived before taking my leave, and opted to head for home.

PHOTOGRAPHS

Some of the photographs here relate to Heritage Open Day, others are my usual sort…

This little bus was stopped outside the Bank House when I photographed it. It was too close to the beginning of my stewarding slot for me to ride on it.

INTRODUCTION

It is now a well-established tradition that Heritage Open Day in King’s Lynn takes place on the second Sunday of September. I had already decided that I was going to concentrate this year on places I had not previously seen. You can see what I wrote about Heritage Open Day 2015 (and indeed the text relating to Heritage Open Day 2014 – the pictures have been deleted due to lack of storage space in my media library) by clicking here. Also, since the whole point of Heritage Open Day is usually inaccessible places are opened to the public the outsides of buildings do not feature very much. The series of posts about Heritage Open Day 2017 will be different again as I have volunteered to help out at one of the attractions.

WORKING OUT A PLAN OF CAMPAIGN

The weather on Saturday had been downright bad, so it was with relief that I looked out of my windows to see blue sky and bright sun. Leaving my flat at 9:30 (living in the heart of the town it is almost a case of leaving my flat and instantly being in the action I headed for the Tuesday Market Place where I picked up a brochure about the day, and took a photograph of one of the classic cars…

Having established that All Saints Church, a small establishment concealed from wider public knowledge by Hillington Square, was not opening up until 11:10 I set off to do other things until it opened (I was determined to see inside it, having photographed the outside a number of time). I was delighted to note that the Jewish Cemetery was open, and took a closer look at this little landmark that I previously viewed only through a locked gate.

THE JEWISH CEMETERY

This is a fascinating little place, and there was lots of information on display. This made an excellent first attraction of the day:

dscn5088 — Information first (pics 1-7), then some general pics)

Just across the road from the Jewish Cemetery is…

THE PUBLIC LIBRARY

There cannot be many people who are more familiar with the areas of this building that are open to the public on a regular basis than me, but I had not previously seen either the manager’s office or the turret room (home to the Stanley Collection, a gift from the 15th Earl of Derby). Unfortunately I was stopped from taking photographs, so I have no pictures of the latter collection, and only a few from the manager’s office.

dscn5102 — This was one way to make sure your books did not get stolen!

Passing through The Walks I spotted that the fountain had had some kind of bubble bath added to it…

My next port of call was South Quay, where there was a…

A ‘PILOTS’ BOAT

The pilots in question are responsible for ensuring that ships dock safely, and in the case of the team on this boat the area includes the Great Ouse from just north of Downham Market to the Wash and also the mouth of the Nene, the river which serves Peterborough. As part of their responsibility they position buoys to indicate dangerous areas (it takes about ten minutes to shift one of these buoys once it is in position because they are anchored into position by one ton blocks of iron. There was one such on display so we could see closer than usual what they look like.

dscn5107 — A rowing crew approaching the jetty.

dscn5199 — Marriott’s, viewed from the ramp down to the jetty, thriving as would be expected.

My next port of call was…

THE GUILDHALL OF ST GEORGE

This was both an opportunity to look closely at a historic landmark and an opportunity to have say in its future. They had three plans on show, and it was the third that I particularly approved of. I filled out the questionnaire that they were using to collect information. This looked like being a real consultation ( as opposed to for example ‘we are building a new road, where would you like it to go?’ or ‘we are building a new runway, which airport would you like to get it?’). Once you have seen the photos below and before reading on, why not see if you can guess which plan I liked best…

My preferred option of those on show was the third one. I hope that this building’s theatrical connection which stretches back six centuries will be maintained.

Walking through the Vancouver Quarter on my way to the next landmark I was pleased to spot a disused shop being put to good use…

Finally, it was time to visit…

ALL SAINTS CHURCH

This little church is reckoned to be the oldest in King’s Lynn, with parts of the current building dating back almost a thousand years. On the outside it is an attractive building, on the inside…

I finish this post with the last religious establishment I was to visit…

LONDON ROAD METHODIST CHAPEL

On the outside this is a smart but unspectacular brick fronted building. The inside of the building is very impressive…

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Tag: The Guildhall of St George

Heritage Open Day 2025

Heritage Open Day 2016 – Starting the Day