Archive for the ‘History’ Category

A brand new, self-guided walking tour focusing on King’s Lynn’s maritime heritage will be launched on International Hanse Day, Saturday 25 May.

The Maritime Trail guides people through King’s Lynn’s exceptional historic built environment. By incorporating the stories of the merchants, shipbuilders, sailors, fishermen, press gangs, porters and pubs, which have played key roles in the town’s history, the trail helps to bring the past to life.

The way-marked trail, which starts at True’s Yard Fisherfolk Museum and ends at Marriott’s Warehouse, features 27 bronze pavement plaques. There are four different designs to look out for, representing the four wards through which the trail passes.

The tour in brief:

North End Ward - portrayed by a ship’s anchor – tours the historic home of King’s Lynn’s fishing community at True’s Yard, as well as taking in St Nicholas’ Chapel, Common Staithe Quay, and the impressive Tuesday Market Place.

Trinity Ward – represented by a Kogge or merchant’s ship – covers King’s Staithe Square, the Bank House and the impressive merchant’s mansion and tower – Clifton House. The area was a key place for merchants to conduct their business in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Chequer Ward – depicted by a compass – takes in the iconic Custom House and the magnificent buildings on King Street, behind which was a world of warehouses, breweries and merchants’ yards.

Stonegate Ward – signified by the image of a whale – takes in locations such as Nelson Street, Greenland Fishery, Hanse House and Marriott’s Warehouse, and reflects the oldest part of the town, from which King’s Lynn developed to become one of England’s major ports .

To celebrate the opening of the trail a procession led by Cllr Nick Daubney, Leader of the Borough Council, Deputy Borough Mayor, Cllr Barry Ayres and Dr Paul Richards, will follow much of the trail on Saturday 25 May at 11 am.

Cllr Nick Daubney, one of the driving forces behind the development of this trail, said: “We are proud of Lynn’s maritime heritage and this new trail will help visitors to, and residents of, the town to find out more about the way the town grew from its position as a premier sea port. They will be able to see some of the town’s magnificent buildings and understand where they fit in Lynn’s fascinating history. We are extremely grateful to Dr Paul Richards for his invaluable assistance in helping to create this trail.”

It is hoped that the trail will encourage even more visitors to explore the town, as well as being enjoyed by local people, and will help raise awareness of King’s Lynn’s historic role as an important port and centre for trade.

Maritime Trail guide booklets will be available from King’s Lynn Tourist Information Centre, True’s Yard Fisherfolk Museum and Marriott’s Warehouse at a cost of just 50 pence. The trail takes a minimum of around 1 ½ hours to complete, but can be considerably longer depending on the amount of time taken to explore the various locations along the trail.

King’s Lynn will be celebrating International Hanse Day on Saturday 25 May with a packed programme of events and activities to showcase the Hanseatic links.

Events will include:

• Maritime Trail Procession
• A Guided Walk
• Specialised Food Market
• Free Hanseatic Nibbles
• Beer Festival
• A Medieval Banquet
• A Concert for String Orchestras
• Music by the King’s Lynn Waites

There are 182 cities in 16 countries which make up the modern Hanse. Each year, all member cities are encouraged to celebrate their Hhanseatic heritage and their involvement in the modern Hanse network.

By the 13th century King’s Lynn was one of England’s foremost ports. The commercial opportunities and rewards offered by the town attracted merchants from the Baltic, Hamburg and Lubeck. Trading privileges with the Hanse were confirmed by 1310. Hanseatic ships travelled together in convoys across The Wash for safety, especially against pirates.

This year’s Hanse Day celebration centres on Hanseatic food and culture. The day will begin with a Hanseatic Guided Walk which starts from the Custom House at 11am.

To celebrate the opening of the new Maritime Trail a procession led by Cllr Nick Daubney, Leader of the Borough Council, will follow much of the trail around the town.

At Marriott’s Warehouse and Hanse House, food and East European treats will be available between 12.00 noon and 4pm. This will be accompanied by performances of Medieval, Tudor and Renaissance music by the King’s Lynn Waites.

The Bank House will be running a beer festival from 12 noon until 4.00pm, serving bottled beers from Hanse Countries, including beers from the Netherlands, Germany, Latvia and Russia as well as Russian vodka and German Schnapps, all accompanied by free Hanseatic nibbles.

The Market Bistro is organising a small market with their suppliers and will be providing samples of the restaurant’s in-house cured and smoked produce, which will take place on Saturday Market Place between 12 noon and 4pm.

A concert with music for string orchestras and solos by J.S. Bach, Greig, Telemann, Holst and Vaughan Williams will take place at All Saints Church, starting at 5pm.

Denver Mills, based within the Hanse House, is organising a medieval banquet in the Merchant’s Bar at 7pm. The event is ticket only. Tickets must be purchased in advance.

The Hanse flag will be flown from King’s Court, the Custom House, Clifton House and King’s Lynn Town Hall. Sail flags, bearing the Hanse logo will also be displayed at key event locations including the Bank House, Marriott’s Warehouse and the Saturday Market Place.

Borough Council Leader Cllr Nick Daubney, who is the English Commissioner for the League, said: “It is important that we celebrate our Hanseatic links and recognise the important role the former league played within the town. International Hanse Day is a real opportunity to draw attention to King’s Lynn’s rich history and heritage.”

To find out more about International Hanse Day in King’s Lynn, visit the King’s Lynn Tourist Information Centre in the Custom House or call 01553 763044.

An exciting and unique mobile cinema will be coming to Lynn to offer free screenings of local archive films from the last century aboard the 22 seater digital cinema.

The ‘Archive Alive’ mobile cinema tour will be visiting the Vancouver Quarter shopping area on Monday 10 June from 10.30am – 1pm. It will then visit the Green at Hunstanton from 3.30pm – 6.30pm.

Norwich’s Heritage Economic and Regeneration Trust (HEART) will be taking archive film on the road courtesy of a 1960s vintage mobile cinema to bring the archive alive to people throughout Essex, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Norfolk.

The Archive Alive tour will kick off on Sunday 2 June in Clacton-on-sea, Essex and will complete its journey in Hunstanton, Norfolk on Monday 10 June. The complete itinerary is as follows:

Sunday 2 June – CLACTON (9.30am – 12.30pm Town Square), COLCHESTER (3pm – 6pm Castle Park)
Monday 3 – HARLOW (10am – midday Market Place), HAVERHILL (3.30pm – 6.30pm Market Square)
Tuesday 4 – ELY (10am – 1pm The Maltings), CAMBRIDGE (3.30pm – 7pm Parker’s Piece)
Wednesday 5 – RAF LAKENHEATH (for airbase personnel only)
Thursday 6 – DISS (10am – 12.30pm Mere’s Mouth), BURY ST EDMUNDS (3pm – 6pm Cornhill)
Friday 7 – IPSWICH (10am – 12.30pm Lloyds Avenue), ALDEBURGH (3.30pm – 6.30pm Moot Hall)
Saturday 8 – LOWESTOFT (10am – 12.30 Royal Green), NORWICH (3.30pm – 7.30pm The Forum)
Sunday 9 – GRESSENHALL (10am – 1pm Gressenhall Farm & Workhouse), CROMER (4pm – 7pm The Pier)
Monday 10 – KING’S LYNN (10.30am – 1pm Vancouver Quarter shopping area), HUNSTANTON (3.30pm – 6.30pm The Green)

The archive film footage has been researched and selected for digitisation by HEART working closely with the UEA’s East Anglian Film Archive.

One of the aims of the Archive Alive tour is to promote the website www.archivealive.org which showcases hundreds of digitised archive films from across East Anglia. It also features a selection of archive films from Upper Normandy with the opportunity to compare and contrast our social history on both sides of the channel.

Jane Jarvis, Digital Heritage’s Project Manager said: “The ‘Archive Alive’ tour is a great way to help spread the word about what a fantastic resource archive film is. With more of these unique images now available online they can be viewed to enhance our learning and understanding of our region and the way we used to live.

“We are very much looking forward to setting off on the vintage mobile cinema to promote these great films and our new website archivealive.org via such a unique and authentic platform. We hope lots of people, of all ages, will come aboard and enjoy bringing the archive alive.”

For further information on the tour itinerary, locations and timings you can visit www.archivealive.org

Digital Heritage Project
The Digital Heritage Project is currently working with EAFA to digitise hundreds of archive films from Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire from as far back as 1896. With an aim of bringing the archive alive, the Digital Heritage Project is working with two major film archives from both sides of the channel, EAFA and Rouen based, Pôle Image Haute-Normandie.

In October 2012, the Digital Heritage Project launched its new website which showcases a vast and impressive collection of East Anglian and French films which are an important part of our social history and heritage. This project is made possible via EU funding from the Interreg IVA Channel Programme within the scope of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
www.archivealive.org

Two structures, which have lain hidden beneath the Tuesday Market Place in King’s Lynn, would have provided protection to people during the Second World War.

Whilst they have been undisturbed for years, recent survey work in preparation for the refurbishment of the town’s historic square, has drawn attention once again to the oft-forgotten air raid shelters, which are just feet below the surface of the Tuesday Market Place.

Believed to have been there since 1940-41, the two shelters are constructed from steel reinforced concrete. Each shelter is around 8′ to 10′ deep and together would have accommodated around 350 to 400 people.

Cllr Elizabeth Nockolds, Cabinet Member for Health & Wellbeing, said: “We knew the shelters were under the Tuesday Market Place, but they haven’t been accessible for years. When we carried out the core sampling in readiness for the refurbishment work we are doing to the Tuesday Market Place, we took the opportunity to put a camera down the holes to take a couple of snap shots.

“The real surprise was how close the shelters were to the surface of the market place and the fact that they appear to be in such good condition.”

At present there is no money in the council’s budget and no plans to do any further work on the shelters. The priority is to complete the work on the Tuesday Market Place.

Once that has been finished, the shelters may be explored further to see whether they could be made accessible or brought back into some sort of use.

Cllr Elizabeth Nockolds added: “It’s always interesting when you uncover something like this. If anyone has any photos or stories about time they may have spent in the shelters during the war, or any information they may have about the shelters since then, it would really help bring this piece of Lynn’s history to life.”

Comments

We’ve had a lot of comments about this article on Twitter. Here’s a selection:

HANSE HOUSE @HanseHousekl
I’ve lived here a while now but never knew about those, great story!

PETINA BLANDFORD @tonypetina7haj
they should be turned into a living museum

Karen Goult @karengoult
Maybe they could eventually make them open to the public on Heritage Days?

Katie Sutton @katiesutton56
wow great pictures!

You can follow us on Twitter: @Kings_Lynn

A new exhibition at True’s Yard Museum promises to “take you on a journey into Lynn’s rich pub culture.”

The Spirit of the Age – Historic Pubs of Lynn will feature 56 photographs of 28 pubs – Then and Now contrasting the changes over the years. The exhibition will also feature a map of King’s Lynn highlighting all the locations of the pubs.

In 1845 there were as many as 149 pubs in King’s Lynn. Like the town’s population, this figure had doubled since 1800 where there were only 68 pubs for 10,000 residents.

Pubs were the community centres of urban England; they provided the public with entertainment and games. They even provided a home for those in need with their Sick Clubs and Friendly Societies, some helped sailors save a few pennies for a rainy day.

In the North End pubs also served as auction houses for buying of fishing smacks.

Generally there were 3 kinds of pub:

1) Riverside taverns mostly frequented by sailors and porters on the river. There were 8 of these in Queen Street in 1845!

2) Inns, located on the main highways into Lynn via East and South Gates. They provided stables and lodgings. The 2 main coaching inns were The Dukes Head and The Globe.

3) Neighbourhood Pubs, these were popular in the North End and the Friars which was also a maritime quarter.

Pubs were not popular with all however, the Temperance Movement ran a campaign against them throughout the 19th Century. With catchphrases such as “Lips that touch liquors shall not touch ours!”

By 1900 only 108 of the 149 pubs remained opened there were now too many hostelries and not enough customers! Thus began the decline of the pubs which was partly due to the fall in number of sailors as sailing ships gave way to steamers.

The exhibition opening will be at 12 noon on Friday 22nd March at True’s Yard Fisherfolk Museum. Light refreshments will be provided.

To tie in with the exhibition, Dr Paul Richards will be leading a tour of the historic pubs of Lynn on Friday 5th April at 4pm starting at the exhibition and finishing in a local historic hostelry. It makes an interesting Pub Trail!

A new website which promotes and celebrates the role Norfolk women have played in the history of the county and beyond was launched on Friday, 8 March to coincide with International Women’s Day.

The Norfolk Women in History Timeline is an ongoing project designed to encourage people to find out more about some of the well known and not-so-well known women who have links to Norfolk. The website features dozens of biographies of women spanning nearly 2000 years, from Queen of the Iceni Boudicca, who died around 60 AD, to TV cook Delia Smith, famed for her role as a Norwich City Football Club shareholder and fan.

The project has been developed by the Norfolk Record Office, Norfolk County Council’s Library and Information Service and Norfolk Museums Service. The plan is to add to the website over time, and the partners are encouraging people to get in touch to suggest women who have a link to Norfolk who they think should be included and celebrated as part of the project.

Other women who are featured in the Norfolk Women in History Timeline include:

• Edith Cavell, World War One nurse and heroine who was born and brought up in Swardeston.
• Julian of Norwich, who was the first woman to write a book in the English language around the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries.
• Margaret Fountaine, a diarist and adventurer who was born in South Acre near Swaffham, who travelled the world in the 19th century collecting butterflies.
• Benanna Summers from Northrepps near Overstrand, who was widowed at the age of 25 in 1850. She went on to work as a farmer, grocer and laundress to support her three children

.

To find out more about the Norfolk Women in History Timeline, people can visit the website at www.norfolkwomeninhistory.com. People can make a suggestion for someone you think should be included on the timeline by emailing norfrec@norfolk.gov.uk or phoning 01603 222599.

People can also get in touch with suggestions via the Norfolk Record Office Twitter account (www.twitter.com/NorfolkRO) or on the record office Facebook page (www.facebook.com/norfolkrecordoffice).

Local people will be able to meet up and share memories about King’s Lynn at War this Saturday.

Trues Yard Fisherfolk Museum are organising the event, which will include the results of last year’s survey of a World War II Air Raid Shelter in Kettlewell Lane.

The Community Archaeology Day is a free event where anyone can participate in one or more of the activities. In addition to the programme below, WWII documents, artefacts and photographs from the True’s Yard archives will be available to view.

Community Archaeology Day – Programme

WEST NORFOLK AND KING’S LYNN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
In Partnership with True’s Yard Fisherfolk Museum

Saturday, 23rd February 2013

11:30 – 11:40 Welcome, Introduction and Research Centre – Dr. Clive J. Bond,
Chairperson, WN&KL Archaeological Society and Dr. Paul Richards, President
of Society and Trustee, True’s Yard Fisherfolk Museum

11:40 – 12:00 WN&KL Archaeological Society and Community Archaeology -
Dr. Clive J. Bond, Chairperson, WN&KL Archaeological Society

12:00 – 12:45 Kettlewell Lane WWII Air Raid Shelter Survey – Christopher
Kolonko, Archaeologist, Historic Environment Service, Norfolk County
Council, Dereham

12:45 – 1:20 Coffee/Tea Break

1:20 – 3:00 Oral History Interviews

3:00 – 3:20 Discussion and Close.

Contact:

Education and Community Outreach Team,
True’s Yard Fisherfolk Museum
North Street
King’s Lynn PE30 1QW
Tel. 01553 770479
E-mail. outreach@truesyard.co.uk

West Norfolk and King’s Lynn Archaeological Society Webpage:
wnklas.greyhawk.org.uk
Norfolk Heritage Explorer Webpage:
heritage.norfolk.gov.uk

This fascinating old film depicts the marriage of Rodney John Wilcox and Veta Mary Jackson at St. Nicholas Chapel, Kings Lynn on May 27th 1939. At the end of the wedding you can see some interesting footage of King’s Lynn, Stiffkey, Binham and Norwich Cathedral as they were then.

The couples’ son, John Wilcox told us more about the film:

“My mother was born in King’s Lynn in 1913. Her father was Charles William Jackson who was borough Engineer and manager of the Electricity Works in Kettlewell Lane from about 1912 until 1950. His wife was Lillian Mary Sutcliffe. Both were born in Todmorden, West Yorkshire.

“Most of the other people I can identify in the film come from Leicester, none from King’s Lynn. I think the shot of people sitting round a table after the wedding is taken in the garden of Kettlewell House, or possibly at the back of The Duke’s Head or the Globe which is where the reception was held.

“I am fairly certain the person who took the film is Eric Gibson from Leicester, and his wife Dorothy is seen at the end looking out of a window, presumably onto the Tuesday Market Place. I guess they had a tour of Norfolk afterwards hence the shots of Stiffkey, Binham and Norwich cathedral!”

The flood memorial at North Beach, Heacham, was re-dedicated and children from the village junior school laid a special tribute they had made from items found along the beach at Heacham. The children also read poems they had written as part of their studies of the history of the flood.

Listen to Interviews

A project, which could create a £2m funding pot to rejuvenate empty and derelict land and buildings in a King’s Lynn conservation area, was given the green light at last night’s meeting of the borough council’s Cabinet.

The project involves securing funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Townscape Heritage Initiative. This initiative makes grants of between £500,000 and £2 million available for schemes over five-year period.

The Borough Council is now preparing an application for the St Margaret and St Nicholas’ conservation area which, if successful, could secure funding of £1,500,000 from the Townscape Heritage Initiative for improvements and enhancements to the area. The Borough Council would then top this up with a further £500,000 (subject to Full Council approval), giving a total fund of £2 million.

Initial consultation has already taken place with the Civic Society, property owners and long-term leaseholders.

Now that the Cabinet has given approval to submit an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Council must prepare a Stage One bid. This will set out the broad outline of the proposed scheme and identify the critical, priority and reserve projects that the scheme will target.

The borough council is now seeking the views of local people and has organised an information evening which will take place at 6pm on Tuesday, 23 October at Thoresby College, King’s Lynn. Officers will be on hand to explain more about the project and its priorities, the process for securing funding, and they will be seeking public support for the proposals.

Cllr Alistair Beales, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, said: “Public and private sector finances are tight, to say the least, at the moment, so we have to look at ways that we can secure funding to bring about improvements that will help our local economy. This funding initiative, managed by the Heritage Lottery Fund, meets many of our objectives regarding protecting our heritage and bringing empty and derelict properties back into use. It’s going to take time to work up our application and to have the very best chance of securing the funding, we are going to need public support. We hope that local people will come along to the information evening to find out more about this exciting proposal.”

The Stage One application must be submitted by 31 October. If successful, the council will be invited to work up a detailed Stage Two bid. Subject to the Stage Two bid being successful, funding would then be released in 2014.

True’s Yard Research Centre is launching a series of “True’s Talks” for this Autumn.

The lunch time weekly talks on Thursdays commence at 1pm on 27th September. Free Tickets are now available at True’s Yard Museum but numbers are limited.

The subject of the first talk is “The Merchants of Lynn: the Bagges 1694-1929” by local historian Dr Paul Richard.

True’s Yard are also launching a series of informal Saturday morning sessions where people can improve their family history research skills. (See below for details of both events.)

True’s Yard lunch time talks programme.

All talks start at 1pm on Thursdays.

27th September – Dr. Paul Richards
The Merchants of Lynn: The Bagges 1694-1929

4th October – Jeff Hoyle
Lynn’s Lost Pubs

11th October – Father Peter Rollings
Lost Monasteries of Lynn

18th October – Tony Kirby
Market Towns of Eastern England since 1750

25th October – Tricia McCarron
Discovering My North End Roots

1st November – Alison Gifford
“A Tradition that Lingers” Was Geoffrey Chaucer born in Lynn?

8th November – Sylvia Cooke
A History of the former Water Mills in Castle Rising

15th November – Lynne Broughton
Ely Cathedral

Family History Research Sessions

This is an ideal opportunity for people who need guidance on how to research family history whether you may need just one session or would like to attend them all.

The Family History mornings are being run by Vic & Val Taylor, and take place on
Saturdays from 10.30am to 12.30pm, starting 22nd September:

22nd September
29th September
6th October
13th October
3rd November
10th November

The cost is £3.00 per session. Booking is recommended as places are limited.

The talks programme & the family history sessions are part of a series of events planned following the official opening of the True’s Yard Research Centre in October 2010. Facilities for Local & Family History research include a reference library, archive rooms, a reading room and the town’s only Sound Archive.

For more information & to book please contact Angela at True’s Yard on
01553 770479 or email info@truesyard.co.uk.

truesyard.co.uk

It was impossible to visit all of the wonderful attractions – so we just concentrated on the ones we haven’t featured before!

This Sunday is your chance to have a wonderful FREE day out exploring King’s Lynn’s local history and architecture..

The King’s Lynn Civic Society and other Local history groups have arranged a great programme so you can visit houses, offices, churches, chapels, tunnels, boats and even a temple not normally open to the public. Look out for special events, colourful re-enactors, music, talks and exhibitions.

Siege!

In late summer 1643 Lynn was besieged by the Roundheads who bombarded the town from West Lynn. See Sir Roger Le Strange and his household and soldiers plan their defence and fight back with cannon and muskets.

Watch the re-enactment at 11.30am and 2pm on the Purfleet Quay and bridge.

Three Counties
Visit the Three Counties Fisheries Protection vessel. Moored in the Bentinck Dock a short walk from True’s Yard or catch our vintage bus. (Replaces the Lydia Eva steam herring drifter listed in the programme.)

 

Veteran Bus

We have a veteran bus FREE for everyone. So if some places seem a bit far to walk, Hardwick Cemetery and the Bentinck Dock perhaps, then hop on the bus or just circle the town for fun. You can see bus stops and timetable on the back page of the programme. Donations to the East Anglian Transport Collection are welcome!

Discover King’s Lynn

Where you see this logo you can pick up your “Discover King’s Lynn” tokens. When you pay another visit to any of the logo attractions you will have discount on the entry price.

For anyone wanting to discover King’s Lynn’s fantastic history and heritage throughout the year the leaflet “Discover King’s Lynn” is an essential guide including a fully illustrated map and suggested walking trail. Featuring the many attractions and some of the superb historic buildings the leaflet is available FREE of charge from the Tourist Information Centre or attractions throughout the town.

All of this, and much more, is brought to you by The King’s Lynn Civic Society working with the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, Heritage Alliance, The King’s Lynn Preservation Trust, the Red Badge Town Guides and Friends groups.

Download the Full Programme Here (pdf)

An Addition to the Printed Programme

Friarscot, Church Street. 12noon – 4pm

Friarscot is a modest merchant’s house, built in c.1473 during the reign of Edward V, but now with a c.1660s facade. Only the main ground floor rooms, which retain their 15th century beams and other architectural details, will be open. The Back of Lynn Minster (13) is on Church Street.

Our intrepid reporter Alan Taylor Shearer captured this video of the King’s Morris performing in King’s Staithe Square.

This well-known local team can often be seen performing jigs and dances mainly from the Bledington, Fieldtown, Bampton, Badby, Bucknell and Adderbury ‘traditions’.

The team performs in public from May until September, usually on Friday or Saturday evenings. Displays are normally given outside pubs in North West Norfolk, the evening often finishing with folk music in the bar.

On Bank Holidays the team normally presents dancing tours, travelling further afield in Norfolk and performing during the day. Displays are often given at fetes, galas and other less well defined places and sometimes the team travels to various parts of England to dance with other teams.

Listen to our interview with the dancers: Click Here

Video and photos by Alan T Shearer

thekingsmorris.co.uk

During the course of his research for a presentation that introduces a screening of the film ‘Anonymous’ at the King’s Lynn Arts Centre on the 6th September, Dr Matthew Woodcock of the University of East Anglia has assembled evidence that substantiates the local legend that Shakespeare once came to King’s Lynn.

Through piecing together archival, textual, and circumstantial evidence, Dr Woodcock makes the case for including Shakespeare among a company of players who performed at St George’s Guildhall (part of the modern Arts Centre complex) when they visited the town in the early 1590s. King’s Lynn was a popular stop for touring theatrical troupes in this period and it is exciting and rather inspiring to think that Britain’s greatest playwright may trodden the boards in the town.

First released in 2011, ‘Anonymous’ offers a fictional exploration of the theory that Shakespeare’s works were really written by the Earl of Oxford, and Dr Woodcock places the film within the context of our long-running fascination with the whole authorship question.

King’s Lynn Arts Centre Director, Liz Falconbridge said:

‘This really is the most exciting news! We have always been proud of the supposed connection with Shakespeare, but now we really can promote the venue using this academic research – it’s perfect for the King’s Lynn Arts Centre Trust’s new audience development campaign!

Anonymous (PG12) will be shown at the Guildhall Theatre, King’s Lynn Arts Centre.
Free introductory talk by Dr Matthew Woodcock for ticket holders.
Thursday 6 September 7.30pm £5 (£4.50)

Tickets available: 01553 764864

Norfolk’s leading heritage website has had a makeover, and archaeology and history buffs will now find it even easier to log on and access a wealth of information about Norfolk’s 50,000 historic sites, archaeological finds and historic buildings.

The award-winning Norfolk Heritage Explorer website was developed by Norfolk County Council supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund. Since its launch in July 2007, the website has had up to 140 users a day, and has just passed a major milestone with its 100,000th visitor.

“Most people probably don’t realise how many heritage locations there are in Norfolk, and what’s right there on their doorstep” said David Gurney, Norfolk County Council’s historic environment manager. “Our website includes heritage sites from nearly a million years ago to the 1980s, and to make it even easier to learn about local sites and finds we’ve improved the mapping and added a search by postcode option”. Other features include Parish Summaries, Art and Archaeology, a special section about Great Yarmouth, heritage walks and places to visit.

“We all know how special Norfolk is and its heritage sites make a very important contribution to local character, the places where we all live, work and play, and to the local economy through tourism” said Bill Borrett, portfolio holder for the environment at Norfolk County Council. “The County Council is committed to making its information and services accessible, and this website really puts Norfolk’s heritage on the map, literally, for everyone to learn about and enjoy” he added.

The Norfolk Heritage Explorer is at www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk

In addition to details of more than 50,000 archaeological sites, the website also includes a fascinating wealth of information about Norfolk’s heritage, such as:-

* Graffiti on the lead roof of St Andrew’s church, Little Massingham, one of which reads ‘Beds and Herts 1942 Up the Army’, believed to have been inscribed by World War Two fire watchers.

* A goose skeleton found under the floor of the miller’s house at Besthorpe, as an 18th or early 19th century spell or charm to avert evil

* In the Art and Archaeology section, award-winning children’s author, Kevin Crossley-Holland’s poem, about Scolt Head Island off the coast near Brancaster

* A Roman coin found inside a cod caught off Bacton during the 1970s

* Norfolk’s deepest archaeological site – Grimes Graves flint mines (12 metres deep); its longest building – the “Teaching Wall” at UEA (460 metres long) and its tallest building – Norwich Cathedral with its 96m spire

* How to make a Late Saxon brooch

* What the Romans ate

* Historic walks and places to visit

* 16 Teaching Resource Packs

* An A to Z Glossary, to help with all those difficult words for example, agger – the raised bank /surface of Roman road, or zoomorphic, meaning animal-like.