Kings Lynn, Norfolk : Historical writing

Descriptive gazetteer entries

These other entries in our collection of descriptive gazetteers are also about Kings Lynn. You may be able to find further references to Kings Lynn in the descriptive gazetteers by doing a full-text search here.

Place Type of entry Source
Freebridge Lynn hundred Bartholomew
FREEBRIDGE-LYNN a district and a hundred Imperial
Kings Lynn, Lynn Regis, or Lynn parliamentary and municipal borough, seaport, and market town Bartholomew
LYNN AND HUNSTANTON RAILWAY a railway Imperial
LYNN AND SUTTON-BRIDGE RAILWAY a railway Imperial
LYNN, KINGS-LYNN, or LYNN-REGIS a town, a parish, three sub-districts, and a district Imperial

Travel writing

This website includes the complete texts of books describing journeys around Britain, written between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries. Selecting one of the links below will take you to the first reference to Kings Lynn within the selected text. This will not always be a description of a visit: travellers often mention places other than where they are, for example as a basis for comparison.

Traveller Section No. of Refs.
Daniel Defoe Letter 1, Part 3: Norfolk and Cambridgeshire 12
William Camden Norfolk and Cambridgeshire 8
Daniel Defoe Letter 7, Part 2: East Midlands 6
Daniel Defoe Letter 1, Part 2: Harwich and Suffolk 4
John Wesley 1785-90: Collects Money for the Poor; Visits House of Lords; Reasons for his Long Life 2
Arthur Young 1776 Tour from Essex to Shropshire 2
Daniel Defoe Letter 1, Part 1: Through Essex to Colchester 1
Daniel Defoe Appendix to letter 1 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 5 (London), Part 2: The City 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 5 (London), Part 3: The Court and Westminster 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 9: Eastern Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland 1
Celia Fiennes 1697 Tour: London to Yorkshire 1
George Head Hull 1
Thomas Pennant Northampton to Gothurst 1
Arthur Young 1st to 10th September 1776: Galway, Clare, Limerick and Cork 1
Arthur Young Section 19: Manufactures 1

This website includes two large libraries, of historical travel writing and of entries from nineteenth century gazetteers describing places. We have text from these sources available for these places near your location:

Place Mentioned in Travel Writing Mentioned in Historical Gazetteer
Hardwick 0 2
South Lynn 0 3
West Lynn 0 2
North Runcton 0 3
Gaywood 0 3
North Lynn 0 1
Mintlyn 0 2
Clenchwarton 0 2
West Winch 0 3
Bawsey 0 2
South Wootton 0 3
Middleton 0 2
Wiggenhall St Mary the Virgin 0 2
Setchey 0 2
Tilney Cum Islington 0 2
Tilney All Saints 1 2
Wiggenhall St German 0 3
Wiggenhall St Peter 0 2
Castle Rising 1 1
Leziate 0 2

Names from historical writing

The following appear as names for Kings Lynn. Follow the links for what the author actually said:

Name Author Source
BISHOPS LINNE William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
BISHOPS LYNN John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
FREEBRIDGE LYNN John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
KINGS LYNN John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
KINGS LYNN LYNN REGIS OR LYNN John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
LIN Celia Fiennes Through England on a Side Saddle in the Time of William and Mary (London: Field and Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, 1888).
LINNE William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
LINNUM EPISCOPI William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
LINNUM REGIS William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
LYN Daniel Defoe A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain, divided into circuits or journies (London: JM Dent and Co, 1927).
LYNN John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
Daniel Defoe A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain, divided into circuits or journies (London: JM Dent and Co, 1927).
George Head A Home Tour through the Manufacturing Districts of England in the Summer of 1835 (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1836).
John Wesley The Journal of John Wesley (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 2000).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
Arthur Young Tours in England and Wales, selected from the Annals of Agriculture (London: London School of Economics, 1932).
Arthur Young A Tour in Ireland, made in the years 1776, 1777, and 1778 (London: T. Cadell, 1780).
LYNN AND HUNSTANTON RAILWAY John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
LYNN AND SUTTON BRIDGE RAILWAY John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
LYNN EPISCOPI John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
LYNN KINGS LYNN OR LYNN REGIS John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
LYNN REGIS John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
Daniel Defoe A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain, divided into circuits or journies (London: JM Dent and Co, 1927).
Thomas Pennant The Journey from Chester to London (London: Wilkie and Robinson, 1811).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
OLD LINNE William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).

NB: These variant names come from our collections of historical travel writing and descriptive gazetteers:

  • The above links take you to the first reference to this particular version of the name within a book of travel writing, or to the relevant gazetteer entry.
  • Some names may derive from research by antiquarian writers such as William Camden and Thomas Pennant into the Roman, Saxon and medieval names of places. Their claims are not always supported by modern place-name researchers.
  • References by travel writers to the place using its "normal" name are not included. Descriptive gazetteer entries are included only if the name does not appear anywhere else.