KING'S LYNN, a town and seaport in Norfolk, England, on the estuary of the Great Ouse near its outflow into the Wash. Pop. (1931) 20,580., As Lynn (Lun, Lenne, Bishop's Lynn) owes its origin to the trade which was carried by the Ouse and its tributaries, its history dates from the period of settled occupation by the Saxons. It belonged to the bishops of Thetford before the Conquest. Herbert de Losinga (c. 1054-1119) granted its jurisdiction to the cathedral of Norwich but this right was resumed by a later bishop, John de Gray, who in 1204 had obtained from John a charter establishing Lynn as a free borough. A grant in 1206 gave the burgesses a gild merchant, the husting court to be held once a week only, and general liberties according to the customs of Oxford, saving the rights of the bishop and the earl of Arundel, whose ancestor William D'Albini had received from William II. the moiety of the tolbooth.
Henry VIII. granted Lynn two charters, the first (1524) in corporating it under mayor and aldermen ; the second (1537) changing its name to King's Lynn and transferring to the cor poration all the rights hitherto enjoyed by the bishop. Edward VI. added the possessions of the gild of the Trinity, or gild merchant, and St. George's gild, while Queen Mary annexed South Lynn. Admiralty rights were granted by James I. Lynn, which had declared for the crown in 1643, surrendered its privileges to Charles II. in 1684, but recovered its charter on the eve of the Revolution. In the i8th century besides the pleasure fair, still held in February, there was another in October, now abolished.
A royal charter of 1524 established the cattle, corn and general provisions market, still held every Tuesday and Saturday. Lynn has ranked high among English seaports from early times.
It is 97 m. N. by E. from London, by the L.N.E.R. On the land side the town was formerly defended by a fosse; there are re mains of the old wall, including the handsome i5tlr century South Gate. Several by-channels of the river are known as fleets, re calling the similar flethe of Hamburg. The Public Walks is a prom enade parallel to the wall. In the centre stands an octagonal Chapel of the Red Mount (Perpendicular), once frequented by pilgrims. The church of St. Margaret, formerly the priory church, has two towers, and contains two of the finest monumental brasses known (dated 1349 and 1364). St. Nicholas chapel, at the north end of the town, is also Perpendicular, with a tower of earlier date. All Saints' church in South Lynn is a Decorated cruciform structure. Of a Franciscan friary there remains the Perpendicular Grey Friars' Steeple, and the doorway remains of a priests' college founded in 1502. The grammar school was founded in the reign of Henry VIII. The guildhall has a Ren aissance front, the custom-house is of the 17th century.
The fisheries are important, including extensive mussel-fisheries under the jurisdiction of the corporation, and there are also corn mills, iron and brass foundries, agricultural implement manufac tories, ship-building yards, rope and sail works.