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THE SIEGE OF KING'S LYNN

10/7/2014

3 Comments

 
PictureHunstanton Hall, home of the L'Estranges
In 1643, near the start of the English Civil War, East Anglia was in the control of Parliament by means of the Eastern Association of counties. Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire were some of the richest counties in the country and the Association intended to raise money and troops from taxes imposed on the landowners. It had the effect of uniting the Parliamentarians and isolating the Royalists who refused to pay the tax or 'ship money'. 

King's Lynn in Norfolk, at the mouth of the River Great Ouse, had a strategic position. Not only was it a thriving  busy port, with a road running straight down to London, but the topography of the land meant that it was the only port on the north Norfolk coast until Great Yarmouth over the eastern side of the county. It was also 'out on a limb'. On the west was the river; fifteen miles north was open sea; to the east, the nearest important town, the city of Norwich, was fifty miles away. 

The Royalists wanted King's Lynn in their hands. Queen Henrietta, Charles I's wife had gone to Holland in an attempt to find arms and men to support the King's cause. King's Lynn was the ideal port to get them into Britain. 

Furthermore, because of King's Lynn's position, if the Royalists held the town, the way south to London and therefore victory, was in their grasp.

Accordingly in 1643 Sir Hamon L'Estrange of Hunstanton (fifteen miles north on the corner of Norfolk on the coast) managed to win enough support in King's Lynn's council to become governor of the town. Nevertheless, he bided his time, allowing the Parliamentarians to strengthen the town's defences. 

In August 1643 Sir Hamon, his two sons Roger and Sir Nicholas, and a number of other prominent Royalist councillors were arrested. It was time for the people of Lynn to decide which side they were on. The townspeople let their voices be heard as they cried 'FOR THE KING!' in the Tuesday Market Place.

In short order, The Earl of Manchester, major-general of the Parliamentary forces, together with none other than Oliver Cromwell, laid siege to the town with 18,000 troops sitting down outside Lynn. Some to the East and Cromwell with Captain Poe and their troops were in what is now called West Lynn, then called Old Lynn, across the river Ouse, directly opposite King's Lynn. From here they could bombard the town, which they did, destroying houses in the Tuesday Market Place and even putting a cannonball through the transept window of St. Margaret's Church in the Saturday Market Place during Sunday worship.

Sir Hamon L'Estrange had been promised help from Lord Newcastle, a general in the King's Army. He was currently in Lincolnshire, and it would have been a simple trip across the Wash to come to Lynn's aid. Or he could have come by land before Manchester's troops became so many. If he had done so, and Lynn had become secure, it would have been a straight march to London, the King would have been victorious, and the war would have been over in months. Instead, he chose not to go to Lynn, but to Hull instead, and he was not victorious there. As a result the war dragged on for years with the King being beheaded in January 1649.

Lynn fell in September 1643 to the Parliamentarians.

Picture
Part of the Town's defensive wall
Picture
Trinity Guildhall used as Town Hall in 17th century and today
Picture
FOR THE KING Roger L'Estrange and the Siege of King's Lynn
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3 Comments
Robert
9/23/2016 02:58:20 pm

W ketton Cremer refers to it as just 'Lynn' neither King's or Old so i'm wondering which he refers to. The name King's would obviously mean that side which belonged to the Royalists, so presumably he means the town we now know. Maybe you could include the map for us from the new book, showing the town plan with streets.

Reply
Evelyn Tidman link
9/24/2016 08:26:09 am

Thanks for the comment, Robert. Hillen's excellent History of King's Lynn, informs us that King's Lynn was first Bishops Lynn until 1537 when the King (Henry VIII) took control and from then it became King's Lynn. Sometimes historically it is referred to as Lynn Regis. Those of us who live near the town always refer to it as Lynn. The 'King's' part had nothing to do with whether Parliament or the King was in control, it was always King's Lynn, as it is today, but the locals shorten it to Lynn. I have a street map which I will endeavour to put on the blog.

Reply
Robert
9/27/2016 06:46:11 am

Thanks, the map is splendid. I have just got to the end of Cremer's Norfolk in the ECW as it happens. I am ideally looking for old maps of Sheringham as well as any imfo that may help me research my distant ancestor James Dennis. I enjoyed the email exhange we had recently and it would be nice to keep in contact, i will try and order your book on Amazon or try to borrow it via the local library.




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    Evelyn Tidman, the author of REBELLION, Roger L'Estrange and the Kent Petition, the second in the Roger L'Estrange series; FOR THE KING, Roger L'Estrange and the Siege of King's Lynn, the first in the Roger L'Estrange series based on a true story of the English Civil War, GENTLEMAN OF FORTUNE, The Adventures of Bartholomew Roberts, Pirate. a historical swashbuckling romance; and ONE SMALL CANDLE The Story of William Bradford and the Pilgrim Fathers.  All based on true stories.

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