Hunstanton 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.
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.
 Part of the Town's defensive wall |  Trinity Guildhall used as Town Hall in 17th century and today |
FOR THE KING Roger L'Estrange and the Siege of King's Lynn
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