The Green Quay

The Green Quay CAFÉ www.thegreenquay.co.uk Marriot’s Warehouse, South Quay, King’s Lynn, Norfolk PE30 5DT 01553 818500 The Green Quay has a superb river side licensed cafe/bar serving an excellent selection of freshly made baguettes, and tempting cakes. Also check out our daily specials board. Our drinks selection includes speciality coffee and tea plus wine and local beer. SHOP We have a wide variety of gifts including Langham Glass, Norfolk Lavender, Greeting Cards, Books, Wash Calendars and Ornaments etc. Come to visit and enjoy a warm welcome. A BRIEF HISTORY OF KING’S LYNN King’s Lynn originally known as Lin is thought to have derived its name from the Celtic word for a lake or pool and it is recorded that a large tidal lake originally covered this area. In 1101 Bishop Herbert de Losinga of Thetford began the first medieval town between Purfleet and Millfleet by building St Margaret’s Church and authorising a market. Quite quickly a small prosperous town grew up and in the Charter of 1204 the town became Bishops Lynn. By the late 12th Century the town further expanded to accommodate inland water trade and sea trade. After the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII Lynn changed its name to Lynn Regis – subsequently King’s Lynn and remaining an active port to this day. Page 1 of 7 The River Wensum The source of the Wensum lies between the villages of Colkirk and Whissonsett in Norfolk. The river flows westward initially close to the villages of South Raynham, West Raynham and East Raynham passing close to Raynham Hall, home of the Marquis Townshend. The river then turns and follows a path to the north flowing through a number of small villages until it reaches Sculthorpe. The river then turns and flows to the east through the market town of Fakenham. The river then flows in a south easterly direction passing through the Pensthorpe Nature Reserve and the village of Great Ryburgh. The river continues onwards through or close to the villages of Guist, North Elmham, Worthing, Swanton Morley, Lyng, Lenwade and Taverham before entering the City of Norwich from the north via Drayton, Costessey and Hellesdon. At New Mills Yard, a former waterworks, the river becomes tidal and navigable by boat. Flowing through the City, the river forms a broad arc which would have influenced the site of the settlement for defensive reasons; remnants of boom towers can be seen near Wensum Park and Carrow Hill which formed part of the city wall, a large defensive tower can be seen on the bank near Barrack Street, called Cow Tower This dates to the 12th Century and was also used for collecting tolls. Along the river’s course were many Watermills, the first being Sculthorpe which still stands today as a public house, hotel and restaurant. Next came Hempton Mill which there are no visible signs but Fakenham Mill can be seen on the left as we head into the town centre on our tour. Fakenham Mill Fakenham Mill was built c.1720 on the site of an older mill dating from 1620. A wall plaque bears the date 1885, which presumably relates to a later alteration. The watercourse of the old river was significantly altered in order to accommodate the mill's position and to enable a sufficient size of dam to work the mill. At some points the river is higher than the road running beside it. This new cut along with the original river course are both shown on a 1650 map. Fakenham Mill had to run in conjunction with Sculthorpe Mill and Hempton Mill as they both had control of the water further upstream. Fakenham Mill was about one mile downstream from Hempton Mill, which in turn was about two miles downstream from Sculthorpe Mill This meant that except in times of maximum river flow, the three mills would have had to have been worked in conjunction. When Sculthorpe opened its wheel sluice and started to use its stored head of water, the outflow would head towards Hempton's dam, ready for use before being passed downstream to Fakenham. In order to maximise the efficient use of the available water supply the millers at each of the mills used a system of smoke signals to warn their colleagues whenever the sluices were operated As we travel between the villages of Little and Great Ryburgh at a small set of traffic lights via a bridge we again cross the path of the Wensum and if we look about ½ mile across the fields to our left, a modern Care Home can be seen. This is the former site of Ryburgh Watermill. Page 2 of 7 We now travel along back roads which are the closest we can get to follow the path of the river. These roads eventually lead us to the next Mill along this rural waterway; Bintree Mill. Bintree Mill Bintree Mill is set in a valley along with its farm at one end of the flood plain and stands in magnificent isolation a mile from the village of Bintree. The mill and house are adjoining and used to share the same roof line until an additional floor was added to the mill around the turn of the century. Both buildings are of red brick under a Norfolk pantiled roof. The mill may well stand on the site of an earlier mill dating back to 1454. In the census of 1851, William Dawson Seaman was living with William Burrell who was the then miller, presumably because William Seaman's parents, Thomas and Susan, were both dead and the majority of his 4 remaining brothers and sisters were in Gressenhall workhouse. The Seaman family also took on North Elmham mill in 1904 but there was a family rift and Robert John Seaman moved away to take on the tenancy of Bintree Mill, which at that time was part of the Hastings Estate. In March 1919 Albert Edward Delaval, Lord Hastings and Robert J. Seaman came to an agreement on the hire of Bintree Mill. 108 acres 3 rods 1 perch would be hired for an annual rent of £188 6s. A formal agreement followed on 7th January 1921. During the depression in 1933, the rent was decreased to £109 per annum. Robert Seaman jnr was a fanatical gardener and would mobilise all the workers to protect his borders whenever cows were moved past the mill or gardens. He would also vent his wrath on any lorry driver who unwittingly put a wheel onto the verge. The Mill was enlarged in 1870 by a building firm from Hindolveston, when an additional floor was added. The new roof was assembled on the ground before being taken apart and raised to its final position. Is that Pieter we can see driving the lorry – the one that’s hit the wall!? In 1996 Bintree Mill was used as the location for the film Mill on the Floss. Amongst other necessary cosmetic changes a plastic bridge was built against the back of the mill and the white walls of the mill and house were distressed by blackening them. From Bintree Mill we travel up the side of the Wensum Valley then head South East a little way to the village of Billingford then head towards North Elmham where, along this road we will cross the Wensum and if we continue to look to the right we will see a large imposing North Elmham Mill. Page 3 of 7 North Elmham Mill - known locally as Grint Mill, had two breastshot waterwheels until the early twentieth century when they were replaced by two turbines. By the 1970s the milling machinery was driven by mains electricity while the turbines were used to drive a sack hoist and two mixing machines. The mill continued to produce animal feed into the late twentieth century. North Elmham Mill (Grint Mill) R.J. Seaman & Sons, which became one of the largest agricultural merchanting business in the eastern counties was started in North Elmham around the beginning of the 1900s when local farmer, Robert Seaman took over North Elmham Mill. Using a £50 loan from the former mill owner, he started by producing stone ground flour but as there was virtually no demand for the flour, the business nearly closed in the first few months. However, taking the advice of his five sons, who were also working at the mill, Robert Seaman converted the mill from flour to provender milling, thus allowing the sale of feed products to farming colleagues. The next Mill we will see, Worthing Mill, stands less than ½ mile across the fields from Grint Mill but surprisingly this mill is not powered by the Wensum but by The Blackwater, a small subsidiary of the mother river. We now follow the course of the Wensum passing many disused gravel pits through to the village of Swanton Morley. When we join the main B1147 we cross two bridges. As we cross the first we look to our left to the site of the former Swanton Morley Mill. Soon we head out into the countryside again passing through the small hamlets of Bylaugh, Mill Street and Elsing continuing onto the village of Lyng. As we leave the village, passing the Village sign on our left, we will see to our left as we cross the river the former site of Lyng Mill. Lyng Mill Lyng mill was built as a flour mill in the early 1400s but over the centuries it was operated as both a flour mill and a paper mill.

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