King’s Lynn’s royal connections

Coincidences in history.

King’s Lynn Town Hall in the Saturday Market Place is also known by its fifteenth century name of the Trinity Guildhall. The building was originally the meeting place for a religious guild of merchants known as the Guild of the Holy Trinity.

Following recent royal events Gary Walker, who is a Town Guide in King’s Lynn, contacted us at Town and Around with details of a remarkable coincidence.

Gary said: “The close historical connections between the area and the Royal Family go back a long way and by coincidence, the entrance hall to the Trinity Guildhall in King’s Lynn’s Saturday Market Place, has two royal coats of arms above the door, the first being that of Elizabeth 1^st and the one above being that of Charles II, the only town in the country to display the two coats of arms together in that way.

“The coat of arms of Elizabeth 1^st was put there when the entrance hall was added to the building in 1625, the coat of arms having been previously part of St James Church, which at the time had fallen into disrepair. The coat of arms of Charles the II were added in 1664, following the restoration and replaced the coat of arms of Oliver Cromwell’s ‘Commonwealth’.

“I’m sure the town elders at the time the original coats of arms were placed on the Trinity Guildhall could not have imagine the significance of having the two monarchs, an Elizabeth and a Charles represented in such a way, when two monarchs of the same names would follow one another, in succession, some 400 years later.”