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But most importantly, come down and explore the museum in person – there’s no substitute for the real thing, after all…

This unique and totally enclosed community lived within the shadow of the fishermen’s church – St. Nicholas’ Chapel. The construction of St Nicholas Chapel, The Fishermen’s Chapel as it was commonly known, was begun in 1146, but it was sometime between 1380 and 1420 that a major refurbishment and enlargement took place leaving us with the magnificent building which exists today. With its great west window, stern consistory court and the carved wooden angels in the roof each with arms outstretched and playing instruments, it is the largest and most splendid chapel-of-ease in England.

The Northend had its own shops, smithies, boat-builders, sail makers, chandlers, rope and twine makers, public houses and school. The men, wearing their distinctive Lynn ‘ganseys’, moleskin trousers, sea boots and caps, fished and lived in the same manner for centuries. Some of the families (still fishing today) can be traced back even earlier than the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1. The women with their long black skirts, shawls and men’s caps (sometimes smoking a clay pipe) would spend every spare minute knitting their menfolk’s ‘ganseys’ and making or mending the nets in their tiny living rooms. Times were always hard in the North End.

To the end the Northenders remained a community separate from the rest of the town. They seldom married outside North End, most of the great fishing families intermarried. As always within a fishing community breadwinners were lost at sea, but the orphaned children would be supported and raised by grandparents or other members of the family. The community looked after its own.

At one time father, mother and nine children lived here. The only bed upstairs slept all nine children – five at the top and four at the bottom. Mum and Dad slept on the floor with a curtain screening from the children. It is unusual to find a cooking range in such a small cottage – normally they would only have had a open fire to cook on and anything that needed baking would be taken to our shop which at the turn if the century was the North End bakery, and the baker would bake the food for a halfpenny. The floor was made of brick and when the men returned with the catch it would be shot on to the floor and the family would sort out the rubbish such as weeds, starfish etc before selling it. One can imagine the smell!

The rugs on the ground floor of both cottages are genuine early 19th century North end rag rugs, always with red in the middle. The fisherfolk were very superstitious and believed that the red would ward off the “evil eye.” The theory was that if the devil looked down the chimney he would see the red patch and think that another devil was already in residence and clear off and bother another family!

There was no sanitation at all. No lavatory, bathroom, kitchen, or water. The nine children slept in the bed upstairs – 5 at the top and 4 at the bottom, mum and dad slept on the floor. The second cottage is furnished in the period of the late 1920′s (when they were last occupied), the photograph on the wall is of “Lordy Howard” who had the fishing smack built – the Activity- which stands in the yard. She was built in 1904 by two fishermen, the Homigold brothers.

COST: £2.50 per child (teachers and helpers are free of charge).  Time Club Schools receive a reduced rate for admissions; please contact the Museum for details.

The children are encouraged to dress appropriately for the era of study as it adds to the experience

Visits can be tailored to your needs or the needs of your pupils. Mix and match any of the sessions above or contact us to see what other topics we can cover. Outreach sessions in school are also available (for prices please contact the Museum)————

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A short 5 minute film narrating the story of True’s Yard and the museum from its beginnings is available on DVD for interested schools. A second version for younger pupils can be seen by clicking here at schools film

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For more information, or to arrange a visit please contact:

Angela and Holly, Community Outreach and Education Officers for True’s Yard.

Tel: 01553 771200

Email: outreach@truesyard.co.uk

Museum Opening hours: 10am – 4pm

(School groups can visit from 9:30am)

A risk assessment is available on request

UPDATE – FEB 2012: PLACES NOW AVAILABLE ON FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH COURSE – PLEASE CONSULT OUR EVENTS PAGE FOR DETAILS! 

For those researching their family history in the King’s Lynn area the archives at True’s Yard Museum can provide a wealth of information. Many of the town’s parish registers from the three main King’s Lynn churches (All Saints, St Margaret’s and St Nicholas’ Chapel) have been transcribed and indexed thus making the task of tracing individuals much easier. Also transcribed and indexed are the Census returns for King’s Lynn for the periods 1841-1901.

In addition other documents such as the Poor Law and other Workhouse registers including the Settlement Examinations are available at the True’s Yard Museum from our vast documents library archive. Some King’s Lynn families have already been researched and copies of family trees done by private individuals can be consulted and  it is sometimes possible that we may have copies of family photographs from our large collection. For those looking for ancestors with a maritime link to King’s Lynn, the Boat Index (15th century onwards covering all the ports of the Wash from Boston to Wells) can yield further information. For further information consult the True’s Yard Muesum list of archive material.

Although it is possible to deal with postal and email enquiries we do ask that, as a small charity run mainly by volunteers, a donation to the Yard will help towards the expenses of keeping the Trust going. Finally, from time to time we can be inundated with enquiries and would ask those contacting us to be a little patient until our volunteers are able to deal with specific requests. For more detailed and in-depth enquiries the cost are as below:Although it is possible to deal with postal and email enquiries we do ask that, as a small charity run mainly by volunteers, a donation to the Yard will help towards the expenses of keeping the Trust going. Finally, from time to time we can be inundated with enquiries and would ask those contacting us to be a little patient until our volunteers are able to deal with specific requests. For more detailed and in-depth enquiries the cost are as below:

Research Centre Opening Hours

Tuesday to Saturday 10.30 to 4.00 pm.

Fees:

Personal Research £4.00

Full time students of FE or HE institutions are not charged. (Proof of identity and status required)

True’s Yard Museum is a social history Museum in King’s Lynn, Norfolk. It is an independent Museum run almost entirely by volunteers and depicts the story of the old North End fishing quarter of King’s Lynn. Support was received from the late Bernard Matthews and others. Most of the North End was knocked down in the Slum Clearances of the 1930s and 1960s.

The Cottages

The cottages consist of just two rooms, one upstairs and one downstairs. At one time in cottage no.5 a family of eleven squeezed into the tiny rooms. The nine children had to sleep in one double bed, top to tail, while the parents had to sleep on the floor. There were no toilet facilities, instead they used a chamber pot which was kept under the bed.

The Smokehouse

Opened in the 1890s by retired fisherman Thomas Westwood, along with his wife Mary and three daughters, Mary, Penelope and Emily. He also had two sons Thomas and Charles. The family also opened a fishmongers in the front room of the house that faced St. Ann’s Street, from which they sold the fish they smoked in the smokehouse situated to the rear.

A favourite smoked fish in the North End was the ‘bloater‘ or a herring smoked whole.

KING’S LYNN FESTIVAL: July 15-28 2012

A celebratory feast of music and the arts featuring top-class international names has been lined up for this summer’s King’s Lynn Festival to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics.

The 62nd Festival, being staged from July 15-28, will be launched by Grimethorpe Colliery Band whose programme will include William Walton’s stirring Crown Imperial which was played at the Queen’s Coronation. The band have won many championship titles and gained international fame through the 1995 film Brassed Off!

The Philharmonia Orchestra, the King’s Singers, pianist Freddy Kempf, the Endellion String Quartet  and BBC Young Musician Lara Melda and are among the cream of the classical music world taking part.

Artistic adviser Ambrose Miller said: “It will be a celebratory festival to mark two very special events. The top class programme will maintain the festival’s tradition of excellence and have broad appeal.”

This year’s Festival Exhibition will feature etchings and paintings by members of the 19th century Norwich School including Cotman, Bright and Colkett alongside works by 21^st century artists who draw their inspiration from the East Anglia terrain. The exhibition is being staged by the Festival in partnership with Sherie Naidoo who runs Artlands, an East Anglian-based art dealership, and will be held in the Fermoy Art Gallery at Lynn Arts Centre from July 16-28.

The Philharmonia Orchestra, one of the most popular orchestras to perform at Lynn, last visited five years ago. They will again give the final concert with a programme including Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture, Fingal’s Cave, a Beethoven symphony and Bruch’s violin concerto featuring 21-year-old Belgian violinist Yossif Ivanov who won the Montreal International Music Competition when he was only 16.

It is about 30 years since The King’s Singers, one of the world’s most celebrated ensembles, appeared at Lynn. The six singers maintaining the group’s great reputation will make a welcome return to the renowned acoustic of St Nicholas’ Chapel on July 17. Their specially-devised programme, Royal Rhymes and Rounds – music from Medieval times to the present day – will celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

Jazz pianist Richard Rodney Bennett and Claire Martin,BBC3’s Jazz Singer of the Year, will bring to Lynn their intimate programme of music which has proved a huge success in Britain and America.

King’s Lynn Festival Chorus will perform a concert version of George Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess on July 22. Chorus chairman Nick Balaam said: “Porgy and Bess is a great piece of music which many people are familiar with. We are very excited to be asked to perform it with the spirituals from Sir Michael Tippett’s A Child of Our Time.

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“They will give us the opportunity to show regular festival-goers the breadth of our range and also to attract new audiences. People will leave the concert humming and singing some wonderful tunes,” he said.

Pianist Freddy Kempf, a festival vice-president, is also returning to give a recital on July 26, and the 2010BBCYoung Musician, pianist Lara Melda who was 16 when she won the title, will give one of the series of five very popular morning coffee concerts in Lynn Town Hall on July 23-27.

Early Music Day on July 21 will feature The Parley of Instruments in St Margaret’s Church and a late night programme, For the Queen’s Delight.

Instant Sunshine will provide an antidote to the Olympics on July 27 – the day the games open – and the early Olympics and Ancient Greece will be covered in an illustrated talk by historian Dr Michael Scott on July 16.

Adding to the variety will be a literary dinner at which the speakers will include thriller writer Philip Kerr, a Royal Geographical Society-IBG lecture by explorer Hugh Thomson, and a visit by Contemporary Consort.

King’s Lynn Town Guides will be offering a variety of walks celebrating Lynn’s rich history during the Festival Fortnight. It is a time when many other West Norfolk organisations also stage events which provide a wealth of interest and opportunities for both visitors and local people.

For programme details visit www.kingslynnfestival.org.uk. Call the festival office on 01553-767557 or the box office which will open in late May at King’s Lynn Corn Exchange on 01553-764864.