C O N T E X T 1 4 1 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 5 33 to Pentney Piory, founded around 1130. Its significant survivor is a three-storey gatehouse of the 1300s. We were welcomed by the owners, Dita Lee and Howard Barber, and shown over the recently restored building (the restoration cost £255,000, of which £200,000 was a grant) by Historic England inspector of ancient monuments Will Fletcher. It had been a local cause celebre, a roofless building at risk, propped by scaffolding for 20 years. The restoration methodology was to both rebuild in matching stonework and to allow for contemporary interventions where it was not practical to reinstate missing fabric, such as the long-vanished vault. Fletcher was once a bricklayer and we felt that his practical experience contributed to his appreciation of local skills and materials, and encouragement of new work.This was all achieved through the scheduled monument consent process. Lee’s and Barber’s use of the wider complex as a wedding and party venue means the gatehouse has a practical use and is accessible to the public. The heritage benefit of the restoration outweighed the highways department’s concerns about the access road, and so contributed to the planning permission. An unusual aspect was that a previous owner, Mr Lee, long associated with the gatehouse, died during the work, and his ashes are incorporated in the mortar mix. We were met in King’s Lynn by Paul Richards, a retired university lecturer, former councillor and borough mayor, alderman, historian, author and guide. He immersed us in (originally) Lynn’s history, swiftly moving us along streets, passages and through buildings, visiting the Minster, the restored Marriott’s Warehouse, the Hanse House, a secret garden, the Guild Hall, the Merchant’s Exchange and Purfleet Quay.We ended with a tour of Clifton House, the most important merchant’s house, with a rare surviving tower, partly 13th century, generously led by its owners Simon and Anna Thurley. There is much history to the two towns forming modern King’s Lynn. The wealth was from shipping commerce, hence the importance of the riverside quays and warehouses. Trade with the Hanseatic League towns from 1300–1500 was the wealth generator. This funded Lynn’s amazing inheritance of medieval architecture and the later ‘golden age’ classical works of around 1700 by the town’s architect Henry Bell. Shipping commerce continued until the coming of the railways; there were no factories in Lynn until the late 19th century. I found myself making numerous comparisons with my own city, Dundee, also significant as an early and wealthy east-coast trading port. Although little medieval built heritage survives save our street plan and church tower, the similarity of the 14th-century vaulted cellars at Clifton House to the vaulted cellars under our 1828 dockside Exchange Coffee House, reckoned to be much older, is worthy of further consideration. Thanks to Dita, Howard and Will, to Paul, and to our branch assistants Paul, Pam and Anna. Adam Swan Rosary Cemetery Tour A group of us headed away from the historic Norwich city centre, in what felt like the wrong direction for a heritage tour. A small sign offered directions down a Delegates at Hanse House with Paul Richards (Photo: Paul Rhymes)
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