Multi-million pound redevelopment plans for King's Lynn Southgates unveiled
The town's Southgates roundabout would be completely replaced under the plan
Last updated 10th Oct 2022
A masterplan showing how a historic entranceway into King’s Lynn could be completely redeveloped has been published – including an aspiration to reveal the town’s hidden medieval bridge.
The draft document lays out how the town’s Southgates roundabout could be replaced by a new pedestrianised walkway.
A link road would meanwhile allow cars to travel around the town’s 15th-century South Gate, with the road through the gate itself reserved for cyclists and pedestrians.
The vision for the area, created by the borough council with the architectural firm BDP, aims to “draw upon the rich past of the site in order to meet the needs of the present day”.
One of the plan’s key strategies is focused around heritage, and it states that any schemes to alter the area’s roads should consider the possibility “of revealing the medieval structure of the Southgates bridge”.
The bridge – along with the gate – formed part of Lynn’s defences and crossed a ditch which bordered the town.
At the start of the Civil War, the mayor ordered the existing structure to be replaced with a drawbridge – though there is no evidence the work was ever carried out.
A Royalist stronghold was established in Lynn, but after a brief siege it fell to Parliamentary forces, who strengthened the defences around the South Gate.
The bridge was the highest point that shipping could reach, up Friars Fleet – which flowed into the Nar and then the Great Ouse. The Fleet was blocked in 1967, and filled in between 1983 and 1988. All signs of the bridge have since been lost.
The masterplan warns: “Future development must seek to understand the likely archaeological impacts of proposals and to protect buried heritage assets such as civil war defences, including consideration of retention in situ, and/or display.”
The plan also says the area could accommodate 69 new flats and 13 new houses, along with half a hectare of new open space and 550 square metres of commercial land.
It appears to suggest demolishing and replacing the area’s 1950s-era Ford garage.
A map in the plan shows a “new building to retain alignment of Ford Garage building”.
The plan later adds: “Any replacement buildings or spaces must be of high quality, to outweigh the harm caused by the loss of these assets.
“The potential to incorporate significant elements of previous buildings, such as the Ford Garage sign, should also be explored.”
At a Q&A session on Monday, October 3, Gergana Draganova, an urban designer at BDP, clarified that no decision had yet been made to demolish the building and that the plan is only a framework.
Hetty Thornton, of Historic England, added: “Some people feel really strongly towards that building and are incredibly fond of it.
“We would be happy to work with the council to look at alternatives for that site.”
Exhibition boards on the project are displayed at the tourist office in the Saturday Market Place.
Three drop-in sessions will be held at the Tuesday Market Place event cabin from 11am to 6pm on Tuesday 11 October, Wednesday 19 October and Friday 28 October
The masterplan can be viewed and commented on here.