a town of Norfolk, in England, distant 98 miles from London. It is a handsome, large, well-built place, and sends two members to parliament. It was a borough by prescription in 1298. King John, on account of its adherence to him against the barons, made it a free borough, with large privileges. He appointed it a provost, and gave it a large silver cup of 73 ounces doubly gilt and enamelled, and a large silver sword that is carried before the mayor; though this last, according to some, is Henry VIII.'s sword, which he gave to the town when it came into his hands by exchange with the bishop of Norwich; after which it was called King's Lynn, whereas before it was Bishop's Lynn. Henry III. made it a mayor-town, for its serving him against the barons. Lynn-regis. It has had 15 royal charters; and is governed by a mayor, high steward, under-steward, recorder, 12 aldermen, and 18 common-councilmen. It has two churches, besides St Nicholas, a chapel of ease to St Margaret's, a presbyterian and a quakers meeting-house, with a bridewell or workhouse, and several almshouses, and a free-school. In September 1741 the spires of its two churches were both blown down by a storm of wind; and that of St Margaret's, which was 193 feet in height, having beat in the body of the church, it has been since rebuilt, towards which king George II gave L.1000, and the late earl of Orford, then Sir Robert Walpole, L.500. This church was formerly an abbey, and afterwards one of the largest parish churches in England. The town-house, called Trinity-hall, is a noble old fabric; and so is the Exchange, which is of free-stone, with two orders of columns. St Nicholas's chapel is very ancient, and reckoned one of the fairest and largest of the kind in England. It has a bell-tower of free-stone, and an eight-square spire over it, both which together are 170 feet from the ground. There is a library in it that was erected by subscription; and there is another at St Margaret's. Here have been formerly several monasteries; but the only fabric remaining that belongs to any religious order is the Grey-friars steeple, a noted landmark. The situation of this town, near the fall of the Ouse into the sea, after having received several other rivers, of which some are navigable, gives it an opportunity of extending its trade into eight different counties; by which many considerable cities and towns, viz. Peterborough, Ely, Stamford, Bedford, St Ives, Huntingdon, St Neot's, Northampton, Cambridge, St Edmundsbury, and the north part of Bucks, as well as the inland parts of Norfolk and Suffolk, are supplied with heavy goods, not only from our own produce, as coals and salt from Newcastle, but also of merchandize imported from abroad, especially wine; of which two articles, viz. coals and wine, this is the greatest port for importation of any place, on all the eastern coast of England; and those wherein the Lynn merchants deal more largely than any town in England, except London, Bristol, and Newcastle. In return for this, Lynn receives back all the corn which the counties just mentioned produce, for exportation; and therefore sends more of it abroad than any port except Hull. The foreign trade of the merchants here is very considerable, especially to Holland, Norway, and the Baltic, and also to Spain and Portugal; and formerly they drove a good trade to France, till it was turned off, by treaties on one hand, and by prohibitions, high duties, &c. on the other, to Spain and Portugal. The harbour is safe when ships are in it, but difficult to enter by reason of the many flats and shoals in the passage; which, however, are well buoyed, and good pilots are always ready. The town consists of about 2400 houses; and appears to have been very strong, by the ruins of the works demolished in the civil wars. St Ann's platform at the north end mounts 12 great guns, and commands all the ships passing near the harbour; and towards the land, besides the wall, there is a ditch. Four rivulets run through the town; and the tide of the Ouse, which is about as broad here as the Thames at London-bridge, rises 20 feet perpendicular. In the great market-place a statue was erected in 1686 to the honour of king James II.

There is another spacious market-place, adorned with a statue of king William III. and a fine cross with a dome and gallery round it supported by 16 pillars. The market-house is of free-stone, supported by 16 columns; and is 70 feet high, erected on four steps, neatly adorned with statues, &c. Every first Monday in the month, the mayor, aldermen, preachers, &c. meet to hear and determine all controversies amicably, for preventing law-suits. This was first established in 1588, and is called The Feast of Reconciliation. The markets are on Tuesdays and Saturdays; and it has two fairs: one of which, beginning Feb. 14. lasts for a fortnight, and is called Lynn-mart; the other is a cheese-fair on Oct. 6. The adherence of this town to king John and to Henry VIII., as above mentioned, are not the only instances of its loyalty to its sovereigns; for, in the late civil wars, it held out for king Charles I. and sustained a formal siege of above 18,000 men of the parliament-army, for above three weeks; but, for want of relief, was obliged to surrender, and submit to the terms of paying 10s. a-head for every inhabitant, and a month's pay to the soldiers, to save the town from plunder. There are more gentry, and consequently more gaiety, in this town than in Yarmouth or even Norwich; there being such plenty of eatables and drinkables, that Spelman says Ceres and Bacchus seem to have established their magazines at this place; the east side abounding with corn, sheep, rabbits, hares, &c. the west side with cheese, butter, black-cattle, swans, and the wild-fowl common to marshes, besides the abundance of sea and river fish; so that he thinks there is no place in Great Britain, if in Europe, has such a variety in so small a compass of ground. At a small distance from the town stands a mount called the Lady's or Red Mount, where was once a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, which was a resting-place for pilgrims on their way towards her convent at Wallingham. The king's staith-yard, or quay, where the greatest part of the imported wines is landed and put into large vaults, is a handsome square, with brick buildings, in the centre whereof is a statue of king James I. People pass hence into the fen-country, and over the famous washes into Lincolnshire in boats, which are often lost, by venturing out at an improper season and without guides.