The Friars form part of the oldest links to King's Lynn's historical past.
Before the area now known as the Friars was merged into the town in 1557, it consisted of a separate village and parish around the 11th Century. There was a defensive structure later known as the South Gates from 1300. The Friars grew from the arrival around the 13th Century of religious communities set upon converting the heathen masses to religion. Their style of preaching and way of life earned both popularity and esteem. The Whitefriars, (The Carmelites), arrived in 1260, the Greyfriars arrived in 1264, the Blackfriars came in 1272, and the Austinians arrived in 1293.
The Banks of the River Nar were important to the towns' prosperity, as this is where the whaling fleet unloaded their cargo for rendering, and where a thriving shipwright trade existed.
Before the Victorians built London Road, maps from 1100 show that the entrance to the town turned left after passing through South Gates, down South Gate Street, along what became Friars Street, Along Bridge Street and past Greenland Fishery, along Nelson Street and into Saturday Market Place.
The Friars was designed to take nothing more than horse and cart. Now we have cars and lorries, emergency vehicles, waste vehicles, and school coaches all competing to make progress down these narrow and increasingly congested routes.
The demolition of old industry and commerce has seen the rise of housing developments with little or no regard to the consequences of cramming lots of people into a small area. Central Government Policy has done little to ease the situation and as a result Council Planning committees have found it difficult to be sensible. One ludicrous consequence of muddled Government thinking has been that if developers were prohibited from offering parking, people living in their properties wouldn't own a car! This is obviously rank stupidity, almost, (but not quite), as stupid as tearing down perfectly sound housing in Liverpool to erect substandard modern housing.
The consequences we in The Friars are faced with are;
Litter, congestion, vandalism, crime, access, inconsiderate motorists and thoughtless parking, Hillington Square, derelict properties, deteriorating road surfaces, and the ever present threat posed to the area by inappropriate development to an area already stretched beyond limits.
Key assets include;
All Saints Church, architecture, key views and situations, the Rivers Nar and Ouse, Whitefriars School, the Quaker Meeting House, Harding's Pits, Carmelite Arch, and Greenland Fisheries.
Our history and assets are worth protecting and preserving, hence the work of this group.
To this end, the Friars Community Group monitor the Friars, encourage dialogue, circulate information, organises meetings between people and agencies, and publicises issues of mismanagement or neglect.