Gaywood is an eastern area of the town of King's Lynn, in the
unparished area
In England, an unparished area is an area that is not covered by a civil parish (the lowest level of local government, not to be confused with an ecclesiastical parish). Most urbanised districts of England are either entirely or partly unpa ...
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
, England.
Previously a
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...
in Freebridge Lynn Rural District, Gaywood became part of the borough of King's Lynn in 1935.
Gaywood Hall, the seat of the
Bagge baronets
The Bagge Baronetcy, of Stradsett Hall in the County of Norfolk, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 13 April 1867 for William Bagge, Conservative Member of Parliament for West Norfolk. The sixth Baronet w ...
in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, was built on the site of a mediaeval palace of a
Bishop of Norwich
The Bishop of Norwich is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The bishop of Norwich is Graham Usher.
The see is in t ...
,
John de Gray
John de Gray or de Grey (died 18 October 1214) was an English prelate who served as Bishop of Norwich, and was elected but unconfirmed Archbishop of Canterbury. He was employed in the service of Prince John even before John became king, for wh ...
. The house later became part of King's Lynn Technical College.
The church of St Faith is in the Early English style, restored by Walter Caroe in the 1920s; the church is now shared by a partnership of Anglican and Methodist congregations.
According to William White's ''History, Gazetteer and Directory of Norfolk'' (1883), Gaywood was in the late 19th century a "considerable village" with a population of 805. The population expanded significantly in the 1960s after King's Lynn became an overflow town for
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
in 1962 and housing estates were built here and nearby in
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography.
Etymology
The word ''north ...
and
South Wootton
South Wootton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, approximately north-east of King's Lynn.
It covers an area of and had a population of 3,717 in 1,450 households at the 2001 Census,King Edward VII School and
King's Lynn Academy
King's Lynn Academy (formerly "the Park High School") is a 11-16 mixed secondary school in the West Norfolk town of King's Lynn. It is situated on Queen Mary Road in Gaywood; and is one of four schools serving the town and adjacent villages. ...
(formerly Gaywood Park High School).
The Gaywood area has a wide variety of local shops, including a
Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...
supermarket,
Aldi
Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when ...
store, a launderette, several cafes and various takeaways.
The Gaywood Church Rooms are used as a meeting place for many different groups, including Gaywood Babies and Toddlers Group. It also used to be the home of the Gaywood Methodist Playgroup (established in 1968), but this closed for the final time in July 2016, due to a lack of children attending and ever increasing costs.
The Gaywood Park is a large open area of land which is used for activities such as football, cricket and dog-walking, as well as a weekly Sunday Market and car boot sale. It is also the site of the Gaywood Community Centre, the Gaywood Park Bowls club and the Gayton Road Cemetery, which are all accessible via the unmarked 'Cemetery Drive' road which does not show on any of the online maps for the area.
History
A series of archaeological test pits were dug between 2010 and 2013. The report was published in 2018.
New Projects
The Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk have been given planning permission to build 380 new homes, which will include a mixture 1 bedroom apartments to 4 bedroom houses. This initiative is part of a larger project titled the Active and Clean Connectivity Project.
Civil parish
In 1931 the parish had a population of 1966. On 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Kings Lynn.