Gaywood is an eastern suburb of

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

, in the

King's Lynn and West Norfolk King's Lynn and West Norfolk is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Norfolk, England. Its council is based in the town of King's Lynn. The district also includes the t ...

district of

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Freebridge Lynn Rural District Freebridge Lynn Rural District was a rural district in Norfolk, England from 1894 to 1974. It was formed under the Local Government Act 1894 based on the Freebridge Lynn rural sanitary district, and was named after the Freebridge Lynn hundred. ...

, 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, 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 Sir William Bagge, 1st Baronet, William Bagge, Conservative Party (UK), Conserv ...

in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, was built on the site of a mediaeval palace of a

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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 whi ...

. 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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

in 1962 and housing estates were built here and nearby in

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and South Wootton. Gaywood is now a suburb of King's Lynn. There are several schools in the Gaywood area; these include Gaywood Primary School, St Martha's Catholic Primary School, King's Oak Academy (formerly Howard Infant and Nursery School), Howard Junior School, 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, England. It is situated on Queen Mary Road in Gaywood; and is one of four schools serving the town and adjacent v ...

(formerly Gaywood Park High School). The Gaywood area has a wide variety of local shops, including a

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supermarket,

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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

have been given planning permission to build 380 new homes, which will include a mixture of one-bedroom apartments to four-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.

References

Populated places in Norfolk King's Lynn Former civil parishes in Norfolk {{Norfolk-geo-stub