A chapel, in existence since the mid 12th century, was dependent on the parish church of St. Margaret’s.  An early Gothic chapel was built shortly after 1200.  In 1379 and again in 1432, coinciding, it seems, with new building campaigns, the parishioners of St. Nicholas sued to have a christening font, to conduct marriages, and to perform the rite of purification after childbirth.  Authority to perform these rites would have made “the chapel equal to the parish church” [Book of Margery Kempe, ch. 25: 1340-1381].  Margery’s father John Brunham, as mayor, opposed the petition the first time it was brought, and Margery opposed the second.  Margery has a revelation, an understanding in her soul, that though the parishioners behind this scheme would give a bushel of money, “thei schuld not have it” and because of her foreknowledge, “sche was the more bold top pteyn owyr lord to wythstonde her intent and to slakyn her bost” [1370].  (She was the more the more bold to pray our Lord to withstand their intention and to deflate their boasting.)  The Book of Margery Kempe, trans. B. A. Windeatt (London: Penguin Books, 1985), based on The Book of Margery Kempe, British Library Additional Ms 61823, ed. Sanford Brown Meech and Hope Emily Allen (Early English Text Society, O.S. 212, 1940)  Citations from The Book of Margery Kempe are from Lynn Staley, ed. TEAMS (Kalamazoo, MI, Medieval Institute Publications, 1996).

27. King’s Lynn, St. Nicholas, south side. After William Taylor, The Antiquities of King’s Lynn (London, 1844). Early work, 13th century, rebuilding ca. 1370.  Most of the church’s construction dates from 1421-3, chancel/choir, through the late 15th century, the south porch.

28. King’s Lynn, St. Nicholas, west facade and tower.

29. King’s Lynn, St. Nicholas, plan in 1425. After E.M. Beloe, F.S.A., Our Borough: Our Churches: King’s Lynn, Norfolk (Cambridge, 1899).

30. King’s Lynn, St. Nicholas, south aisle 1425-50.

31. King’s Lynn, St. Nicholas, west window, now devoid of its glass, 1450s.  Photograph from E.M. Beloe, F.S.A., Our Borough: Our Churches: King’s Lynn, Norfolk (Cambridge, 1899).

32. King’s Lynn, St. Nicholas, detail of angel roof in nave, ca. 1450s. Angle with lute.

33. King’s Lynn, St. Nicholas, detail of angel roof in nave, ca. 1450s. Angle with flowered girdle.

34. King’s Lynn, St. Nicholas, choir stall, 1418, now Victoria and Albert Museum, London. (Tracy 1990, pl. 87). After William Taylor, The Antiquities of King’s Lynn (London, 1844).

35. Charter of John of Oxon, 1175-1200, Grant of St. Nicholas’s Church to St. Margaret’s (archives of the Dean and Chapter, Norwich Cathedral). After E.M. Beloe, F.S.A., Our Borough: Our Churches: King’s Lynn, Norfolk (Cambridge, 1899).

36. Minutes of Council of the Borough of Lynn, 1 January 1432, text of letter sent to the Prior of Norwich requesting that St. Nicholas be granted authority to perform baptisms, marriages, and the “churching” of women (a ritual of purification after childbirth). After E.M. Beloe, F.S.A., Our Borough: Our Churches: King’s Lynn, Norfolk (Cambridge, 1899).