Greenland Fishery House

Greenland Fishery House is a house dating from 1605–1608, built in King’s Lynn for the merchant John Atkin. It is the last principally timber-framed house known to have been constructed in Lynn. The building is of single range, parallel to the street, and has an upper hall plan. It is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The external appearance is characterised by brick infill between timber framing, brick gable-end walls with stacks, and a pantiled roof. A brick ground floor is partly rendered. A present door on the ground floor was originally an open passage leading to two cross ranges at the rear; entry to the house was from the south side of this passage, and entry to a former shop from the north. There are twin 19th-century casements to the left of the door, a small mullioned window, and a grille window and a four-light mullioned window to the right. A moulded jetty bressumer runs along the first floor. The timber framing is close studded. Three projecting windows are present; two to the north are of five lights and a transom, and the other, in the canted termination to the south gable, is of four lights and a transom. The north window dates from the early 17th century, while the others were added in the late 17th century. The original fenestration probably comprised narrow mullioned windows set immediately under the attic jetty, with staircase windows surviving to the south. A moulded bressumer is present to the attic jetty, above which the wall is close studded. The gabled roof has heavy internal gable-end stacks to the north and south.

The interior has a ground-floor room to the south of the passage, which features a large central fireplace in the south wall. To its left are stairs leading to the attic. A further fireplace is in the room to the right of the passage (the former shop). The first floor originally comprised an upper hall running the full length of the house, with a fireplace at each end. Wall paintings survive on the south wall; painted panels against this wall display non-figurative designs from the 1650s. Later partitions now divide this room. Stairs continued to the attic, which retains 17th-century partitioning. The larger south portion of the attic was formerly the solar, also heated and decorated with wall paintings on the south wall.