NHER 13593 (Monument record) - Route of King's Lynn Harbour Railway

1849 to 1968.
Harbour Junction to Friar's Fleet and South Quay.
Another branch to South Lynn.
Now lifted.
However the rails remain intact in the bridge over the River Nar, north of the fertiliser works (NHER 24198), at TF 6216 1869.
E. Rose (NLA), 29 March 1999.

August 2009. Trial Trenching.
A sequence of alluvial, undated and post-medieval and modern deposits were recovered. It is possible that a number of dumped deposits may relate to the Civil War defences or from the raising of the ground level prehaps in preparation for the railway. Deposits from the railway were found in two trenches but no deposits relating to the whale oil factory that previously occupied the site (NHER 63566) were observed. Finds from trench one included mortar fragments, a mid 19th century land drain, flint, brick and tile fragments. Trench 2 contained alluvial deposits with later dump deposits including coal and charcoal fragments. A number of rectangular features were cut into the dumped material that may represent wooden beams possibly used to stabilise the surface in preparation for the railway. Trench 3 contained alluvial deposits cut by a large feature containing an early 19th century brick fragment. The limited finds from the trenches suggest that this area of land was not densely occupied.
See report (S1) for further details.
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2016.322).
S. Howard (NLA), 25 March 2010. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 23 June 2019 and A. Cattermole (King's Lynn UAD), 17 February 2020.

When constructed this railway initially terminated in the angle between the Rivers Nar and Ouse. However, in 1852 plans were drawn up to extend it over the River Nar and the Millfleet by means of swing bridges and then continue it across the Purfleet to the Common Staithe over a timber viaduct. The viaduct was never built but the extension across the Nar and the Purfleet was completed, and in 1855 the quay between the extended railway and the Purfleet was constructed to provide better berthing facilities. This reconstructed quay became known as the South Quay, and the new railway line which ran along the waterfront as far as the King's Staithe was opened in 1856.
See (S2) for further details of track layout and businesses served.
A. Cattermole (King's Lynn UAD), 17 February 2020.