NHER 64023 (Monument record) - Tower Gardens

Previously recorded under NHER 5477.

Tower Gardens is a public open space laid out in 1911 to mark the coronation of George V. At the centre of the gardens is a war memorial erected in 1921 which commemorates those who gave their lives in the two World Wars (NHER 64026). It is thought that a bandstand originally stood at this location.
A. Cattermole (King's Lynn UAD), 5 March 2020.

The Tower or Greyfriars Gardens are graded three-star (national importance) by Norfolk Historic Gardens Survey. References in 1690 to Tower Gardens and Tower Pasture.
1816 wall on south side of the tower was taken down and a theatre built.
1845-8 area of east part became public park with railings.
School built in south-west corner in 1849.
1898 area adjacent to tower still private gardens.
Not until 1911 did the present plan appear as a Coronation memorial.
Central bandstand replaced in 1921 by war memorial by Oswald Milne, listed grade II.
Theatre burnt 1936; glasshouses built 1962.
Original rockwork, terraces and sloping beds remain together with unusual iron gates. Many carved stone fragments line flower beds, but probably not all from this site.
See Town Gardens Survey (S1) for details.
E. Rose (NLA) 27 February 1998.

April 2006.
Works to restore the tower have resulted in complete alteration of Tower Gardens. Rockwork banks removed, area around tower levelled, railings and gates much altered. This may affect the three-star grading in (S6).
E. Rose (NLA), 28 April 2006.