1400s

The first almshouses in Lowestoft were provided by John Manyngham, the parish vicar from 1457-78. The exact year of institution is not known, but they were located on the north side of Fair Lane (now Dove Street) near its junction with West Lane (now Jubilee Way). And they seem to have remained in operation, in some form – undoubtedly with alterations made – into the final quarter of the 19th century, when White’s Directory of Suffolk (1874), p.

Much is heard today regarding illegal immigration into the UK from across the English Channel and occasionally the North Sea - most of it driven by difficult and dangerous conditions in the particular home countries of origin or by the perceived opportunity to start a more financially rewarding lifestyle than is possible in those same nations.

“All Because of the Herring”

The first part of this extended article (Suffolk Review, Spring 2020) dealt primarily with the commercial and civic contention between Great Yarmouth and its nearest neighbours on the Suffolk side of the River Yare: Gorleston and Little Yarmouth.

Compass Street originally formed one track with Dove Street - known as Bier Lane during the 14th century, because it was the track by which corpses (placed on a hand-bier) were taken from town for burial in St. Margaret’s churchyard. The track extended westwards over Church Green, more or less following the line of what became - much later on - Wesley Street and Church Road. During the 16th and 17th century, the named changed to both Fair(stead) Lane and Almshouse Lane, since the annual fairs were held on Fair Green (which is the St.