Gaywood is a civil parish in Norfolk, England Since 1974, the parish has formed part of the non-metropolitan district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. Previously it was part of the Borough of King's Lynn, from 1935 and, before that, part of Freebridge Lynn Rural District. Gaywood Hall, the seat of the Bagge family, baronets in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, was built on the site of a mediaeval palace of a Bishop of Norwich, John de Gray. The Gaywood Hall later became part of King's Lynn Technical College. The church of St Faith is in the Early English style, restored by Walter Caroe in the 1920s; the church is now shared by a partnership of Anglican and Methodist congregations. According to William White's History, Gazetteer and Directory of Norfolk, Gaywood was in the late 19th century a "considerable village" with a population of 805. The population expanded significantly in the 1960s after King's Lynn became an overflow town for London in 1962 and housing estates were built here and nearby in North and South Wootton. Gaywood is now a suburb of King's Lynn. There are several schools in the Gaywood area; these include Gaywood Community Primary School, St Martha's Catholic Primary School, Howard Infant and Junior Schools, King Edward VII School and King's Lynn Academy. The Gaywood area has a wide variety of local shops, including a Tesco supermarket, Aldi, a launderette, several cafes and various takeaways. The Gaywood Church Rooms are used as a meeting place for many different groups, including Gaywood Babies and Toddlers Group. It also used to be the home of the Gaywood Methodist Playgroup, but this closed for the final time in July 2016, due to a lack of children attending and ever increasing costs. The Gaywood Park is a large open area of land which is used for activities such as football, cricket and dog-walking, as well as a weekly Sunday Market and car boot sale. It is also the home of the Gaywood Community Centre, the Gaywood Park Bowls club and the Gayton Road Cemetery, which are all accessible via the unmarked 'Cemetery Drive' road which does not show on any of the online maps for the area. A group of Gaywood residents did at one point set up Gaywood Park Action Group, which was aimed at improving the Gaywood area and providing various activities and services for local people. This group now seems to have become obsolete, possibly due to lack of funding or interest.
