The Valiant Sailor
2 Nelson Street, King's Lynn, Norfolk PE30 5DY
The Valiant Sailor is one of the most picturesque houses in King’s Lynn. It is a Grade II*, jettied timber-framed building, dating from around 1500. Today a private house, the building has also served as an arcade of shops and The Valiant Sailor inn and pub which closed in 1925.
At the north-west corner is an exposed dragon post and a carved timber panel, possibly representing the Annunciation. Internally the Dragon post is jointed to a square dragon beam and two massive bridging beams are scarf jointed at an angle. Three blocked entrances to former shops can be seen in the main hall.
In the 1950s, the house became the home of oil and watercolour painter Walter Dexter RBA (1876-1958). In 1971 Dr Elizabeth Harrison, King’s Lynn’s first female GP, purchased The Valiant Sailor and made it her home for 51 years, longer than anyone else in the house’s history.