The Custom House Kings Lynn Norfolk

	Ceres the goddess of agriculture and fertility with ears of corn forming the hair and poppies encircling the face.
	Bacchus the Roman god of wine amidst grapes and vine leaves.
	The ears make this mask appear somewhat canine or wildman.
	Subtle folds of vegetation sprout from the face, the ridge between the eyes forms a leaf like appearance.
	In this example the vegetation can more clearly be seen sprouting from the side of the nose. Interestingly the hair and moustache do not appear as foliage.
	Very definite animal appearance. The scalloped leaf 'headdress' suggests a lions mane.
	Kings Lynn Custom House on an idyllic summer's day.

The Custom House in Kings Lynn was built in the late 17th century originally as a merchant exchange or trading centre built in the Dutch style. It became the official Custom house in 1703 and was operated by HM Customs and Excise until 1989. The building now houses the Tourist Information Centre.

The masks on the exterior keystones are all different Bacchus, the god of wine, and Ceres the goddess of agriculture and fertility, possibly representing two of Lynn's main trading goods wine and grain.

The images below show interesting variations on the Green Man theme. Some theories have Dionysus the Greek god of wine and his Roman counterpart Bacchus as an origin of the Green Man.

A statue to the explorer John Vancouver who charted much of the coast of North America, (Vancouver, Canada is named after him) stands on the quay outside the Custom House. His father John worked there as an assistant collector of customs during the early 18th c.