Official Guide to North Walsham 2023-2024

The Local Environment 49
Local Walks
Beautiful countryside surrounds North Walsham, and the North Norfolk area itself is designated as
an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’. The best way to explore this wonderful area is either by
bicycle, or to delve even deeper into its hidden secrets, by foot. North Walsham is a stopping point
on two major walks.
Paston Way
The Paston way takes its name from the Paston
Family, the wealthy and dominant landowners
in the area during Medieval and Tudor times.
The Paston family in turn had taken their name
from the small village of Paston on the north
east Norfolk coast. They also wrote the famous
Paston Letters.
The 22 mile route, between Cromer and North
Walsham, travels through much of what was
once their land and passes sixteen of the area’s
ancient and beautiful churches.
Each church has its own hidden history and
one, St Michael and All Angels at Sidestrand,
was even moved brick by brick from a cliff top to save it from the sea. (To visit all 14 of the fine
churches on the Paston Way, the trail covers 29.5 miles).
In travelling church to church, the trail ambles down quiet lanes, through picturesque towns and
villages, across vast arable fields, disused railway lines and quiet grazing pastures with views of the
North Sea. Keep a look out for seals on the stretches of beach walk too.
Starting at the south eastern end, the path begins at the Parish Church of St Nicholas in North
Walsham. The route then heads northwards along the old Mundesley Road out of the town. On the
outskirts of the town the path follows the track bed of the disused Norfolk and Suffolk Joint Railway
Company which linked North Walsham to Cromer. The path crosses the North Walsham & Dilham
Canal at Swafield. Knapton Cutting, as this part of the trail is known, is also a nature and butterfly
reserve. This section is an area of wild flowers, brambles, scrub and undisturbed grassy banks,
which make it an ideal habitat for butterflies and nineteen different species have been recorded.
The path continues out of North Walsham, through the stunning countryside of North Norfolk to
Cromer where it links with the Coast Road.
Footpaths and Walks
There is a lot of readily available information about the
many footpaths and walks that cross the North Norfolk
landscape around North Walsham.
Many can be found on
www.norfolk.gov.uk/out-and-about-in-norfolk
Printed walks are also available from
The M.i. North Walsham, Vicarage Street