"Vast skylines and endless reed-choked marshes make you feel very small in this fascinating landscape."
Walk directions
Leave the Burgh Castle car park on Butt Lane and take the footpath towards the church. At the churchyard, turn left onto a track. After a few steps and a kissing gate, you will see a well-trodden path cutting diagonally across the fields. Follow this path until you reach the spectacularly grand and well-preserved walls of the Roman fort Gariannonum, aiming for the gap 
in the middle.
Go through the gap to explore the castle, then aim for 28 steps in the far right-hand corner. Descend the steps, walk alongside a field, and look for 40 steps leading down to the river bank. Turn right along the Angles Way and continue until you reach a junction of paths behind Church Farm. This stretch of riverside and reedbeds may be flooded after heavy rain.
Turn left towards the double gates, which will take you on a long (3-mile/4.8km) uninterrupted trail along the edge of Breydon Water. The path sticks closely by the river, following a raised flood bank with glorious views in all directions across the pancake-flat marshes and mudflats. Eventually, you will see the tall struts of Breydon Bridge in the distance.
Pass through a gate to enter the Herbert Barnes Riverside Park. When the path divides, take the right-hand fork, leaving the river and winding across a meadow to Broadland Rugby Club, where you climb to the A12.
If you want to avoid a busy stretch of main road, turn around at this point and retrace your steps along the river, enjoying the views of Breydon Water in the opposite direction. Otherwise, turn right on the A12, keeping carefully to the right-hand verge, and continue for just over 0.5 miles (800m) to a roundabout with Gapton Hall Retail Park on your right. Keep right on a pedestrian and cycle path beside the road. After passing the entrance signs for Bradwell and just before an industrial estate, look for a gap in the hedge and steps leading down to a bridleway across the marshes on your right.
Turn down the footpath, which takes you between the estate and the marshes. After 0.75 miles (1.2km), turn left onto a wide track for about 250yds (229m), then take a footpath through a gap in the hedge to your right, past the farm buildings of Bradwell Hall, to a crossroads.
Keep ahead through a rusty gate and pass to the left of an abandoned house, then follow the path between the fields. Cross a stile and go across the field to another stile and a short farm track, which bends left to arrive at High Road. Turn right, and right again on to Back Lane. This quiet lane bends left, passing houses and an Anglian Water station, before emerging onto High Road at the Queens Head.
Turn right and then take the next left onto Butt Lane, back to the car park.
Terrain
- Riverside paths, footpaths, busy stretch of road, several steps
Landscape
- Marshland, expanses of mudflats and some arable land
Dog friendliness
- Must be on lead at all times along edge of Breydon Water
Parking
- Norfolk Archaeological Trust car park on Butt Lane. Groups larger than two cars should ring first to check no other event is taking place (www.norfarchtrust.org.uk)
The North Norfolk Coast is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and probably the finest of its kind in Europe. Here you’ll find a string of quaint villages and small towns – Holkham, Wells-next-the-Sea and Cley next the Sea are 21st-century favourites, while Sheringham and Cromer are classic examples of a good old-fashioned seaside resort where grand Victorian hotels look out to sea.
"Vast skylines and endless reed-choked marshes make you feel very small in this fascinating landscape."
Walk details
3hrs
Difficulty:
Hard
Gradient:
Gentle
Distance:
8 miles (12.9kms)
Ascent:
49ft (15m)
Walk directions
Leave the Burgh Castle car park on Butt Lane and take the footpath towards the church. At the churchyard, turn left onto a track. After a few steps and a kissing gate, you will see a well-trodden path cutting diagonally across the fields. Follow this path until you reach the spectacularly grand and well-preserved walls of the Roman fort Gariannonum, aiming for the gap 
in the middle.
1 of 8
Go through the gap to explore the castle, then aim for 28 steps in the far right-hand corner. Descend the steps, walk alongside a field, and look for 40 steps leading down to the river bank. Turn right along the Angles Way and continue until you reach a junction of paths behind Church Farm. This stretch of riverside and reedbeds may be flooded after heavy rain.
2 of 8
Turn left towards the double gates, which will take you on a long (3-mile/4.8km) uninterrupted trail along the edge of Breydon Water. The path sticks closely by the river, following a raised flood bank with glorious views in all directions across the pancake-flat marshes and mudflats. Eventually, you will see the tall struts of Breydon Bridge in the distance.
3 of 8
Pass through a gate to enter the Herbert Barnes Riverside Park. When the path divides, take the right-hand fork, leaving the river and winding across a meadow to Broadland Rugby Club, where you climb to the A12.
4 of 8
If you want to avoid a busy stretch of main road, turn around at this point and retrace your steps along the river, enjoying the views of Breydon Water in the opposite direction. Otherwise, turn right on the A12, keeping carefully to the right-hand verge, and continue for just over 0.5 miles (800m) to a roundabout with Gapton Hall Retail Park on your right. Keep right on a pedestrian and cycle path beside the road. After passing the entrance signs for Bradwell and just before an industrial estate, look for a gap in the hedge and steps leading down to a bridleway across the marshes on your right.
5 of 8
Turn down the footpath, which takes you between the estate and the marshes. After 0.75 miles (1.2km), turn left onto a wide track for about 250yds (229m), then take a footpath through a gap in the hedge to your right, past the farm buildings of Bradwell Hall, to a crossroads.
6 of 8
Keep ahead through a rusty gate and pass to the left of an abandoned house, then follow the path between the fields. Cross a stile and go across the field to another stile and a short farm track, which bends left to arrive at High Road. Turn right, and right again on to Back Lane. This quiet lane bends left, passing houses and an Anglian Water station, before emerging onto High Road at the Queens Head.
7 of 8
Turn right and then take the next left onto Butt Lane, back to the car park.
Terrain
- Riverside paths, footpaths, busy stretch of road, several steps
Landscape
- Marshland, expanses of mudflats and some arable land
Dog friendliness
- Must be on lead at all times along edge of Breydon Water
Parking
- Norfolk Archaeological Trust car park on Butt Lane. Groups larger than two cars should ring first to check no other event is taking place (www.norfarchtrust.org.uk)
The North Norfolk Coast is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and probably the finest of its kind in Europe. Here you’ll find a string of quaint villages and small towns – Holkham, Wells-next-the-Sea and Cley next the Sea are 21st-century favourites, while Sheringham and Cromer are classic examples of a good old-fashioned seaside resort where grand Victorian hotels look out to sea.
