King's Lynn to Walsingham

Start: Great Massingham. Finish: Holme-next-the Sea / Old Hunstanton.

Distance: 15 miles

"The ancient British or Roman road called Peddar's Way ... crossed the county from the neighbourhood of Thetford to the sea at Hunstanton ... considerable portions are even yet in use..." William White's History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Norfolk, 1883.

Walsingham would have been a day's walk from Great Massingham using the medieval pilgrimage route. Unfortunately, developments since have made passage along this path impossible to the modern pilgrim. The old airfield of RAF Sculthorpe, for example, lies squarely in the way. The Three Paths Pilgrimage route therefore continues, ruler-straight, along the Peddar's Way toward the coast.

The area in the region of Harpley Common is regarded as one of the most significant Bronze Age landscape sites in Norfolk and is peppered with prehistoric earthworks. Some appear simply as islands of scrubby woodland, isolated in the middle of fields. Others, however, stand proud of the surrounding ground, presenting themselves obviously as man-made monuments. Many are not immediately obvious, only becoming clear when identified on maps. These earthworks are Bronze Age burial mounds, dating back 3300 to 3500 years, perhaps indicating religious activity here many centuries before the dawn of Christianity.

The route skirts past the villages of Anmer, Fring and Sedgeford before leading you through the heart of Great Ringstead. Each has its own church; indeed, Great Ringstead once had two. Although part of the round tower of St. Peter's Church still stands, it does so on private land; the rest was demolished in the late 1700s. Some materials from St. Peter's were used to restore Great Ringstead's other church, St. Andrew's. St. Andrew himself is depicted above the entrance accompanied by the biblical quote 'I am the door' (John 10:9). Unfortunately for the modern pilgrim, the door of this church is usually locked outside of scheduled services.

This day's walking can end at either Holme-next-the-Sea or Old Hunstanton. Old Hunstanton is so-called since it pre-dates the famous seaside resort further down the west coast.

Hunstanton Hall at Old Hunstanton was the seat of the Le Strange family. It was Sir Henry Styleman Le Strange who, during the Victorian period, conceived the idea of the new coastal resort and ensured its development by encouraging the construction of the railway line from King's Lynn. Unfortunately, this pioneer was not able to fully appreciate his success. He died in July 1862; the station at Hunstanton opened in October the same year.

It is worth noting that there is a regular bus service along the coast road. This makes it possible to secure accommodation for more than one night and use the bus to embark and return each day if necessary.