King's Lynn to Walsingham

Start: Old Hunstanton. Finish: Burnham Overy Staithe.

Distance: 16 miles

"The presence of the structure was first brought to the attention of Norfolk Landscape Archaeology by local amateur archaeologist John Lorimer... A local Norfolk newspaper christened the site Seahenge and, although this is a misnomer on numerous counts, the structure has now become widely known by this name." Brennand and Taylor, 2003, in 'The Survey and Excavation of a Bronze Age Timber Circle at Holme-next-the-Sea'. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society.

Heading east along the Norfolk Coast Path, the route soon reaches NWT Holme Dunes. A remarkable discovery on the beach here in 1998 cast a spotlight on this otherwise quiet area. An Early Bronze Age timber circle - subsequently dated to 2049 BC - had been found.

'Seahenge', as it was dubbed by the local press, consisted of more than fifty oak timbers surrounding an inverted oak stump. Threatened with destruction from the action of the sea it was excavated and removed for preservation, amidst howls of protests from some quarters.

There are no remains of the monument on the beach, but an interpretation panel next to the Coast Path overlooking the area gives more details about the find. Timbers from the original structure, including the inverted oak stump, can be seen at Lynn Museum in King's Lynn.

The Coastal Path along this section dives inland after passing All Saint's Church at Thornham. It brings you tantalisingly close to the beach again when it heads back out toward Brancaster and past St. Mary's Church, but it then maintains its distance, from the sea, separated by saltmarshes. After Burnham Deepdale the path loops round and from here you could carry on direct to Burnham Overy Staithe. However, a more rewarding route would have you diverting from this path and taking up part of a circular waymarked route through Burnham Norton toward Burnham Market.

This circular walk never reaches Burnham Market. Instead it passes by three sites of religious significance: St. Margaret's Church (famous for its painted wineglass pulpit); the remains of St. Mary's Carmelite Friary (established by the first Carmelite friars in Norfolk in 1253, after moving from their original site); and, St. Clement's Church (with its unusual central tower and peculiar internal arrangement).

The two churches and the village at the end of this leg, Burnham Overy Staithe, are connected in a rather unexpected way.

Captain Richard Woodget, the last and most successful skipper of the famous wool clipper Cutty Sark was baptised at St. Margaret's Church in 1846 and buried there in 1928; his grave is easily distinguished in the churchyard by the large white stone anchor placed upon it. He was married at St. Clement's Church in Burnham Overy Town in 1871. During his retirement he lived at Flagstaff House in Burnham Overy Staithe and stayed there until 1926.