About

This is the longest of the Coastal Treasures cycle routes and one to savour. There are lots of places to get food and drink along the way, so it's easy to make a day of it while explore rolling landscapes that Nelson himself once knew.

The Nelson Loop passes the site of Lord Nelson’s birthplace, which is marked by a plaque. It visits the churches at Burnham Thorpe and Burnham Market, and the ruins at Burnham Sutton. It then heads north to the coast before returning south through Stanhoe and Great and Little Barwick before heading to South and North Creake.

This cycle route has two starting points: Deepdale Backpackers and Camping (TF803442) and Creake Abbey (TF856394).

Parking:

Park on-site for Deepdale Backpackers and Camping start point if you're using the cycle hire facilities. There's alternative parking at Brancaster Beach Car Park, Broad Lane, PE31 8AX. Car parking charges may apply. Check Brancaster tide times as high tides can flood the road leading to the car park.

For the Creake Abbey starting point car parking is available on-site, subject to opening times.

Route:

Begin your one-hour cycle route at the parsonage of All Saints’ Church at Burnham Thorpe. You will see a plaque that marks the birthplace of Admiral Lord Nelson, born here in 1758 when his father, Edmund, was rector. Nelson died at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. His victorious career is celebrated at the church.

When the villages of Burnhams Ulph, Sutton and Westgate were absorbed by Burnham Market, the new boundaries formed one parish containing five churches (two are now gone). You can see the ruins of St. Ethelbert’s at Burnham Sutton. Both St. Mary’s at Burnham Westgate and All Saints’ at Burnham Ulph remain in regular use. Beyond the Burnhams, you’ll pass Stanhoe Hall, where a World War Two Wellington bomber crashed in 1943. In contrast, the villages of Great and Little Barwick have a peaceful history, though smaller now than in their medieval heyday. At this time, nearby North Creake was dominated by beautiful Creake Abbey, an Augustinian priory elevated to abbey status in 1225. When plague killed the last abbot in 1506 the beautiful buildings fell into picturesque ruin.

Finally, at South Creake the village sign records a battle between Danes and Angles, a slaughter so terrible the hill is still named Bloodgate. The enigmatic traces of an Iron Age earthwork ‘hillfort’ are all that remain of this turbulent chapter in Norfolk’s distant past.