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A short, varied circular walk that captures everything special about Blakeney without committing to the full coast path. Out along the sea wall above the Freshes, a climb onto Friary Hills for the finest view of Blakeney harbour on the entire coast, then back past the ruins of a medieval friary. Four miles, one car park, no need for a return bus.
The Route
From the car park in the centre of Blakeney, make your way to the sea wall and turn to walk along the elevated path. From here you can see the salt marshes, with Blakeney Harbour on one side and freshwater grazing marsh on the other. This raised perspective is one of the best ways to appreciate the scale of the harbour and the channel that leads out towards Blakeney Point on the horizon.
Continue along the sea wall for around half a mile until the path bends to the right, where a gate leads down off the wall into Blakeney Freshes itself — the area of freshwater grazing marsh sheltered behind the sea defences. Follow the track back roughly parallel to your outbound route. Around halfway, the path crosses a small stream — this is where water from the River Glaven, diverted through the Fresh Marsh system at Cley, finally exits into the sea. In winter, this whole area becomes a magnet for wildfowl: look for large, swirling flocks of golden plover moving between the harbour and the marshes, alongside wigeon and the distinctive black-and-white Brent geese grazing the fields.
The section through Blakeney Freshes can be wet and muddy during the winter months — this is grazing marsh, not a hard path. Waterproof boots are genuinely useful here, more so than on most of the rest of this walk.
At the end of the track along the Freshes you reach a road. Turn and head through the gate onto Friary Hills, then follow the track along the base of the hill until you reach an open gateway. Rather than passing through it, bear right and follow the path uphill — there are steps to climb here, so take care, particularly when the ground is wet, as they can be slippery. Two benches sit along the top of the ridge, and this is genuinely the moment to stop. From this elevated position you look out across the whole of Blakeney Freshes and beyond the harbour to Blakeney Point itself — arguably the single best view of Blakeney available from dry land.
From the viewpoint, turn back and follow the path back down the hill. Immediately to the south of Friary Hills lies the site of a Carmelite Friary, founded in the late 13th or early 14th century and dissolved during the Reformation in 1538. Some sections of medieval masonry survive within the structure of the present Friary Farmhouse, and a length of flint wall with a surviving gateway can be seen as you walk alongside the site. From here, quiet lanes and field paths lead you back down into Blakeney village and the car park where you began.
Points of Interest
Wildlife on This Walk
This circular route is at its wildlife best in winter, when Blakeney Freshes fills with wintering wildfowl. Golden plover gather in large, swirling flocks that move constantly between the harbour mudflats and the marsh fields — a genuinely beautiful sight against a low winter sun. Wigeon graze the wet grassland in good numbers, identifiable by their distinctive whistling call, while small flocks of dark-bellied Brent geese — which winter here having bred in Arctic Russia — feed on the fields close to the sea wall.
Food and Drink
What to Bring
