Overstrand to Sidestrand to Trimingham: The Deep History Cliffs
📍 Overstrand → Trimingham📏 4 miles⏱ 2 hours🟡 Moderate🚌 Bus back from Trimingham
⚠ Important — Please Read Before Setting Off
NorfolkWild guides are provided for general information only. You are solely responsible for your own safety and the safety of anyone in your group. Always carry out your own research before setting off on any route described on this site.
✓ Study a current OS Explorer map before every walk (OL24 / OL25 for North Norfolk)
✓ Check tide times before any coastal or salt marsh walk
✓ Verify bus timetables directly with Sanders Coaches before travel
✓ Tell someone your route and expected return time
✓ Carry a charged phone, paper map, food and water
✓ Wear appropriate clothing and footwear for conditions
✓ Assess whether the route suits your fitness and experience
No Liability — NorfolkWild and its authors accept no responsibility or liability whatsoever for any loss, injury, accident, death, damage, delay or inconvenience suffered by any person as a result of following any guide, route, advice or information published on this website. Route conditions, path closures, cliff erosion, tidal changes and transport timetables may differ from those described. All information is provided in good faith but without warranty of any kind. Walking in the countryside and on coastal cliff paths involves inherent risks. By following any route on this site you acknowledge that you do so entirely at your own risk. In an emergency dial 999 — for coastal emergencies ask for the Coastguard.
This is the most dramatic and unusual section of the entire Coasthopper walking series. The clay and chalk cliffs between Overstrand and Trimingham are among the fastest eroding in Europe — Sidestrand's medieval church tower once stood safely inland; it now teeters on the cliff edge, slowly claimed by the sea. A walk unlike anything else on the Norfolk coast, full of geological history, melancholy beauty and extraordinary views.
📏
Distance
4 miles
⏱
Walking time
2 hours
🟡
Difficulty
Moderate
🚌
Bus back
CH2 from Trimingham
Route map — Overstrand to Sidestrand to Trimingham
Start (Overstrand)
Finish (Trimingham)
Cliff erosion feature
Walking route
🚌 Coasthopper CH2 — Practical Information
Start pointOverstrand village stop (The Street)
Finish pointTrimingham village stop (Coast Road)
Bus backCH2 Trimingham → Overstrand → Cromer
Single fare£3 (government fare cap, extended 2026)
Explorer Day ticket£12 adult · £10 age 5–19 · £25 group
From the bus stop in Overstrand village, follow signs to the clifftop path heading south. The path almost immediately feels different from the western sections of the Coasthopper walks — narrower, quieter, more intimate. The cliffs are clay rather than chalk, deep brown and orange in colour, and clearly unstable in places. The path follows the cliff edge closely but diversions inland are necessary in places where the cliff has eroded across the original path line. The landscape is one of dramatic, slightly melancholy beauty — fields cut off by erosion, isolated trees left on cliff promontories, the constant sound of the sea below. After about 2 miles, the rounded tower of Sidestrand's old church comes into view.
Stage 2 — Sidestrand to Trimingham
2 miles · 1 hour
The area around Sidestrand's old church tower is the most dramatic point of the walk. The medieval round tower — all that remains of the original St Michael's church, which was demolished in 1889 when cliff erosion made it unsafe — now stands close to the cliff edge itself, a powerful reminder of how rapidly this coastline changes. From Sidestrand the path continues south along the clifftop through Trimingham — a small village that gives its name to the highest point on this section of coast at around 90 metres above sea level. The views from the clifftop above Trimingham on a clear day extend to Cromer in the north and Mundesley to the south.
⚠️ Important: The cliffs on this section are among the most actively eroding in Europe, losing on average around 1 metre per year. The Coast Path is regularly diverted inland as sections fall. Follow waymarks carefully, keep well back from the cliff edge and never attempt to descend the cliffs. The clay becomes extremely slippery when wet.
Points of Interest
1
🌊
The Deep History Coast
This stretch of coastline from Weybourne to Happisburgh is designated the Deep History Coast — a remarkable 100-mile stretch of beach and cliff that has yielded some of the oldest evidence of human activity in northern Europe. The eroding cliffs constantly expose new material dating back up to 2 million years — bones of mammoths, sabre-toothed cats, hippos, ancient horses and rhinoceros have all been found along this beach. In 2013, the oldest human footprints found outside Africa were discovered at nearby Happisburgh, dating back 800,000 years. Look along the beach base for freshly exposed material but do not remove anything — report finds to the Museum of Norwich.
📍 Entire section between Overstrand and Trimingham · deephistorycoast.org.uk
2
⛪
Sidestrand Round Tower — the Church Claimed by the Sea
The round flint tower on the cliff at Sidestrand is one of the most poignant sights on the Norfolk coast. It is all that remains of the medieval Church of St Michael — the main body of the church was carefully demolished in 1889 when erosion brought the cliff to within metres of its walls, and the building was reconstructed a safe distance inland. But the tower was left where it stood as too expensive to move, and it remains today, slowly edging towards the cliff edge. Local legend holds that on quiet nights you can hear the bells of the old church ringing beneath the waves — bells that fell into the sea decades ago as the cliff crumbled.
📍 Sidestrand clifftop · Visible from coast path · Free
3
⛪
St John the Baptist Church, Trimingham
The rebuilt church of St Michael at Sidestrand, and the nearby Church of St John the Baptist at Trimingham, both date partly from the medieval period. Trimingham church has a handsome round flint tower — a style distinctive to Norfolk, with over 120 surviving examples in the county, more than anywhere else in the world. The round tower is thought to relate to the lack of good building stone in Norfolk — round shapes require no cut stone corners. Worth a brief stop if the church is open.
📍 Trimingham village, NR11 8AS
Fossil hunting on the beach
The beach below the cliffs between Overstrand and Trimingham is genuinely productive for fossil hunters after storms, when new cliff material has fallen. Common finds include belemnites (finger-shaped bullet fossils), bivalves and echinoids (sea urchins). Mammal bones are rarer but possible — if you find anything that looks like a large bone, photograph it and report it to the Deep History Coast team at deephistorycoast.org.uk rather than removing it. Access to the beach requires a scramble down where paths exist — check the tide and the condition of the cliff face before descending.
Food and Drink
The White Horse, Overstrand
Pub · Start of walk
Good food, reliable ales and a friendly welcome. Stock up before heading out on this more remote section of the coast path.
📍 The Street, Overstrand NR27 0PN
Trimingham Village Stores
Village shop · End of walk
Small village shop with basic supplies. Worth checking opening times before relying on it. The bus stop is close by for the return to Overstrand or Cromer.
📍 Coast Road, Trimingham NR11 8AD
🌿
NorfolkWild
Independent guide to this section of the Norfolk Coast Path. Updated May 2026.
