A walk a varying landscapes, starting from the esplanade boating lake in Sheringham
1. From the boating lake take the path beside the golf course up to the lookout post. On the top of the cliffs you have views over Sheringham and Weybourne. From here you head down towards Weybourne. Follow the path to a marker post. Turn left crossing the North Norfolk Railway. Before the road turn right then left crossing the road to enter Sheringham Park. Follow round the field edge. You will come to a seat and the entrance to the steps up to the Gazebo where there are great views. If feeling energetic it is worth the climb, otherwise carry on along the field edge path to a gate on your left. Follow the path with views of Sheringham Hall on your left.
2. If taking the short walk go straight on to point 3. For the longer walk turn right following the path through the woods. Follow the signs for the visitor centre where there are toilets, refreshments, a gift shop and an exhibition of the history of the park. You then retrace your steps back to the marker post off to the right. When you reach the viewing area head down the steps to the gate. You will see the gate to the Temple. There are excellent views from here. From the rear of the Temple head towards the fence at the back of the hotel following down to the drive.
3. Pass through the gate following the road down to Upper Sheringham. Go through the village passing the church on your right. At the sharp bend carry on ahead to Cranfield Road then left at finger post on to Butts Lane. Follow to the end bringing you to the main A1082. Follow the road down to the roundabout. Walk down the main street to the sea front. Turn left following through to the signs for the toilets and boating lake from where you started.
COMPASS POINTS
Start: The esplanade boating lake, Sheringham
Distance: 6 miles/9.7km
Shorter walk without the climb to the visitor centre: 5 miles/8km
Grid Reference: TG1548 4345
Nearest post code: NR26 8LC
What3words: desire.darts.thus
POINTS OF INTEREST
Sheringham Coastwatch
Sheringham. Coastwatch operates from the Old Coastguard Lookout on Skelding Hill, between Sheringham Golf Club and the sea. The location, 170 feet above sea level, offers a commanding view extending (weather permitting) to more than 14 miles out to sea. Its vantage point on the north Norfolk coast looks over the Wash Basin and includes the Sheringham Shoal, beyond which a large wind farm has been built. It looks due north with no land between it and the North Pole. To the west, you can see the shore line as far as Blakeney Point which is eight miles away. To the east, you can see the coast off the Runtons and Cromer, however Cromer Pier is obscured by Beeston Hill. The Peddars Way and the Norfolk Coast Path pass by its door.
The Gazebo
Perched on top of a hill, obscured until you reach the summit, the Gazebo viewing platform sits on the site of a Napoleonic War watchtower. The views from the top of the Gazebo are spectacular; the National Trust calls them the best views in Norfolk, and you can see for miles across the low-lying parkland to the coast beyond.
Designing Sheringham Park
Abbot and Charlotte Upcher bought the Sheringham estate in 1811, and one of the first things they did was to call in Humphry Repton to lay out a landscaped parkland around their new home of Sheringham House. Repton was a garden designer and architect, perhaps the last great landscape designer working on English stately homes and estates. Repton coined the term 'landscape gardener'. He was a failed textile merchant, journalist, and dramatist before he hit upon the idea of using his interest in botany to become a garden designer, filling the gap created when Capability Brown died in 1783. Repton had the idea of marketing his services by creating a 'Red Book' for clients; a bound volume of sketches showing before and after views so that clients could visualise his proposals. The Red Book that Repton created for the Upchers at Sheringham Park is still in existence. Repton considered Sheringham his favourite garden design, and called it his 'darling child'. Though Repton's design was adapted and altered by subsequent generations of owners, the parkland surrounding Sheringham House is still essentially as he laid it out. One thing Repton did not plant were the rhododendrons, for which the park is known today; they were added in the late 19th century.
Food and drink
Overlooking Sheringham beach, Whelk Coppers Tea Room has been declared one of the best breakfast spots in the UK by The Guardian. Serving up everything from French toast to a full English, it raved about its old school charm - and its fairytale gates which are reputed to have been designed by Walt Disney.
