Norfolk’s hidden villages: The best walks in Barnham Broom!

These are the best walks in Barnham Broom. If you ever have the chance to visit this small, but beautiful Norfolk village, make sure you walk at least one of them.

Barnham Broom is a small village, located on the west side of Norwich (the biggest city in Norfolk county), and has a population of around 600 residents.

The village is not particularly famous for its walking trails, although there are a few to try if you ever visit Barnham Broom.

The village is mostly a residential area and even has a local school. The main entertainment options for visitors are Bell Inn Barnham Broom, Barnham Broom Spa Centre and The Painted Barn Café . By far, the Spa centre is why people would visit Barnham Broom for.

In the village, you will also find a local shop and the village hall. There are some beautiful medieval churches, some of which you will discover in the walks suggested below.

How to get to Barnham Broom?

There is no train station in Barnham Broom. However, the village is served by a local bus which can take you from Norwich to nearby villages and towns. Depending on your departure time, you have several transport options. You may use this travel planner to know which one is best for you.

By car, Barnham Broom is half an hour away from Norwich.

The best walks in Barnham Broom: Walk Number 1 (Barnham Broom, Coston and Runhall)

This is a circular walk of over 7km. It is an easy walk as the terrain is flat (fields and paved roads). The walk starts at the village junction, where the Post office is, as shown in the picture below.

As you face the junction, make sure you take the Bell Road and continue walking. Soon, you will leave behind the post office and head towards the Bell Inn. You will walk past the Bell Inn and a further road junction before you see the Fen Farm sign. The sign is hidden behind the trees. However, the road is visible. The Fen Farm will be on the right-hand side, as shown in the picture below.

Continue walking straight until you see the yellow sign as shown in the picture. At this point, turn left and follow the green arrow as shown below.

At the end of the path you will reach an open field. As you are facing the field, turn left and walk on the edge of the field towards the main road.

As you approach the road, turn right and continue walking along the main road.

In a few meters, you will turn right and continue walking on a narrow village road. Pay attention at the incoming traffic.

You will continue on this road for some time until you reach the next road junction. At this point, you will turn right onto a bigger road and will continue walking straight ahead.

Here, you must pay attention at incoming traffic. Sometimes you might need to give way to cars as the road does not have a pavement and is quite narrow. On your way, you can stop to visit the Coston Church. The church will be on your left.

Once you finished visiting the church, continue walking and turn slightly left to follow the curved road. You will continue your walk through Coston and you will pass over a bridge until you reach the next road junction.

At the next road junction, you will need to turn right. Before continuing, you can stop for a visit at the Runhall local Church (see picture below).

From here, you are only half an hour away from Barnham Broom. The next half an hour will be a relaxing walk since everything you need to do is to follow the road. If you’re walking this route in autumn, bring some plastic containers with you. You can do some blackberry picking on your way back.

The road will be straight for most of the time as shown in the picture above. At the next junction, turn right as shown in the picture below.

As you continue walking, you will see the Barnham Broom signs, as shown below. You will continue through the village until you reach the road junction where the walk initially started. You should be able to recognise the Post Office and local shop.

This walk will take you through 3 small Norfolk villages: Barnham Broom, Coston and Runhall. This circular walk in Barnham Broom is perfect for someone looking to discover this pretty Norfolk village.

The best walks in Barnham Broom: Walk Number 2 (Barnham Baroom & Barford)

A second walk you could easily do in Barnham Broom is about 8 km long and includes Barford village. You can start at the Barnham Broom junction (the same starting point as walk number 1), and head towards Norwich Road. Continue walking straight, passing by the local school, the village hall etc. Be careful because the pavement finishes just before you exit the village. You can still walk on the road, however be careful at incoming traffic.

Tip: the traffic is not that bad if you do the walk on a weekend day or during day time. Avoid the regular rush hours if you don’t feel comfortable being overtaken by cars all the time.

As you approach Barford village, you may want to visit the church first. The church is made of stone and like all churches in the region is very old. The church is part of an initiative to remember those who lost their lives in WWI. See pictures of the church below.

Once you finished your visit, you need to head back towards towards Barnham Broom. In a few hundred meters, you will see the public path sign. Follow the sign and leave the road behind. Keep walking until you get to the end of the path.

The end of the walking public path will lead you onto the golf course. You would have noticed the golf course anyway, as it has been visible on your left-hand side all the time. Now that you are facing the golf course, slide right and walk towards this tree. There will be an arrow telling you to cross a bridge.

As you cross the bridge you will have 2 options: right or left. Right means you are heading towards Colton (a nice detour if you want to add more kilometres to your walk). Left means walking back towards Barnham Broom.

However, in this case, you will turn left and continue walking back to Barnham Broom. As you walk back, you will be guided by several signs as shown in the pictures below. You will walk on the edge of fields and through some people’s backyards. Please do be respectful and try to disturb as little as possible. There will be signs to lead your way back as shown below.

After some time, you will end on Church Lane Road. Head left towards Honingham Road to return to Barnham Broom. The road will take you to the same road junction you started your walk.

Please note that while Church Lane is not a very busy road, the Honingham Road is definitely busier. Also, there is no pavement until you reach Barnham Broom. You will need to walk either on the edge of the field (if you can) or as closer as possible to the road’s edge.

There you have it! These are the best walks to try in Barnham Broom. Barnham Broom is not the typical tourist destination, however, the village has plenty of trails to explore and is an excellent stop for those looking to discover some of Norfolk’s hidden villages.