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Oxnead: Visual Vistas

A circular 2.5 mile walk through magical broadland countryside and beside a beautiful stretch of the River Bure, where kingfishers and barn owls can be seen. Take in views of Oxnead Hall, which was the magnificent home of the Paston family and where the Paston letters were discovered in 1735.

With the audio tour let Rebecca Paston entertain you with family dramas during the perilous English Restoration period, a Royal visit from Charles II and her husband Robert Paston's alchemy experiments and excavations of a nearby Roman port.

Good for

FAMILIES: a family friendly walk with an 'Explorer Hunt' activity, a lovely place for a picnic and things to do nearby including hiring canoes. Can travel here on the Bure Valley steam railway
PHOTOGRAPHY: scenic views of rivers and countryside featuring old mills, historic villages and Oxnead Hall.
NATURE: see if you can spot kingfishers, barn owls, deer and horses

Walk details

LENGTH: 2.5 miles (3.2km) - just over an hour.

Download a walk map or follow the walk overview on your phone.

TERRAIN: Walking along country roads and along public footpaths on fields: mostly even with some gentle rises.

PARKING: at the Bure Valley car park on Stracey Road in Buxton.

PUBLIC TRANSPORT: can catch the Bure Valley steam train to Buxton or Brampton from Aylsham or Wroxham (NB: please check latest Covid restrictions)

FACILITIES: cafes and fish and chips in Buxton, or pack a picnic as there are some lovely riverside spots.

Oxnead Walk
map

Download a page with map and directions. Click arrow above for Word version, button below for pdf.

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Oxnead Walk
accessibility audit

Terrain descriptions and photos by Active Trails. Useful for those with restricted mobility, buggies, prams and wheelchair users, those needing facilties or reassurance of route.

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GPX code

Walking for fitness? Download your GPX code for fitness watches and other health devices here

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Oxnead Walk
phone app

While you walk listen to the audio guide; access activities for children, see a 3D Tudor reconstruction of Oxnead Hall and discover more historical context.

Download app

Enhance your walk experience

2104 Paston Footprints copyright Charlot

Family friendly activity: see if you can spy these Paston objects on your walk.

Download spy card

Experience a digital reconstruction of Oxnead Hall from the Tudor period.

Interact with the Hall

Photography: can you capture the spirit of Paston country?

Tag #pastonfootprints

More details

Creative mindful connections with beautiful landscape and the Paston story of objects and visual feasts.

Creative walking

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Oxnead heritage walk overview

Park at the Bure Valley car park on Stracey Road

Cross over the stile and with care cross over the small railway line to the path on the other side. Take a left and follow the Railway's trackside path down to the Brampton stop. As you cross over the Railway bridge look right across the River Bure: this was the site of Roman wharf that served the large Roman settlement of Brampton and transported locally made pots. This area was excavated in the 17th century by Robert Paston.

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At the Brampton Bure Valley Railway stop take the stairs down to the village

Take a left at the foot of the stairs and walk away from the stairs towards the village of Brampton. At the junction turn right into Marsham Road and walk down through the village. .

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At the village sign bear left towards the bridge over the River Bure.

The village sign bears the Roman name of the village.

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Walk over the bridge with the old mill on your right and continue along the road.

See if you can spot any kingfishers from the bridge. This is the Aylsham river navigation at Oxnead; a lovely spot for a picnic by weeping willows and with views of the mill. Thanks to the Doomsday Book we know there has been a mill on this site since 1086.

Keep your eyes open, as one of the best views of the Paston's manor home, Oxnead Hall, can be seen from this side of the river.

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Around 250m up the road take the first right and turn up an ancient oak-lined road

Walk up a slight incline - see if you can spot Oxnead church through the trees on the right. There may be horses grazing on the fields to your left.

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Take the path on the right for a short detour to explore Oxnead Church

A number of the Paston family, including Sir Clement and his wife Alice, Katherine Paston, and Robert Paston are buried in Oxnead church.

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Retrace your steps and continue on the path passing Oxnead Hall

Oxnead Hall is now a private wedding venue so please admire it from the gate. There is a Paston Footprints information board that provides details about the Paston family at Oxnead, the building and gardens. The QR code shows you a digital reconstruction of the You'll also be able to see further views of it later in the walk.

Good Judge William Paston bought Oxnead Hall in 1419 for his wife Agnes Paston. That is generally thought to have been a moated building, to the south-east of the present house. The only surviving part is a 15th century wine cellar. Just as in the village of Paston, William arranged for the rerouting of a road to suit his plans.

By 1575, Celment Paston had built a new hall. The Paston family lived at Oxnead for over 350 years until 1732 when the family faced financial ruin and had to sell their estates.

If you use your imagination, you might be able to see the medieval William or Agnes Paston or Tudor William and Katherine Paston taking a walk. It was William and Katherine who employed the renowned sculptor Nicholas Stone and created one of the greatest of the 17th century collections of chimney-pieces, statues, busts, furniture, paintings and objects-d'art. After Katherine's death in childbirth in 1637, William went on a Grand Tour across Europe, again collecting as he went.

The Paston letters were discovered in the ruins of the Hall; a significant find as they became the earliest surviving family letter collection in the world dating back to 1374, including the earliest Valentine letter. The letters give us a unique insight into what people in the Middle Ages and Tudor periods thought and felt about their daily lives. The 'Paston Treasure' painting that hung in Oxnead Hall of some of these collections now hangs in Norwich Castle and can be seen on the Norwich walk.

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Follow the path down past Oxnead Hall through farm buildings and bungalows

Bear right at the big oak tree and follow path signposted to Keeper's Meadow alongside the hall and past its East Gate on the right.

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Walk over the River Bure

At this point you have the option to extend the walk by taking a left at the river and doing a wider circular route back to Buxton.

You can also take a short detour on your right through the kissing gate to take in another view of Oxnead Hall from across the river. From here you can short-cut back to Brampton station by following the river back to the bridge, turning left and following your footsteps back through the village to the station.

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Once over the river continue along the path up a slight incline.

As it starts to become tree-lined see if you can spot some deer.

Walk onto the open field and walk along the path past an evergreen line of trees. Keep walking straight through the next field towards Buxton church in the distance and the white Buxton mill over on your left. After a few hundred yards you will finish where you started at the Railway trackside path.