England Coast Path - Shotley Gate to Orwell Bridge ~ Griffmonsters Great Walks

A walk following the Orwell Estuary along the Shotley peninsular

King Charles III England Coast Path (Suffolk) - Shotley Gate to Orwell Bridge. The route roughly follows the Stour and Orwell Walk, which itself was an extension to the Suffolk Coast Path. The route is open to the public.

WARNING

This route has not been verified by Griffmonster Walks. Proceed with caution.

Essential Information

Walk Statistics

Start location: Shotley Gate
End location: Orwell Bridge
Distance: miles ( km)
Total Gain: ft ( metre)
Total Descent: ft ( metre)
Min Height: ft ( metre)
Max Height: ft ( metre)
Walk Time:
Walk Grade: Moderate
Terrain: Footpath, Track, country lanes

Maps:

The following maps and services can assist in navigating this route. There are links to printed maps and links to downloadable GPX route data for importing into navigational software and apps.

Ordnance Survey Explorer Map: OS Explorer 197 - Ipswich, Felixstowe & Harwich
GPX Route File

Walk Notes

The England Coast Path is an attempt to provide public access to the coastal margin for the whole of England. This has been backed by legislation from the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 and was originally expected to be completed by the end of 2021. There is a five stage process that is used to create the right of way for each section. This is defined as in Natural England, and is summarized as:

Stage 1 - Prepare
Stage 2 - Develop
Stage 3 - Propose
Stage 4 - Determine
Stage 5 - Open

The legislation enables the path to recede with any erosion of the coastal margin and thus the right of way will be maintained. The section between Shotley Gate and the Orwell Bridge was opened to the public on 16 October 2024.In many instances existing rights of way and permissive paths are used and can be walked before the official path opens. In the instance of the section between Mablethorpe to Humber Bridge, the route follows many of the existing rights of way that are used by the Stour and Orwell Walkas documented by Griffmonster Walks. Although this page remains in a status of unverified, the fact that the section of the Stour and Orwell walk that covers the England Coast Path does imply that the vast majority of the path has been verified.

Directions

Section of the King Charles III Enlgand Coast Path

This is an undocumented walk that has no directions. As it is a national trail then adequate signage and waymarkers should be available on route.

Route Validation Cards

Not Validated

Summary of Document Changes

Last Updated: 2026-01-17

2026-01-17 : Initial publication

Griffmonsters Great Walks

Route details, maps, pubs, features, local history and folklore for a wide variety of walks focusing primarily on Norfolk and Suffolk

Saturday, 17 January 2026