River Chet market town
Loddon
A South Norfolk town of Church Plain, a medieval church, riverside walks, independent food shops and local pubs.
- Best for
- River walks, medieval church details and local food
- Walk choices
- 2.2-mile Chet circuit or 4¾-mile Warren Hills route
- Don't miss
- Holy Trinity's Seven Sacraments font and rare porch statue
The Fox verdict
A market town shaped by church, river and local food
Loddon brings together Church Plain, Holy Trinity, the River Chet, independent provisions and three operating pubs.
Church Plain is the setting for The Loddon Swan and Loddon Deli & Coffee, with Holy Trinity opposite the Swan; the fully waymarked 2.2-mile Chet River Circular starts at Loddon Staithe. The town's pubs have distinct characters: seasonal cooking and local ales at The Loddon Swan, changing real ales at The Angel, and a play area and live music at The King's Head.
Where to go
Places in Loddon
Every place below is checked against a published source, listed with what it is and how long to give it.
Local signatures
3 placesPyes Mill
A council-managed open space beside the river.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 45 minutes
- Locality
- beside the river
The Loddon Swan
An independent, food-led freehouse with boutique rooms, local ales, seasonal cooking and a courtyard for alfresco meals.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 75 minutes
- Locality
- Church Plain, opposite the medieval church
The King's Head
A traditional family and sports pub with surviving 17th- and 18th-century architecture, a large garden, sheltered area, children's play equipment, weekend live music, darts, pool and sports screens.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 60 minutes
- Locality
- Loddon
Food & drink
3 placesThe Angel Inn Loddon
An artisan freehouse focused on homemade food, coffee, locally sourced craft ales, ciders and family wines, with five changing real ales and a stable-yard garden.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 60 minutes
- Locality
- Loddon
- Access
- CAMRA records the pub as dog friendly.
AJ Ward Butchers
A traditional family butcher established in Loddon in 1881, selling East Anglian meat, bespoke cuts, homemade sausage rolls and pies, local cheeses, bread and cakes.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 30 minutes
- Locality
- Loddon
Loddon Deli & Coffee
An independent deli and coffee shop selling artisan cheeses, smokehouse charcuterie, raw Broads honey and preserves made with local orchard fruit.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 35 minutes
- Locality
- Church Plain
Walks & outdoors
2 placesChet River Circular
A fully waymarked 2.2-mile/3.6 km circuit from Loddon Staithe, following church-side paths and the Chet past reed banks and grazing meadows before returning through Chedgrave.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: About 1 hour 15 minutes
- Locality
- from Loddon Staithe, returning through Chedgrave
- Access
- Surfaces mix pavement, surfaced path, unsurfaced driveway and quiet road; dogs are allowed, with leads recommended.
Loddon–Warren Hills Walk
A 4¾-mile walk from Church Plain across meadow and along Warren Hills, hedged and farm tracks near Loddon Hall, before retracing the dyke-side approach.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: About 2½ hours
- Locality
- from Church Plain via Warren Hills and tracks near Loddon Hall
- Access
- The route is 75% soft surface, moderately graded in places and requires crossing the A146.
History & heritage
1 placeHoly Trinity Church
Almost entirely 15th century and completed in 1496 for Sir James Hobart, with flintwork, a rare porch statue, a defaced Seven Sacraments font, a painted screen and medieval brasses.
- Visit length
- Editorial estimate: allow around 45 minutes
- Locality
- opposite The Loddon Swan
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Three ways to explore Loddon
Signature outings
Holy Trinity's medieval details
The church is noted for a rare Holy Trinity statue above the porch, a defaced Seven Sacraments font and a painted medieval screen.
A fully waymarked circuit
Walk 2.2 miles from Loddon Staithe past reed banks and grazing meadows, returning through Chedgrave in about 1¼ hours.
AJ Ward Butchers since 1881
Call for East Anglian meat and bespoke cuts, homemade sausage rolls and pies, local cheeses, bread and cakes.
The town story
Loddon Town Guide
Eight source-locked paragraphs on Loddon's pubs, food shops, walks, church, history and connections.
Three distinct Loddon pubs
The Loddon Swan stands on Church Plain, opposite the medieval church, with a handful of rooms in the old town hall next door. Andy Freeland runs it as a freehouse, and the kitchen moves with the season: past menus have run to a mini rabbit pie with English mustard, a Toft Monks hogget Scotch egg with burnt-cauliflower purée, a Blythburgh pork T-bone with champ and pear salad, ale-battered haddock, and a dark-brown-sugar tart with chamomile sorbet to finish. There is a courtyard for warm evenings.
The Angel pours five changing real ales, most of them brewed within fifty miles, and keeps real cider, family games and live music going in a stable-yard garden. The King's Head is the livelier of the three: darts, pool, sports on the screens, weekend bands and a large garden with a children's play area. Its kitchen is between menus for now, so daytime food runs to sausage rolls and baguettes, though the cask beer holds up — Mauldons Moletrap Bitter and Adnams Ghost Ship.
Local provisions and River Chet walks
For provisions there is AJ Ward, a butcher in Loddon since 1881, selling Blythburgh free-range pork, its own sausage rolls and steak-and-ale pies, Baron Bigod and Mrs Temple's cheeses, and bread from Stradbroke Bakery. Loddon Deli & Coffee, also on Church Plain, deals in artisan cheeses, smokehouse charcuterie, raw Broads honey and preserves made from local orchard fruit.
The River Chet runs along the edge of the village to Loddon Staithe, and the Chet River Circular starts there — 2.2 miles, about 1¼ hours, waymarked past reed banks and grazing meadows and back through Chedgrave. It is a good stretch for dragonflies, kingfishers and the odd marsh harrier. If you want the legs to feel it, the Loddon–Warren Hills walk runs closer to five miles and crosses the A146.
Holy Trinity and the town's past
Holy Trinity was built almost in one go in the fifteenth century, finished in 1496 for Sir James Hobart of Hales Hall, whose long brick gatehouse still stands. Inside there is a Seven Sacraments font, its carvings defaced, and a painted medieval screen that includes St William of Norwich. Above the porch door is a rare survival, a statue of the Holy Trinity — "albeit God has a new head."
The town is older than any of this. A market was granted in 1269, a Friday market and an Easter Monday cattle fair, and by 1841 Church Plain was being called The Fairstead. Regular wherry services to Norwich and Yarmouth began in 1884; the timber Guildhall once held the village lock-up, The Clink, and the site is now the library. The watermill still stands, weatherboarded beside the river, though the Chet was long ago diverted to run beneath it and it no longer turns.
Connections and a final pub character
Norwich is the practical railhead, with the X21 and X22 Coastlink buses linking it to Loddon, Beccles and Lowestoft along the A146. Raveningham Gardens, Beccles quay and the restored wartime control tower at Seething are all within reach.
At the King's Head there is a dog called Benny. A guest, Macy M, wrote that her small boy had loved him.
Stay around Norfolk Broads
Make a longer stay of it
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A guide with a point of view
Written from research. Edited for real journeys.
Use the Official site links for live practical details, then use this guide for context, ideas and room to explore.
Sources
Every place on this page is checked against a published source. Each entry links the record we used and names who publishes it.
- Holy Trinity Church — nationalchurchestrust.org national body or asset manager
- Chet River Circular — platinumjubileenorfolk.org other published source
- Loddon–Warren Hills Walk — watermillsandmarshes.org.uk other published source
- Pyes Mill — southnorfolkandbroadland.gov.uk statutory register or public authority
- The Loddon Swan — theloddonswan.co.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- The Angel Inn Loddon — camra.org.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- The King's Head — kingsheadloddon.com operator, sector body or destination organisation
- AJ Ward Butchers — wardsbutchers.co.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation
- Loddon Deli & Coffee — loddondeliandcoffee.co.uk operator, sector body or destination organisation