Iken Walks
This walk explores the area around the Suffolk village of Iken. The village is in a lovely spot for a stroll with nice trails along the beautiful Snape Maltings and into the nearby Tunstall Forest.
This walk starts at the Iken Cliff car park just to the south of Snape village. Here you can pick up a footpath heading east along the Maltings on the River Alde. It will take you past Iken Hall to the noteworthy St Botolph’s Church. It's a lovely church to investigate with a part thatched roof and an ancient nave dating back to the 12th century. In February there's also pretty snowdrops in the churchyard with fine views of the river.
The estuary is a great place for bird watching so keep your eyes peeled for a variety of waders as you make you way along the path.
The Suffolk Coast Path passes through the village so can be used to further explore the area.
Postcode
IP12 2EN - Please note: Postcode may be approximate for some rural locationsIken Ordnance Survey Map 
- view and print off detailed OS map
Iken Open Street Map 
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Iken OS Map 
- Mobile GPS OS Map with Location tracking
Iken Open Street Map 
- Mobile GPS Map with Location tracking
Walks near Iken
- Aldeburgh to Snape Maltings - This walk visits the lovely Snape Maltings Nature Reserve from the coastal town of Aldeburgh in Suffolk
- Tunstall Forest - This large forest in Suffolk has miles of good footpaths and a 10 mile red graded single-track mountain bike trail
- Aldeburgh to Thorpeness - A circular walk from Aldeburgh to Thorpeness, taking in the Suffolk Coast, the wonderful Thorpeness Meare and the North Warren RSPB reserve.
Start from Aldeburgh at the Fort Green car park on the front - Suffolk Coast Path - A walk along the beautiful Suffolk coast from Felixstowe to Lowestoft
- Orford Ness - Follow the walking trails around this beautiful nature reserve on the Suffolk Coast
- Southwold - This lovely circular walk takes you from the coastal town of Southwold to the nearby village of Walberswick in the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
- Aldeburgh - The coastal Suffolk town of Aldeburgh is a lovely place for walkers
- Framlingham Castle - This walk visits the 12th century Framlingham Castle and follows the public footpaths surrounding the attractive Suffolk based market town
- Leiston - This East Suffolk based town is located near the coast and the towns of Aldeburgh and Saxmundham.
- Aldringham - This Suffolk based village is located just south of Leiston in the Blything Hundred area of the county.
Further Information and Other Local Ideas
A few miles to the north is the town of Leiston where you can explore the fascinating ruins of Leiston Abbey. The English Heritage owned site dates back to the 12th century and is considered one of the historic highlights of the area. Just to the south of Leiston is the neighbouring village of Aldringham where you can explore the RSPB's Aldringham Walks. The wildlife rich conservation area includes a number of footpaths taking you to heathland, woodland and scrub.
Photos
Cliff Reach, River Alde. Looking across Cliff Reach from Iken Cliff. Iken church can be seen in the distance. Iken Cliff served as a commercial hub for the shipping of coal and wheat in the days before railroads, and there was a bar close to the water. Wheelbarrows were used to transport goods as flat barges used to sit on the mud at low tide. After World War II, the last remaining heathland around Iken Cliff was ploughed under.
Jetty on the Alde. The church can be seen in the distance.
Church Lane south of The Anchorage. The old Sudbourne Hall Estate included Iken. It was mainly made up of tenant farms and worker cottages. The area was valued more by the estate's owners for shooting than for farming, so a decoy pond was constructed at Iken in the eighteenth century. Iken has remained a "close" village ever since the Estate was divided up; very few brand-new homes have been constructed, and no council houses have ever been built.
St Botolph's Church, Iken. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that in AD 654 'Botwulf began to build the minster at Icanho'. Better known now as St Botolph.
Decoy Cottage, Iken
Bull with a view.
Barge and horse, River Alde. The population of the village steadily decreased to around 100 from a peak of 380 in 1840. In preparation for the D-Day landings in June 1944, the majority of Iken and the nearby village of Sudbourne were used as battle training grounds during World War II. After the war was over, they relocated and eventually returned.
Gate opposite Iken Hall. Iken Hall, then the residence of Margery Spring Rice, one of the pioneers of the Aldeburgh Festival, served as the setting for Benjamin Britten's opera The Little Sweep. Britten participated in an unsuccessful campaign to maintain a footpath along the Alde to Iken Church when he still resided in Snape.