Swaffham

Swaffham is a picturesque market town in the west of Norfolk. It became famous as one of the principal filming locations for the ITV television series Kingdom from 2007 to 2009.

Understand
The town grew to prominence during mediaeval times based on local agriculture. Historically a town whose prosperity came from sheep and wool and thus the town has an unusually large market place (for the population). Whilst many of the buildings have Georgian and Victorian facades on older mediaeval buildings.

By road
Swaffham is near the crossroads of the west–east (Kings Lynn (15 miles) to Norwich (30 miles)) A47 and the south-north A1065 (London, Cambridge and Newmarket to Fakenham and North Norfolk). These two busy routes provide Swaffham with a large volume of passing trade and travellers, especially at weekends and during the summer months.

By bus
Swaffham's most frequent and important bus connection is the Excell X1 regional bus. Services call every half hour (Monday to Saturday) or hourly (Sundays) in both directions:


 * X1 westbound towards Kings Lynn, Wisbech, Peterborough bus station, Peterborough railway station and most villages en route.
 * X1 eastbound towards Dereham, Norwich, Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft and most villages en route.

Passengers travelling by train to or from Peterborough can buy a through rail ticket to/from Swaffham on the X1 bus, thereby saving on the combined cost of train and bus tickets.

Swaffham has daily National Express service on two routes:

and
 * NX308 westbound towards Kings Lynn, Wisbech, Peterborough, Leicester, Coventry and Birmingham.
 * NX308 eastbound towards Dereham, Norwich and Great Yarmouth.
 * NX496 southbound towards Mundford, Brandon, Mildenhall, Stratford (London) and London.
 * NX496 northbound towards Dereham, Fakenham, Holt, Sheringham and Cromer.

Details of additional rural bus routes between Swaffham and neighbouring towns and villages can be found on the website of Traveline East Anglia or by calling the National Traveline service on 0870-608-2-608.

By train
There are stations on different lines, approximately equidistant to Swaffham.


 * Downham Market is 25 km (15 miles) west, for services north to Kings Lynn and south Ely, Cambridge and London King's Cross.
 * Brandon 25 km (15 miles) south, for services east to Thetford, Attleborough, Wymondham and Norwich and west to Ely and Cambridge. Cross country trains from the northwest and midlands do not stop at Brandon, but they do stop at Thetford, which is just a few miles further away from Swaffham than Brandon.

Get around
Swaffham is small enough to be easily explored on foot. There are a number of public transport options within the town, but not train services.

Connect
Swaffham and its approach roads have 4G from all UK carriers. As of Sept 2022, 5G has not reached this area.

Go next

 * Blakeney (Norfolk) with Blakeney Point Seal Colony and Norfolk Wildlife Trust Cley Marshes Nature Reserve
 * Hunstanton
 * Wells-next-the-Sea with its oysters and its seal-watching trips.
 * King's Lynn
 * Dereham
 * Thetford
 * Fakenham