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Living in Loddon
Loddon is a small town on the River Chet where the shops, the GP and three state schools are a short walk apart. There is no station; the X2 bus runs to Norwich.
Loddon is a small town on the River Chet, 12 miles south-east of Norwich, where the ordinary things are still a short walk apart: the Co-op on Church Plain, a Boots pharmacy and the Post Office on the High Street, a butcher, the GP surgery on George Lane, and three state schools on one lane that take a child from nursery to 16. Over the year to June 2026 the median house here sold for £35,000 less than in Poringland, the big village nearer the city. There is no railway station, and the town’s link to Norwich is the X2 bus.
Where it is: about 10 miles south-east of Norwich city centre as the crow flies, in South Norfolk district, postcode NR14.
Buy in Loddon if you want a town you can run on foot, you go into Norwich a few times a week rather than every morning by train, and you would use the river.
It suits a family with children between 3 and 16, and someone retiring who wants the doctor, the chemist and a bus stop within walking distance. It is the wrong place if you need a train every day, because every rail journey starts with a drive to Reedham, Beccles or Norwich, or if you have a teenager who wants a state sixth form without a bus ride.
The town centre
The shops run along the High Street and down Bridge Street to the river, where the road crosses the Chet into Chedgrave, half a mile to the north. The Co-op is on Church Plain, Boots has its pharmacy at number 4 and the Post Office is at number 12. A J Ward, the butcher, is at 2 High Bungay Road, Lims fish and chip shop is at 11 Bridge Street, and Spooncake runs a cake shop and tearoom on the High Street. There are three pubs in the centre, the Angel Inn, the King’s Head and the Loddon Swan, and a fourth, the White Horse, over the bridge in Chedgrave.
Holy Trinity church was built around 1490 for Sir James Hobart, and the weatherboarded watermill on the Chet dates from the 18th century, though a mill at Loddon is recorded in the Domesday Book. The parish has been growing: 3,173 people lived in it at the 2021 Census, up from 2,648 in 2011, a rise of about a fifth in ten years.
Schools: one lane from nursery to 16
The infant, junior and high schools share Kittens Lane, so a family with a four-year-old and a twelve-year-old has one school run. Loddon Infant and Nursery School (ages 3 to 7) and Loddon Junior School (7 to 11) both became academies in The Active Learning Trust on 1 November 2025. Their most recent inspections came shortly before that, under Ofsted’s current format, which gives no overall grade. The infant school was judged Good in every area in October 2024. The junior school, inspected in November 2024, was judged Requires Improvement for quality of education and for leadership, and Good for behaviour and for personal development. Its next inspection will be the first under the trust, and for anyone choosing a junior school here it is the report to read.
Hobart High School, part of the Clarion Corvus Trust, takes pupils from 11 to 16. Ofsted rated it Good in every area at its inspection on 21 March 2023 (URN 139311). The Department for Education’s register shows 673 pupils against a capacity of 820, so the school is not full. The school’s own provisional figures for summer 2026 have 47% of pupils at grade 5 or above in English and maths, and 68.4% at grade 4 or above.
Hobart has no sixth form. Langley School, the independent day and boarding school at Langley Park just outside the town, runs its senior school and sixth form there; its nursery, pre-prep and prep are at Taverham, on the other side of Norwich. Our guide to private schools near Loddon compares it with the Norwich independents. For state sixth forms and colleges, students take the X2 into Norwich, and the Ambassador Travel 878 college bus calls in Loddon on its way to East Norfolk Sixth Form College and Great Yarmouth College.
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Getting to Norwich
The X2, run by First Eastern Counties between Norwich and Lowestoft by way of Beccles, is the bus that matters. On weekdays the first one to Norwich leaves Market Place at 06:33 and reaches the bus station at 07:03. Through the day buses leave from one Loddon stop or another about three times an hour, and the last one back leaves Norwich at 23:00, reaching Market Place at 23:22. Sundays are thinner: the first bus to Norwich is at 08:46 and the last one back leaves the city at 18:50. Our Bus also runs the 86 between Beccles, Loddon and Norwich, and Borderbus runs the 146 from Southwold to Norwich through the town.
By car Norwich is about 12 miles up the A146, typically 25 to 30 minutes off-peak and longer in the morning rush. Going the other way, Beccles is about 15 minutes and Lowestoft about 35.
There is no railway station. The nearest are Reedham on the Wherry Line, about seven miles by country road, Beccles on the East Suffolk Line, eight miles down the A146, and Norwich, 12 miles away. Commuting by train means driving to one of them and parking, or driving to a Norwich park and ride and finishing on the bus.
House prices
HM Land Registry recorded 47 standard sales in Loddon in the 12 months to June 2026, none of them new-builds. The median price was £270,000. The mean was £331,000, pulled up by a handful of large houses; the dearest sale of the year was £920,000 on Mill Road. The counts for the last few months will rise as sales are registered.
| Property type | Sales | Median price |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | 21 | £412,500 |
| Semi-detached | 15 | £255,000 |
| Terraced | 10 | £215,000 |
| All standard sales | 47 | £270,000 |
The same Land Registry records give Poringland a median of £305,000 across 99 sales over the same months. For the district as a whole, the UK House Price Index put the South Norfolk average at £311,587 in July 2026, up 1.5% on a year earlier. The index is adjusted for the mix of homes sold, so it will not match the simple Loddon figures.
Parts of the town lie low beside the Chet. Loddon flooded in August 1912 and again in September 1968, and some of the lower riverside streets fall within Environment Agency flood zones. Check the address on the Environment Agency’s flood map and get an insurance quote before you exchange; our guide to flood risk in Norfolk explains what the zones mean.
Council tax
A Band D home in Loddon pays £2,551.60 for 2026-27. The county, police and district shares are the same everywhere in South Norfolk; the parish share is what differs, and Loddon’s is £183.43 at Band D, up from £172.20 a year earlier, from a parish precept of £203,420.
| Charging body | 2026-27 Band D | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Norfolk County Council | £1,843.38 | Includes £296.64 adult social care precept |
| Norfolk Police and Crime Commissioner | £344.79 | Same across Norfolk |
| South Norfolk Council | £180.00 | Up £5 on 2025-26 |
| Loddon Parish Council | £183.43 | Parish precept £203,420 |
| Total Band D | £2,551.60 | South Norfolk Council 2026-27 charges |
That puts Loddon near the top of the district. On South Norfolk’s 2026-27 list only Cringleford, Long Stratton, Redenhall with Harleston, Trowse with Newton and Diss charge more at Band D. A parish with no precept pays £2,368.17, Poringland pays £2,523.50 and Chedgrave, across the river, £2,507.67. Loddon’s other bands are A £1,701.07, B £1,984.58, C £2,268.09, E £3,118.62, F £3,685.64, G £4,252.67 and H £5,103.20. Our Norfolk council tax guide compares the districts.
Broadband
We do not have a Loddon-only figure. Across South Norfolk, thinkbroadband’s data for 19 September 2026 shows 77.3% of premises can get full fibre and 97.52% can get superfast speeds of 30 Mbps or more, which leaves more than one address in five without full fibre. Check the exact address on Ofcom’s broadband checker before you offer, and see our Norfolk broadband guide for how to read the result.
Doctors and hospitals
The Chet Valley Medical Practice at George House, 40-48 George Lane, is the town’s only GP surgery. The nearest A&E departments are at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, about 30 minutes away by car, and the James Paget at Gorleston, typically 25 to 30 minutes off-peak. Our guide to registering with a GP in Norfolk covers the paperwork.
The river
Loddon Staithe has 24-hour moorings with toilets, showers and electric points for boats, a car park with two hours free, and a place to launch canoes and paddleboards. From the staithe the Chet runs down to the Yare at Hardley Cross, and from there a boat can go upstream to Norwich or down to Great Yarmouth. Pacific Cruisers, a small family boatyard in Chedgrave, hires out cruisers. On foot, the Wherryman’s Way, the long-distance path from Norwich to Great Yarmouth, passes through Loddon and Chedgrave and the Broads Authority’s visitor guide lists a circular walk over Loddon Marshes. Our guide to living on the Broads covers the wider area.
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How we produced this guide
Loddon and Poringland sale prices are from HM Land Registry Price Paid Data: standard sales recorded under each locality for the 12 months to June 2026, queried on 24 September 2026. The district average is from the UK House Price Index for South Norfolk, July 2026. Population is from the ONS 2021 and 2011 Censuses for Loddon parish. School details are from Ofsted reports and the Department for Education’s school register (Hobart High URN 139311, Loddon Infant and Nursery URN 152183, Loddon Junior URN 152179); Hobart’s 2026 results are the school’s own provisional figures. Council tax is from South Norfolk Council’s 2026-27 charges list and its Council Tax and Budget Information leaflet. Bus times are from the timetables on bustimes.org, checked on 24 September 2026. Drive times are typical off-peak times on the main roads. Broadband figures are from thinkbroadband. See our methodology page for source links.
Frequently asked questions
Is Loddon a nice place to live?
It suits people who want shops, a GP and schools within walking distance and the Broads at the end of the street. The drawbacks are the lack of a railway station, one of the higher council tax bills in South Norfolk and no state sixth form in the town.
What is the average house price in Loddon?
The median of the 47 standard sales HM Land Registry recorded in Loddon in the 12 months to June 2026 was £270,000. Terraced houses had a median of £215,000 and detached houses £412,500.
How far is Loddon from Norwich?
About 12 miles along the A146, typically 25 to 30 minutes by car off-peak. The X2 bus takes about 30 minutes to Norwich bus station.
Does Loddon have a train station?
No. The nearest stations are Reedham (about seven miles), Beccles (eight miles) and Norwich (12 miles), so a rail commute starts with a drive.
Which bus goes from Loddon to Norwich?
The First Eastern Counties X2, which runs between Norwich and Lowestoft via Beccles. On weekdays it leaves Loddon’s stops about three times an hour in the daytime, with the last bus back from Norwich at 23:00; the Our Bus 86 and Borderbus 146 also run to Norwich.
What are the schools like in Loddon?
Hobart High School (11 to 16) was rated Good by Ofsted in March 2023. The infant school was judged Good in every area in October 2024; the junior school was judged Requires Improvement for quality of education in November 2024, and both became academies in November 2025. There is no state sixth form in the town.
What is council tax in Loddon?
£2,551.60 at Band D for 2026-27, of which £183.43 is the Loddon Parish Council share. Only five parishes in South Norfolk charge more.
Is Loddon near the Norfolk Broads?
It is on them. Loddon Staithe on the River Chet has 24-hour moorings, and boats can go down the Chet to the Yare at Hardley Cross, then on to Norwich or Great Yarmouth.
What is Loddon like for retirees?
The GP surgery, Boots, the Post Office and the Co-op are all in the town centre, and the X2 runs to Norwich until late evening on weekdays. The nearest hospitals, the Norfolk and Norwich and the James Paget, are both about half an hour’s drive.
How big is Loddon?
The parish had 3,173 residents at the 2021 Census, up from 2,648 in 2011. It lies in South Norfolk district, about 12 miles south-east of Norwich.
Related guides
Data sources: HM Land Registry, ONS, Ofsted, Department for Education, South Norfolk Council, bustimes.org, thinkbroadband. Prices to July 2026; council tax 2026-27; latest Ofsted inspections. Author: Helen Marsh, Schools and Families Editor.
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