Various
4498 km / 2795 miles
(click to enlarge)
The England Coast Path (ECP) is a major project with committed Government funding of some £5 million to develop a new National Trail around the full coastline of England. The ECP has been made possible because of the 2009 changes in the right of access that gives everyone the legal right to explore England's coast for the first time. Its completed length was originally estimated by Natural England to be around 2795 miles (4500 kms), but by 2023 this appears to have been adjusted to 2700 miles (4345 km).
The ECP will give access to beaches, cliff-tops, and most of the habitats around the English coast, as well as former industrial and maritime areas that were significant in Britain's history. In 2023 it was re-branded by Natural England as the 'King Charles III England Coast Path' (KCIIIECP).
The route is being developed to meet National Trail standards, involving consultation and agreement with numerous landowners. As well as a current track, the newly designated sections have been negotiated to provide for the concept of 'spreading room' or 'roll-back'. This involves an extension of the route down to the foreshore and inland to the next boundary, thus allowing for coastal erosion. This was not part of the remit of the original National Trails, requiring more complex stakeholder agreements than have previously been the case.
Defra Minister Rory Stewart confirmed in a written parliamentary answer in November 2015 that funding to complete the Path by 2020 was to be protected. But by the end of 2023 less than half of the Path's 67 developmental sections (what Natural England call 'Stretches') had been fully opened. By the end of 2025 the number of fully open Stretches had increased to around 70%, with some of the remaining Stretches including only short unfinished lengths, but still no reliable completion date had been advertised.
The LDWA holds a Register of completions of 24 LDWA-defined Sectors of the combined England & Wales Coast Path (EWCP). EWCP Sector lengths vary from 70 to 221 miles (113 to 356 kms). The 18 England Coast Path Sectors (average length 145 miles or 233 kms) don't correspond with Natural England's 67 'Stretches'. See
https://ldwa.org.uk/englandwalescoastpath/englandwalescoastpath.php
for a complete list of the 24 Sectors, showing those which are fully open and those which remain to be completed, plus a Sectors map. For individual path pages, search on 'England & Wales Coast Path'.
A map of Natural England's 67 Stretches can be viewed from
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/england-coast-path-overview-of-progress.
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