Walks

Our Earliest Ancestors

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“The Long Man of Wilmington looks naked towards the shires” wrote Kipling of the enigmatic hill figure on the Downs. In the area around the Long Man are many monuments to our early, pre-Roman ancestors – their homes, fields, temples and burial places. Many of these can be seen (if not always understood) from this walk of outstanding views.

Et Non Plures

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When the Normans landed in England about 110 people lived in the village of Exceat in small houses next to a church overlooking the River Cuckmere. In 1428 the same village comprised “Henry Chesman et non plures” (and no others). What had gone wrong? A walk of five miles takes in landscapes of woodland, downland, sea cliffs, estuary and river to answer this question.

The Great Pestilence

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Apart from Alfriston, almost all the villages and hamlets in this part of the Downs show signs of a reduction in population and in some cases have all but vanished. Whilst not the only factor (a declining and French coastal attacks were also to blame), the influence of the Great Pestilence or Black Death in 1348/9 and returning in 1361/2, 1387 and 1396, which it is suggested killed between a third and a half of the population, was a major factor in this decline.

A Fishy Tale about Cheese

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A walk between two attractive Sussex villages through the Low Weald, to recount some of the stories and legends which abound in this area, although some of these may be truer than others.

Inns, Inning and the Ghost Port

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This walk graphically illustrates the battle between man and nature over a thousand years for an area which was once an indented coastline of salt marsh between spurs of higher land. Old sea walls, drainage channels, saltworks and the ghost of a port remain to mark this struggle. Meanwhile a different kind of port was amongst the goods being smuggled up to the inns of the area.

Two Churches with no Villages

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This walk links the churches of Little Horsted and Isfield, two impressive Manor houses, a hunting park and a Norman castle. Trying to find the original villages, however, is a much more difficult task, although there is a fish to laugh at your efforts.

Wildfowl and Water

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This walk follows the “Osprey Trail” around the modern Arlington Reservoir and wildlife sanctuary. The elevated nature of the reservoir and its surrounds offers excellent views over the Low Weald towards the South Downs.

The Buckhurst Terrier

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The Buckhurst Terrier was not a small Tudor dog, but a survey of land (in Latin “terra”) in the Withyham and Hartfield area made for Lord Buckhurst in 1598. Four hundred years later much of the landscape remains unchanged and can be explored on this walk around the beautiful Medway Valley. Plus Winnie the Pooh and Tigger too.

Abbots and Artists

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Alciston village forms a lasting memorial to the medieval village. The church, manor house, dovecote, fish ponds and tithe barn, once owned by Battle Abbey, still dominate the village. By contrast, Berwick church contains a full set of medieval-style paintings executed in 1942 by the Bloomsbury group of artists from nearby Charleston.

The Enigmatic Long Man

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“The Long Man of Wilmington looks naked towards the shires” wrote Kipling of the enigmatic hill figure on the Downs. In the absence of much real information, speculation about its origins and what it represents has been rife. Various origins have been suggested but ultimately “The Long Man asks the traveller – like the Sphinx – to solve the dark mystery of its own origins.