1 - From the car park entrance on Highdown Hill walk to the lower, far left corner and pass around a rail fencing access point, leading towards an information board. Take the path that now bears left, going north-westerly across the open hillside, with downland bushes ahead.

The path passes beside a thicket and continues the gentle ascent across the clearing, with hedgerow on the right, towards more extensive woodland ahead.

Off to the left is an iron-fenced structure, identified on the map as The Miller’s Tomb, which demands further investigation. The tomb sits in its isolation on the eastern flank of the hill and is the final resting place of John Olliver, a local miller who had his vault prepared 27 years before his death, at the age of 84, in 1793. We’ll meet the miller again later.

2 - Return to the approach path and resume direction, turning left uphill, passing beside bushes and taking a quarter-right line to the meadow corner. Enter woodland and, in a few paces, bear right on the path, now a bridleway, descending into Highdown Copse.

The track now heads north through the woodland, with paths going left and right, all of which can be ignored. After a quarter of a mile the bridleway leaves the tree cover to emerge into pasture-bordering country.

Keep direction on the bridleway for a further quarter of a mile to come to a metal gate across the track – Northdown Copse is off to the left. Pass around the gate (ignore a left turn) and walk ahead down the bridleway, descending for 75 yards to take a left turning. Follow the narrower, enclosed bridleway for 200 yards to the A280 road and cross, with care, to the opposite side.

3 - Locate the ongoing bridleway, which turns left, and follow this (disregard a left turn in 150 yards) for a quarter of a mile, with traffic thundering past on the nearby A27 road on the right. On arriving at a surfaced crossing track, which provides access to a tunnel beneath the main road, turn left up a short rise to the edge of the A280.

Turn right along the pavement for 150 yards and, when opposite the entrance to a water treatment plant, locate a footpath stile beside the plant’s entrance and cross the road to enter a sloping meadow.

Follow the path to the bottom of the shallow incline and climb out to cross right over a footbridge that is in the hedgerow. Turn left up the next field, walking beneath oak trees to the right field-corner and pass through a small metal gate. Climb a right field-edge to the top corner, passing into the next field and continuing to the next top-right corner.

Cross a stile into an area that is heavily overgrown; at this point the intrepidness and resilience of The Argus walker is required. If you are wearing shorts you will probably get scratched by thistles and stung by stinging nettles – long trousers are not just the sensible attire of blokes! Forge a route (it’s that interesting) through the undergrowth, bearing left for a few yards and then going right, climbing a bank to come to a four-way path junction.

4 - Turn left across the hillside on a wide path, bearing right in a few yards where the wide path divides. Climb to the top of the hill where the earthworks of the age-old encampment on the left of the path are worthy of investigation, having been variously a Bronze Age, Saxon, Roman and Second World War site.

From the top of the hill you can see west to the Isle of Wight and east towards the chalk cliffs of the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head. If you were a tribal chief, a Roman centurion, a Saxon warlord, or even an Allied planner in the 1940s, you’d have chosen Highdown as a refuge, a cemetery or a strategic location.

Follow the wide path from the base of the ramparts, heading eastward down the slope towards the trees and hedgerow to bring you back to contemplate the Miller’s Tomb.

What foresight and sense of place John Olliver the miller had to have his tomb positioned at such a majestic vantage point. How slanderous and petty were those who suggested that his final resting place was a ruse to conceal some form of nefarious smuggling activity.

As if this trusty Sussex yeoman, benefactor and worthy, who laboured for 87 years in the vineyard of life, should have possessed the shabby and tawdry intention to engage upon illicit trade that would defraud the nation, of which he was a loyal citizen. The right-thinking hiker will shudder at such scurrilous thoughts, genuflect in respect to a local hero, and walk on.

Descend the well-trodden path, bearing slightly right beside hedgerow, and pass through an access gate, back to the car park.

The Highdown Gardens can now be visited, going to the entrance on the right (access is free). The gardens are the work of Sir Frederick and Lady Stern. Beginning in 1919, they created a unique collection of plants from around the world in a Sussex chalk pit. The exquisitely kept gardens are well worth a visit for all gardeners, particularly those who struggle to tend a garden on a chalky patch.

Just below the gardens, after your visit, you can retire to the adjacent tearooms – the perfect end to an afternoon’s stroll.

  • Distance/Time: Three-and-a-quarter miles, taking (no more than) two hours
  • By Car: Highdown Hill is north off the A2032, a quarter of a mile west of the Goring Crossways roundabout and signed for Highdown Gardens. An easier approach by car is east from the A280/A2032 roundabout for one and a quarter miles to a signed turning. Car park is on the right at the top of the lane. Start point Grid Ref:TQ097041
  • By Public Transport: Travel details from www.traveline.info, phone 0871 2002233. Bus stop on A2032 and walk up lane to Highdown Hill, adds a total of half a mile to the walk.
  • What’s underfoot: A short walk around a low hill, with steep banks to climb and some tickly and prickly undergrowth – wear long trousers! Possible with a baby backpack; not possible with a baby buggy.
  • Thirsty Work: Highdown Tearooms at start/finish.
  • So you don’t get lost: OS Explorer Map 121, plus a compass for general direction.

Click here for a full-sized map of the Ferring circular walk