Burgess Hill to Wivelsfield

By Ben Perkins

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Towards the end of this five-and-a-half-mile walk there is a chance to see Great Ote Hall

It is become increasingly difficult to find enjoyable countryside walking in the vicinity of Burgess Hill as commercial and housing development expands around the town.

Our walk this week, starting at Burgess Hill railway station and finishing at the next stop up the London line at Wivelsfield is, nevertheless, almost entirely rural as it loops to the east of the town.

It crosses pasture and old parkland and samples a wooded corner of Ditchling Common, a pleasant mixture of heath, woodland and rough pasture.

1. From the main entrance to Burgess Hill Station, above the railway, turn right and, almost immediately, turn right again along a tarmac drive used for car parking, with the railway fence and station to your right.

From the end of this car parking area, go ahead along a footpath which heads south with the railway fence still immediately to the right.

After about two-thirds of a mile, when you are in line with a bridge over the railway to your right, you should turn left through a squeeze stile.

Head out across a field, aiming a little to the right of a prominent water tower, with a good view southwards to the Downs.

Go through a dip and climb gently across a field to reach a swing gate about 100 yards to the right of the water tower. Continue along the access drive from the tower and some houses to reach a road and turn right.

2. After about 20 yards go left along Wellhouse Lane. After another 400 yards, where the lane loses its tarmac surface, side-step to the right into a field and resume your previous direction, now along a left field edge. A stiled path continues along the left edge of an area of new tree planting, then on within a wide grassy strip and subsequently a gravel track to join the B2112 road.

3. Turn left and, after 70 yards, go right through a bridle gate or over the stile next to it and walk diagonally across a large area of pasture. Towards the far side of the field, where you top a low rise, you can aim for a bridge over the railway.

Once over the bridge, head squarely out across the next field, passing to the left of two clumps of scattered trees. Go through a gate and ahead along a grassy track.

After 40 yards, fork right on a path which passes between areas of bracken to reach a road.

4. Cross the road and follow the wide concrete access drive to an industrial estate, opposite. After about 100 yards, just short of a pair of notices for drivers entering the industrial area, turn left along a narrow unsigned path in to a scrub-covered area on the edge of Ditchling Common.

Some care is now needed to avoid going astray along one of the many alternative paths across the common, though this is an area well worth exploring if time permits.

Your path soon passes to the right of a house and garden and continues ahead through woodland. Very soon, fork right, keeping close to the right edge of the wooded common.

Shortly, turn right up steps and over a stile. Cross a drive, go through a swing gate and follow a narrow path with the industrial estate behind the high fence on your right.

Where the enclosed path ends, go ahead through a swing gate and along a wide grassy strip across two fields, passing well to the right of a large barn. Cross a roughly metalled drive and go forward along a fenced track.

5. Cross a wide concrete bridge at the head of a pond, currently dry and under restoration, and continue gently uphill along a right field edge. The turreted building over to your left is St George’s Retreat. Keep with the field edge as it veers left and right with Purchase Wood on your right.

Cross a drive and follow a grassy track opposite. Where this enclosed track ends, go ahead along a right field edge and, after about 60 yards, veer slightly left across the field to a stile, in sight.

Go ahead through a strip of woodland, ignoring paths to the left and right, to join the B2112 road almost opposite the Royal Oak pub.

6. Turn right beside the road and, after 100 yards or so, turn left. You have a choice of two parallel drives and yours is the one on the right, which is signed as a public footpath.

Where the drive reaches a gate, go ahead on a fenced path which skirts to the left of a house and garden.

Beyond a footbridge, go forward, joining and following the right edge of two fields with a stile between them. Towards the end of the second field, at the corner of the wood on your right, side-step to the right over a stile and resume your previous direction, now beside a left-hand hedge.

In the field corner, go over a stile and across a drive where you can catch a glimpse, to your right, of Great Ote Hall. This is a fine old house dating from 1600. Follow the drive ahead signed to the estate office. Where the drive bends left to a house, go forward through a squeeze stile and along a headland track which keeps along the right edge of two fields.

Through a gap into the third field, bear half-left on an unfenced path between two fields.

On the other side of the field, enter an enclosed path which takes a straight course between houses and gardens to join a road.

Turn left and, at a roundabout, right, to reach Wivelsfield Station where the walk ends.