Codmore Hill and Pickhurst

By Eddie Start

A memorial to Samuel Drinkald - who fell from his horse and died on this spot - dominates the horizon for much of the walk

Codmore Hill is a small village, just north of Pulborough, that sits at the top of a prominent hill on the Sussex Weald.

It must have been a great relief for Roman legions marching from Chichester to London along Stane Street, with wild and untamed forest on either side of the long, straight road, to know that it was downhill from the village, for a while anyway.

This walk takes us from the well-drained hilltop to the banks of the River Arun and provides a glimpse of the seemingly ever-present Wey and Arun military canal. There is also the Toat Monument, an isolated tower that seems to be always visible as the walk proceeds.

There are a couple of short sections of road walking, but these are quiet, minor thoroughfares and should not present any problems.

1. Leave the main A29 road in Codmore Hill and walk up Hill Farm Lane to a footpath, on the right in 200 yards, which drops through hedgerow, half-right to a stile.

Keep direction across the meadow, descending to a copse. At the copse turn right and follow the path around its left edge to a path junction in 150 yards.

Cross the stile and continue, following the valley bottom path, with ponds to the right. Maintain direction on the path for nearly three-quarters-of-a-mile to pass through a gate, and drop to a stile. Follow the signed rising path around the garden, going left for a few paces, then right. Climb to a gate and cross a gravel drive beside Oak House Farm to arrive at a minor road.

2. Turn right up the road for 550 yards, climbing to Pickhurst Farm and take the left bridleway, between the buildings, that leads to Sheepwash Farm.

At the farm gate in 400 yards turn right on the bridleway to arrive at a stile in 200 yards.

Cross the stile and follow the footpath around the left hedgeline, with a cottage set below to the left. At a marker post (yellow arrow) turn left to drop to a gate and bridge.

That it maybe muddy at this point could be something to do with the fact that you are standing in the bottom of the Wey and Arun Canal, although this part of the waterway has been long-abandoned.

A close inspection of the OS Explorer map shows that the line of the canal passed through this point, avoiding the fast-flowing meanders of the nearby river.

Pass from the gate out into the, sometimes soggy, field that is part of the flood plain of the River Arun, which is just 100 yards away across the meadow.

Walk half-right across the meadow to cross a stile, turn left across the first bridge and then a hump-backed bridge to a junction at Pallingham Quay Farm.

3. Turn right along the bridleway and in 100 yards go left onto a rising driveway that continues up through Quay Copse and Round Copse to a minor road in just over half-a-mile. Turn right up the road for nearly half-a-mile, coming to a bridleway on the right after the dwellings at Westland.

Turn onto the bridleway, at first beneath trees and then crossing raised, open country.

The bridleway bends to the left and drops to the pond bay and cottages at Furnacepond in Pallingham Lane. Although this site is some distance from the Arun river it clearly has an industrial history that made use of waterpower, as indicated by the scoured outflow on the far side of the lane.

4. Take a few paces right and follow the onward bridleway, opposite the cottages, in a north-easterly direction. The path drops, veering left, to cross a bridge over the swift-flowing Arun.

In a few paces, on crossing a short section of causeway, it is possible to pick out, to the left and right, the west bank of the now abandoned Wey and Arun Canal. The east bank at this point was achieved by using the natural slope of the landscape.

Turn left at the far side of the causeway and follow the well-defined track, soon going halfright between fields, to a path junction at Haybarn, in a little over a quarter-of-mile. Turn right and follow the rising path, which passes below Lee Place House, and comes to a drive, opposite Wobblegate Farm.

Turn right down the drive passing Northwood Farm and then arriving at the buildings of Snape Farm. Here join the minor road, continue in a southerly direction for three-quarters-of-a-mile, dropping to pass StablebarnFarm. In 150 yards turn right into the entrance of Toatwood Farm.

5. Walk up the signed footpath for 150 yards. After passing the second bungalow, turn left over a stile onto a footpath that climbs beneath trees to the top of the slope.

From this point it is possible to get a closer view of the Toat Monument, on the hill to the right. The monument was built in 1827 as a memorial to Samuel Drinkald, killed at the spot after being thrown from his horse, it has been a prominent feature of the local landscape ever since.

Follow the onward path, crossing a stile into a clump of trees and then entering a sloping meadow. Keep to the top left edge of the field, follow the path to the bottom left corner, cross a stile and continue on the sunken track to a minor road.

The path continues through the opposite woodland for 350 yards, rising to the buildings of Wiltshire's Farm on the right.

In a few yards pass an isolated cottage. In a further 100 yards, at the four-way junction encountered at the beginning of this walk, go left around the copse and take the sloping half-left path across the field, back to Hill Farm Lane.