Up on the Downs, Through some Grounds, Then on to The Crown

The walk up on the Downs will be brief, just enough to work up a sweat and take in the view before descending to the gentler landscape of parkland, pasture and heath than lies beneath. The downland stretch will also be optional, pulled if the weather is poor or the time is short. That would be a pity because that stretch of the South Downs is among the most magnificent in that range, but there would be plenty else on the walk to compensate. These include: the chase of big trees that surrounds the Elizabethan mansion of Parham House; the pub lunch at The Crown in the village of Cootham; the heaths of Wiggonholt Common; and time-permitting, the café at Pulborough Brooks Nature Reserve.

The sights:

Parham House and Park: Built in 1577 before the era of Elizabethan 'prodigy houses' like Hardwick, it is straightforward and sober in design, and in the classic E-shape plan. The deer park is a magnificent chase of big trees and bracken with the bare South Downs behind as a dramatic backdrop. It was laid out in 1628 and remodelled in the late C18.

Pulborough Brooks: 'A 160-hectare (400-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest, part of the Pulborough Brooks nature reserve, which is owned and managed by the RSPB. It is also part of the Arun Valley Ramsar site, Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area. These wet meadows are crossed by a network of ditches, some of which have a rich aquatic flora and invertebrate fauna, including several which are nationally rare. The site is internationally important for wintering wildfowl and many species of birds breed there, such as lapwing, snipe, garganey, yellow wagtail, grey partridge, skylark, reed bunting and barn owl.' (From Wikipedia). We won't be entering the Brooks, but just using the café that overlooks them.

Amberley Wildbrooks: 'Grazing marsh and ditches in a floodplain landscape important for rare birds, insects and plants...The River Arun traces a serpentine path across an extensive flat area of grassland, bounded on the horizon by hills and woods. The grassland itself is dissected by numerous ditches, mostly dug in the 1800s to assist drainage, but now supporting a fantastic array of wetland plants and insects' (From the Sussex Wildlife Trust website.)

Amberley: One of the most celebrated villages in Sussex. A superb setting on a ridge overlooking the River Arun Wildbrooks and backed by the South Downs. The village is made up of long, loose, pretty perspectives of cottages that line a quadrilateral of lanes, one going to the C12 church and C14 castle. 

The route (please click the link in red to be taken to the Ordnance Survey website):

We'll follow the South Downs Way east form the station onto the hills before descending to Rackham hamlet. We'll take Rachkam Street to meet the West Sussex Literary Trail through the grounds of Parham Park to Cootham for the pub. We'll then head north and west, taking Hurston Lane a bridleway to Wiggonholt Common. We'll then veer south and use Rackham Street and Crossgates to get back to Amberley. After walking through the village, we'll use the pavement beside the B2139 to get back to the station.

Dogs:

I love having dogs on my walks and this walk is quite suitable for them. It is of moderate length but is along lots of country lanes and a few busy roads on pavements. A dog must be obedient if it is off the lead. 

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(Images are: Sheep on South Downs, Rackham Hill: Photo © Robin Webster (cc-by-sa/2.0); Amberley: Along the South Downs Way: Photo © Michael Garlick (cc-by-sa/2.0); Parham park: Photo © Chris Thomas-Atkin (cc-by-sa/2.0): Crown Inn, Cootham: Photo © Paul Gillett (cc-by-sa/2.0); View ENE towards Wiggonholt Common: Photo © Ian Hawfinch (cc-by-sa/2.0); Greatham_5 by Charlesdrakew; High Street, Amberley by David Martin; School Road by Josie Campbell; Hog Lane, Amberley by Simon Carey; Cross Gate by Chris Shaw; The South Downs from Rackham by Peter Jeffery; Folkestone Formation at Rackham by Tom Walsingham. All photos are copyrighted but are above credited to their copyright holders and are licensed for further reuse under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0).)