Larking Around Harting and Ferretin' Around Buriton

No ferrets will be used (or rabbits harmed) on this walk around three pretty downland villages and along the great chalk escarpment that shelters them. I meant 'ferreting' as in 'searching out, discovering', but you realised that. Not that there will be much to discover, because this area of the South Downs National Park is as well-known as it is well-loved. You might be tempted to come because it'll be mostly tarmac and gravel underfoot, and because we'll be having lunch where there is a stupendous view from Harting Down and then a drink in South Harting. Plus, with Petersfield as our base there will be plenty of fast trains to whisk us in at the beginning and away again at the end.

The sights:

Buriton: A very pleasant quadrilateral of lanes with brick, timber, clunch, sandstone and flint buildings. The Manor House is an attractive brick and flint early Georgian affair, childhood home of the historian Edward Gibbon. St Mary's Church is directly below the downs and occupies a fine site overlooking the pond and village. Very fine C12 interior, bland tower rebuilt in 1714. The hills behind are some of the highest on the South Downs: War Down (220 m) and Head Down (205 m) but we won't ascend them.

South Harting: Rather like a nearby Hampshire village such as East Meon despite being one of the best in West Sussex. 'Demure brick and clunch cottages winding up to the church which deftly dominates... by its cruciform shape and by being at an angle to the street. The street seen the other way is elegant too...' (Ian Nairn). St Mary and St Gabriel Church is big and heavy, late C13 to early C14, its famous green copper broach spire stands out in the landscape. Elaborate Elizabethan carpentry in the chancel roof and bare gothic arches beneath the tower following a fire in 1576. Gaudy but endearing monuments to the Cowper and Coles families. World War I memorial by Eric Gill, 1920. 

West Harting: A pretty straggle of timber-framed and brick cottages with no centre, no church, and since The Greyhound closed, no pub either.

Petersfield: Receiving its market charter in the C12 and growing rich on wool and cloth since this, Petersfield became an affluent C18 country town especially as a stop-off for coaches on the London-Portsmouth road. Its best buildings are all Georgian, but some timber-framed C16 houses do survive, mostly in the street called The Spain. On the south east side of the town is Petersfield Heath, 95 acres (38 ha) of SNCI including heathland, woodland, grassland, a pond, and a picnic and recreation area. 

The route (please click on the link to see the route at the OS site):

A wander through the town centre or The Spain will bring us to the Old Portsmouth Road, the B2070. We'll then walk a little way along The Causeway before heading off south along the Hangers Way to Buriton. We'll then head past the church and southeast along a path, and then along the Milky Way byway to meet with the South Downs Way. We'll then follow the South Downs Way all the way to Harting Down for lunch. We'll then descend the scarp and follow Mill Lane to South Harting. North Lane will lead us out of South Harting and West Harting Road will take us there. Collins Lane heading north, then Ryefield Cottages will take us north. We'll then pick up the Serpent's Trail to bring us back to Petersfield where a route across Petersfield Heath and through the town will take us back to the station. 

Dogs:

I love having dogs on my walks and this walk is suitable for them as it's not too long. There may be sheep on the downs and there are a few roads to walk along and cross. A dog off the lead must be under control.

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(Picture credits: View from Harting Down: Photo © Leimenide (cc-by-2.0); South Harting and East Harting: Photo © Simon Huguet (cc-by-sa/2.0); The Manor House, Buriton: Photo © John Winfield (cc-by-sa/2.0); Buriton pond and Church: Photo © Martyn Pattison (cc-by-sa/2.0); Pond and church, Buriton: Photo © Robin Webster (cc-by-sa/2.0); South Downs Way, near Buriton; Photo © Chris Gunns (cc-by-sa/2.0); View north-east from South Downs Way: Photo © Robin Webster (cc-by-sa/2.0); View across The Warren: Photo © Chris Heaton (cc-by-sa/2.0); Harting Down: Photo © PAUL FARMER (cc-by-sa/2.0); South Harting: Photo © Michael Garlick (cc-by-sa/2.0); Heath Pond, Petersfield: Photo © Maigheach-gheal (cc-by-sa/2.0). All pictures are copyrighted but are licensed for reuse under Creative Commons CC-BY-SA 2.0 and are here attributed to their copyright holders.)