Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1
Walk 32 : Arundel to Amberley
Arundel Park, River Arun & Burpham
| Length | 18.8km (11.7 miles), 5 hours 40 minutes. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals, allow at least 10 hours 30 minutes. |
|---|---|
| OS Landranger Map | No.197. Arundel, map reference TQ 024 063, is in West Sussex, 4km north of Littlehampton. |
| Toughness | 7 out 10. |
| Features | This South Downs walk requires a relatively early start from London if you want to be in time for food at the lunchtime pub - unless you are a fast walker who tends not to dilly-dally visiting churches and other sites en route. Beware that the distance to the suggested Lunch stop in Burpham is 9.7km (6 miles), 3 hours. There are several stretches that are steep (with excellent views in compensation); a half-kilometre of the route above Amberley can be very muddy, when churned up by cows; and the marshy Wild Brook meadows beyond Amberley are subject to flooding. The walk starts and ends along the River Arun. It goes up Arundel's old High Street, lined with ancient buildings, to the Duke of Norfolk's castle. The Norfolk family have been Catholic for centuries, hence you pass the only church in the UK that is part-Catholic and part-Protestant (the Catholic part is their chapel, separated off by an iron grille) and you pass the Catholic cathedral. Entering their 1,240-acre Arundel Park (the park is closed on March 24th each year, but the public footpaths should remain open on that day), you come to the Hiorne Tower, and from there descend steeply to Swanbourne Lake, skirting the edges of the woodlands, and exiting the park through a gap in the wall, to walk along the River Arun again. This leads to the isolated hamlet of South Stoke, with its unusual church, and from there to the church and inn at Burpham. The afternoon's walk, over the chalk downs into Amberley, is short in comparison. Amberley is a delightful village with many thatched houses, a pub, a village store (closed Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday afternoon), a pottery, a church and a castle. Next to the station is the Chalk Pit Industrial Museum. |
| Shortening the Walk | On exiting Arundel Park, you could turn left instead of right along the river (see the asterisk [*] in the book'sWalk Directions) to reach Amberley Station in 2km, or to have Lunch at the pub in Houghton if desired, and then tea in Amberley. Or you could cross the bridge at South Stoke and take the footpath left instead of right (see the double asterisk [**] in the book'sWalk Directions; this is a more complicated short cut and an OS map would be helpful), reaching Amberley Station via North Stoke. Or, on the descent into Amberley, you could stay on the South Downs Way to the station (see the triple asterisk [***] in the book'sWalk Directions) without visiting the town. Or you could order a taxi from the lunchtime pub in Burpham. Or you could continue along the east bank of the river from Burpham, to go back to Arundel for tea. |
| History |
Arundel Castle was built at the end of the eleventh century by Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Arundel. It was damaged in the Civil War (changing hands twice) and was largely rebuilt in 'idealised Norman' style by Dukes of Norfolk in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The lack of labourers after the Black Death in 1349 led to the decay of St Nicholas Parish Church, Arundel, which was rebuilt in 1380. There were no pews, but there were stone seats around the side (hence the expression 'the weakest go to the walls'). The building became a barracks and stables for the parliamentarians during the Civil War - their guns laid siege to the castle from the church tower. In 1969, the then Duke of Norfolk opened up the wall between the Catholic and Protestant parts of the church. For ecumenical special occasions, the iron grille dividing them is opened. The Catholic Cathedral of our Lady and St Philip Howard was completed in 1873. St Philip, thirteenth Earl of Arundel, whose father was beheaded by Elizabeth I, was himself later sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered, but died after 11 years in the Tower of London, in 1595, aged 39. The eleventh-century St Leonard's Church in the hamlet of South Stoke (population 57) has a thin tower with a 'frilly cap', topped by a nineteenth-century spire. It is still lit by candles A Roman pavement was uncovered in the churchyard of St Mary the Virgin Church, Burpham, and parts of the church date from before the Norman Conquest. Amberley Castle aand St Michael's Church were both built shortly after the Norman Conquest by Bishop Luffa, using French masons who had been brought over to build Chichester Cathedral. The castle - one of three country palaces for the Bishops of Chichester - was considered necessary to defend the Bishops from peasants in revolt and from marauding pirates (it now contains a hotel). A hundred men once worked at the lime and cement works that is now the Amberley Museum, Amberley Station. It is open daily from March 20th to November 3rd, 10am to 6pm (last entry 5pm); admission £4.50. |
| Lunch | The suggested Lunch place is the George & Dragon (tel 01903 883 131), Burpham, which has an ambitious menu at relatively high prices. Food is served midday to 2pm Monday to Saturday, and midday to 2.00pm Sunday. |
| New Walk Options |
Arundel Circular via Burpham or Offham [details] |
|---|---|
| Warning | This text was taken from an older edition of the book, and is a little out of date. Please check the updates for this walk. |
Walking Instructions
For a map and detailed walking instruction, please see Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1
