Walk 47 : Ockley to Warnham

Woods & rural delights

Length	17 km (10.6 miles), 5 hours 10 minutes. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals, allow 8 hours 40 minutes.
OS Landranger Map	No.187. Ockley, map reference TQ 165 404, is in Surrey, 9km north-west of Horsham and 6.5 km north of Warnham, which is in West Sussex.
Toughness	3 out of 10.
Features	This is a beautiful walk through an unspoilt country­side of fields, woods and gentle hills. In this sleepy corner on the Surrey-Sussex border, it seems as if nothing exceptional has happened through the ages. You go through no bustling towns, pass no grand country houses, and there are no particularly interesting historical events to relate. Just mile after mile of oak woods and rural delights. Note that it is over 1 km to the station from the village of Warnham, if you are trying to catch a train after tea. Also the last train back to London is often between 6-30 pm and 7-15 pm, and there are no trains to Ockley on Sunday and on some Bank Holiday Mondays.
Shortening the Walk	You could call a taxi from the Lunch pub to Warnham Station.
History	The Parish Church of St John the Baptist in Okewood has thirteenth century wall paintings and an unusual arrangement of roof beams. Warnham's best known son is the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley who was born at Field Place, just south of the village, in 1792. Expelled from Oxford for his pamphlet The Necessity of Atheism and eloping with 16 year-old Harriet Westbrook, he was forbidden by his father Sir Timothy Shelley ever to visit the family seat, in case he might corrupt his sisters.
Saturday Walkers Club	Take the train nearest to 9- 30 am from London Victoria Station to Ockley, journey time about 1hr. Trains back from Warnham are about twice an hour (some direct, some via Horsham), journey time about 1 hr 10 minutes. Rail Ticket: Either buy a cheap day return to Warnham or, better, to Horsham (thus leaving more options for your return journey). Reminder - the last train back to London is often between 6-30 pm and 7-15 pm, and there are no trains to Ockley on Sunday and on some Bank Holiday Mondays. This walk comes up in the Book One walk schedule each year in November, when leaf-colour in the woods is at its best, although it also makes for a delightful walk at any time of the year.
Lunch	The suggested lunch place is the Scarlett Arms pub (tel. 01306-627243) in Walliswood. This is a small, walker-friendly, old-fashioned pub (no piped music or gaming machines), with an inglenook fireplace for cold winter days, and a garden for sitting outside in the summer. It has a good menu of sandwiches (with generous filings) plus main courses, served between 12 noon and 2-30 pm weekdays and 12 noon and 3 pm on Sundays. A (larger) alternative is the Punch Bowl pub (tel. 01306-627249) via a detour beginning in the woods in Walliswood; the walk can then be rejoined by Rosehill Cottage (para.16)
Tea	The suggested tea place is the Sussex Oak pub (tel.01403-265028) in Warnham. It serves drinks, tea and coffee, and food between 12 noon and 2-30 pm and 6 pm to 9-30 pm. The village store in Warnham is open until 6pm daily and has two benches for sitting outside. Again, please remember that it is over 1 km to the station from the village of Warnham, if you are trying to catch a train after tea.

Travel by Train	Out: (not a train station) Back: (not a train station)
Travel by Car	Start: Ockley Station is near : RH5 5HT [gmap] Finish: Warnham Station is near : RH12 3SR [gmap] Return to your car by train: (park at the start) at 4pm (park at the end) at 10am
OS Explorer Map	134 : Crawley & Horsham [Amazon] 146 : Dorking, Box Hill & Reigate [Amazon]
Revised	This walk was fully revised in : Aug-08. Download the PDF (link above) for the revised instructions, but for the map, you'll still need the book.
Other Surrey Hills Walks	Liphook to Haslemere, Farnham to Godalming, Gomshall to Guildford, Milford to Godalming, Haslemere (round walk), Milford to Haslemere, Holmwood to Gomshall, Witley to Haslemere, Guildford to Farnham, Guildford to Gomshall, Effingham Junction to Westhumble, Coulsdon South Circular, Haslemere to Midhurst,

Walking Instructions 

[Numbers refer to the map]. Changes in text to the Book text, latest edition (Ebury 2005) are shown in thus.

1. [1] Come out of Ockley Station and go through the car park, turning right down the tarmac station approach road. In 100 metres you come down to the road, where you turn right under the railway arch. In 10 metres beyond the railway arch, turn left off the road, following the public footpath sign, on a path between fences, your direction 200 degrees initially. In 150 metres go over the metal bridge across a brook and bear right with the path. 250 metres further on, you come out on to a narrow road. Turn right on to the road. In 25 metres you come to the entrance to a house called Weavers, on your left-hand side. Turn left, off the road, cross the house’s driveway, and continue along the path, following the public footpath sign on the corner of the driveway, your direction 250 degrees initially. In 230 metres, having initially walked parallel to a driveway, the path takes a sharp left turn, going around the back of the garden of the big house on your left. 25 metres further on, it goes right again and continues in the same direction as before.
2. 100 metres further on, you come to the edge of the trees and follow the path alongside a barbed-wire fence, in the same direction as before. 300 metres further on, on the far side of the field, ignore a path which crosses your path. Continue straight ahead, going slightly downhill, with a recent plantation of trees on your left-hand side. 90 metres down the hill, go over a wooden bridge across the stream. Ignore a fork off uphill to the left in 10 metres, to continue along the bridleway as it makes its way through the trees, uphill.
3. Ignore ways off and in 340 metres go through a metal fieldgate into the field beyond. Walk across the field, your direction 240 degrees, for 100 metres, to the right of a strange, metal contrivance in the middle of the field (an old water pump). Then head for the stile visible in the fence ahead, your direction 300 degrees. In 100 metres cross this stile and turn left, with the fence to your left-hand side, your direction 190 degrees.
4. In 100 metres you go over a stile in the corner of the field, into the next field. Walk along the right-hand edge of the field, gently uphill, your direction 195 degrees initially. In 90 metres cross a stile and walk along the edge of the next field, in the same direction as before. In 25 metres follow the path as it bends around to the right, your direction 260 degrees initially. In 50 metres you come down to a lane, leading up to a wooden fieldgate on your left-hand side, with a gate marked “Private” [2].
5. Go straight across the lane, following the public footpath sign next to the right-hand gatepost, past a large oak tree, your direction 200 degrees. In 40 metres cross over a stile to the right of a metal fieldgate. On your right-hand side, you can soon see the village of Ockley. Walk along the left-hand edge of the field, gradually descending as your way curves to the left. In 100 metres go over a stile to the left of a metal fieldgate. Continue downhill. In 200 metres cross a path junction by a four-way sign and ignore a stile to the left. In a further 100 metres enter the wood by a rusty metal fieldgate.
6. Keep ahead, ignoring all ways off, your initial bearing 200 degrees, on a broad path which starts level then gently rises. In 300 metres a path joins you from the left. In a further 100 metres the path begins to descend.
7. In 190 metres at a T-junction with a new tree plantation to your left, [!] and a beech tree 10 metres to the left (with “Anthony Annette Adam” carved on it, 6ft up) bear right with the path, your direction 255 degrees, entering Birches Wood. After 45 metres by a cypress tree take the left-hand fork and in a further 45 metres by a small signpost with two yellow arrows on it take a clear path left, steeply downhill, due south. 80 metres down the hill, with a three-armed footpath sign on your right, cross a wood and metal bridge going over the stream. Over the bridge, follow the path left for 15 metres and then around to the right up the hill, heading southwards. In 150 metres cross over a stile and walk along a grassy bank and then a field with a hedgerow on the right-hand side, your direction 190 degrees. In 200 metres you come to a metal fieldgate (off its hinges, August 2008). Go through – or cross over the stile away to its left-hand side – on to a car-wide track.
8. [3] Eversheds Farmhouse (marked on the OS map) is straight ahead of you. Turn right with the farm buildings to your right-hand side. Then simply follow the track through its bends: in 90 metres the track goes sharply around to the left; 140 metres further on, sharply around to the right; 350 metres further on, you come down to the bottom of a slight incline, sharply around to the right, over a concrete bridge (with wooden and makeshift metal railings on its left-hand side and metal railings on its right) and continue uphill, your direction 305 degrees.
9. 300 metres further on, you come up to a concrete road, pass through a metal fieldgate to go across farm roads with farm buildings off to the left. Turn right onto a farm track which in 150 metres bears left. Continue past Mill Cottage on your left and down to the A29 road which you cross over to follow the public bridleway sign on the far side. In 15 metres, East Standon Lodge is on your right-hand side, and you go through the white iron gate. Follow the car-wide track to the left, your direction 230 degrees initially, and in 450 metres you come to a wooden gate (leading to a house called Middle Lodge). Follow the house’s wooden fence round to the left. In 70 metres, at the end of the fence, keep on the path as it bears left, your direction 200 degrees.
10. In 100 metres, you go through a metal fieldgate with a tall handle on the edge of Oakwood Mill Farm, with another metal fieldgate on its right-hand side. Turn right, down the car-wide track just beyond this gate, your direction 265 degrees initially. In 40 metres go over the river [4] and through or over a metal fieldgate, ignoring any “keep out” sign on the gate.
11. Stays on the track and in 20 metres take the left-hand fork. Follow the track as it curves around to the left, in the same general direction as the river down on your left-hand side. In 70 metres follow the track sharply around to the right and up the hill, your direction 290 degrees initially. In 100 metres further on, there is a metal fieldgate directly ahead at the top of the hill. Follow the track around to the left, your direction 220 degrees initially. Follow the line of the fence on your right-hand side, with the river down below on your left-hand side.
12. In 300 metres, the next turning can be easily missed [!]: turn sharp right, on to a path going up the hill with a fence to your right-hand side, your direction 300 degrees initially. In 60 metres you come up into a field. Walk alongside the barbed-wire fence on the right-hand edge of this field, your direction due west initially. In 200 metres cross over the stile into the wood and follow the woodland track, in the same general direction as before. In 50 metres you come to a footpath post and fork left, your direction due west. 30 metres further on, there is another footpath post, where you ignore the forks left to continue straight on (bearing right, still due west). In 400 metres the path leads you down through the trees to the Parish Church of St. John the Baptist in Okewood. Go through the wooden gate into the churchyard and walk around to the front entrance of the church, which is usually open and well worth a visit. Coming out of the church, go down the path with stepping stones directly opposite the entrance to the church, your direction 260 degrees. In 25 metres go through the gate and descend steps to go over a wooden bridge. In 40 metres at a T-junction, bear left, due west. In 30 metres cross over a wooden bridge, ignoring the similar bridge to the right. Continue ahead, bearing 270 degrees, gently uphill.
13. Ignoring ways off, in 480 metres you come to a footpath post on your left-hand side. Ignore the way ahead into a field, which is anyway fenced and gated. Turn right here, following the arrow on the post, your direction 305 degrees initially.
14. Go straight on for 550 metres, ignoring ways off, to come out through a wooden kissing gate on to a road, where you turn right into the village of Walliswood, your direction 15 degrees. In 50 metres, on your right-hand side, is the Scarlett Arms pub, the suggested lunch stop.
15. Coming out of the pub after lunch, turn left, back down the road. In 60 metres you pass a turning on the right to Ewhurst. In 120 metres further on, you pass a dead-end turning on your left called Oakfields. 60 metres beyond that, turn left, following signs to Oakwood Hill, Ockley and Dorking. You pass a house on your right-hand side called Charles Copse.
16. In 400 metres you come to Rosehill Cottage on your right-hand side. Just beyond this, on the right hand side of the road, there is a public bridleway sign pointing to the right. Turn right off the road, along a car-wide gravel track, your direction 200 degrees. In 25 metres go through a wooden fieldgate into Rosehill Farm. Keep ahead passing through the farmyard and then along the left-hand edge of a field, on a grassy path with woodland to your left.
17. In 300 metres, on the far side of the field, you go through a gap in the hedgerow into the next field. Walk straight ahead along the edge of this field, with the wood on your left, direction as before. In 250 metres you come to the corner of the field. Follow the yellow arrows, along the barbed-wire fence on your right-hand side, keeping ahead, with the edge of the wood on your left. This path is usually very overgrown and take care as there is a ditch on the immediate left-hand side of this narrow path, waiting to catch your ankle.
18. In 150 metres you come out from this overgrown path into an open field on the edge of the wood, and here [5] you can either keep ahead to the stile in the wooden fence, 30 metres directly ahead, cross it and turn left along the fence as far as the first stile noted below or you can turn half-left, your bearing 120 degrees and aim for the (first) stile 100 metres away, which you cross and head for another stile 40 metres away, go over it and keep ahead, uphill, over a large field, on a bearing of 135 degrees, heading to the right of a copse.
19. In 200 metres you come up to trees, where you will see that there is a barbed-wire fence going all around the copse. You should come up to the right-hand corner of this copse. Walk straight on, with the barbed-wire fence and trees on your left-hand side, in the same direction as before. In 100 metres you come to the far side of the copse, where one fence goes sharply off to the left. Continue straight on, across the field ahead, with the barbed-wire fence on your left-hand side, in the same direction as before. Aim for the gap in the hedgerow – a line of small trees ahead. In 20 metres you walk underneath overhead cables. 80 metres further on, cross over a concrete bridge, go over a wooden step and through the gap in the trees into the next field. Aim half left towards the far side of the field, your direction 125 degrees, and in 130 metres go over a stile and out onto a car road and turn left along this road.
20. In 125 metres you will see a postbox on your left-hand side, and on your right-hand side North Lodge, the gatehouse for Tanglewood. On the left-hand side of the road is a metal footpath sign pointing right across the road to the wooden sign to Tanglewood, within the lodge’s driveway. Ignore this path(The Sussex Border Path) and turn right down the tarmac lane, signposted Monks Farm and Honeybush Farm, your direction 205 degrees initially.
21. In 250 metres you come to a three-armed signpost on your right-hand side. Follow the bridleway straight ahead through a metal fieldgate. In 450 metres you pass between two farmhouses and pass a barn on your right, and up to a T-junction [6] where there is a three-armed signpost, by a large oak tree. Ignore the Sussex Border Path 1989 which goes left at this point, along the course of Stane Street (which is an old Roman Road). Turn right down the public bridleway.
22. In 40 metres follow the track sharply around to the left, with a wooden fence on your left-hand side. 50 metres further on, there us another three-armed signpost. Follow the public bridleway sign going straight ahead. 30 metres further on, there are two metal fieldgates. Go through the left-hand gate (white and rusting) and down the bridleway between hedges and treelines, your direction 75 degrees initially. In 150 metres follow the bridleway sharply around to the right, your direction 190 degrees initially, with a wire fence on your left. 170 metres further on, where there is a metal fieldgate directly ahead and another on your left, follow the bridleway as it curves around to the left, your direction 155 degrees initially.
23. 60 metres further on, there is a three-armed signpost on your right. Follow the public footpath sign and [!] turn right due south through a wooden gate, then turn half-left down the footpath to the left-hand corner of the field, where you can see another footpath sign. In 80 metres you pass a three-armed footpath sign by a wire fence on your left, and in 20 metres you come to the far side of the field and go through the wooden fieldgate on the left. Walk down the path through the trees, which is signposted public footpath, your direction 145 degrees.
24. In 300 metres, following a clear path through the trees, you come to another two-armed signpost. Follow the public footpath, going slightly round to the right. 35 metres further on, look out for the three-armed public footpath signpost on your left-hand side. Go to it and follow its direction due east to go over a stile in 30 metres. Walk straight ahead, your direction due east, with a field fence on your left-hand side, along the top of a bank and out into a field.
25. In 150 metres you come to a two-armed footpath sign on your left-hand side. Follow the direction of the footpath, going left towards some farm buildings, your direction 10 degrees. Keep ahead, passing the farm buildings on your right (the two stiles which you used to have to cross have now gone). In 90 metres, there is a two-armed footpath sign on your left, by a metal fieldgate. Go right across the field, following the sign’s direction (85 degrees) towards another footpath sign 200 metres away, 100 metres to the right of the red farmhouse.
26. Once at this three-armed wooden footpath sign, go through a wooden fieldgate. Follow the sign for the public bridleway, going straight ahead, your direction 100 degrees initially. In 150 metres you pass metal fieldgates on both sides of the path and continue straight on down the hill. 125 metres further on, cross over a wooden bridge over North River. On the other side of the bridge, do not go through the gate ahead but turn right along the riverbank, following the direction of the public bridleway sign. In 60 metres cross over a stone bridge with wooden railings going over a stream, and continue straight on uphill up the path on the other side.
27. In 250 metres you pass a gatepost and come out onto the main road (the A29). Cross straight over the road and follow the public bridleway sign up the car-wide track on the other side. In 30 metres go through a wooden fieldgate and bear left with the track. In 120 metres follow the direction of a two-armed signpost on your right, directly ahead, along the bridleway through the trees. In 100 metres you pass Pear Tree Farm on your right-hand side. 250 metres further on, you come out on to a road, alongside a rather sinister half-timbered old building of mixed styles called Maltmayes, on your left-hand side. Turn right on to the tree-lines road and walk up the hill. In 20 metres ignore the public footpath going off the road to the left. 300 metres further on, you pass a driveway on the left-hand side, leading to a very tall clock tower (an old water tower, built in 1891 for the Warnham Lodge Estate, and redundant since the mid-1930s).
28. 200 metres beyond the tower, the road curves sharply around to the left. Ignore the first way off to the right (a track between wooden posts) but just beyond it you turn right off the road, following a new bridleway sign on the corner, going straight ahead, due south. Follow the path to the left of the bridleway, making its way through the trees, beside a railed fence along the left-hand edge of the wood (or, in non-muddy conditions, just walk up the bridleway).
29. After 500 metres along this winding, narrow path – keeping near to the railings on your left-hand side, whenever there is a choice – the path goes steeply downhill. 25 metres from the start of this hill, your way is rejoined by the at-times muddy bridleway coming in from the right. Follow the bridleway straight across the bottom of the depression, and straight up the far side, your direction 235 degrees initially. Ignore a path that forks off to the right.
30. In 200 metres you come over the hill and down to a four-armed sign on your right. 10 metres before this sign, turn left off the bridleway [7] go up a bank of tree-roots and up on to a footpath going along oak trees lining the left-hand edge of a field, your direction 125 degrees initially.
31. In 400 metres you come to the far side of the field, where there is a three-armed public footpath sign, going past a broken metal fieldgate, to bear left, following the path along the left-hand edge of the field, your direction 70 degrees initially. In 80 metres you come to another three-armed public footpath sign where you bear right, carrying on around the field, your direction 105 degrees initially.
32. In 80 metres you come to a two-armed public footpath sign on your left. Follow the sign, half right across the field towards Warnham, your direction 120 degrees. (In the past, we have complained about rape seed up above head level on this path, so that passing along it was like going through a scratchy, wet car wash). In 140 metres, by a two-armed footpath sign, go through a gap in the hedge and continue in the same direction. 120 metres further on, you come to the edge of this field, and continue straight on through the gap in the hedge and trees. When you come into the next field, you can see a recent development of red brick houses on your right-hand side. Continue on, with the fence surrounding this development on your right-hand side, down the hill, in the same direction as before. In a further 100 metres, you come to the edge of this field. Follow the path ahead through the trees. The path takes you down through the trees and out on to a road.
33. Cross straight over the road (Tillets Lane) and down Lucas Road opposite. In 150 metres you pass a turning on the right (Hollands Way). 100 metres further on, you come to a dead end, with Warnham Church of England Primary School at the end. Go down a concrete footpath to the right of the school. 150 metres down this footpath, you pass a three-armed footpath sign on the right-hand side, and continue straight on. 100 metres further on, you come out on to the road opposite the church. 50 metres down the road, on your right-hand side, is the village store and post office, which can be relied on for ice cream, cakes and snacks. In the opposite direction, on the left-hand side of the road, is the Sussex Oak pub, the suggested tea place.
34. To get to the station, walk down Bell Road, directly opposite the Sussex Oak, signposted “Horsham 2 miles”. In 500 metres you come to a T-junction on to a major road (the A24). Cross straight over the road and turn left, in the direction of London and Dorking. In 30 metres turn right, following the sign for Warnham Station. As you walk along this road, you can see the brickworks up on the left. Just walk straight up the road for 700 metres until you come to the station. The platform for trains to London is the one on the left before the level crossing.