Time Out Country Walks near London Volume 1
Walk 47 : Ockley to Warnham
Woods & rural delights
| Length | 17km (10.6 miles), 5 hours 10 minutes. For the whole outing, including trains and meals, allow at least 8 hours 40 minutes. |
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| OS Landranger Map | No.187. Ockley, map reference TQ 165 404, is in Surrey, 9km north of Horsham and 6.5km 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 1km to the station from the village of Warnham, if you are trying to catch a train after tea. Also note the last train back is often between 6.30pm and 7.15pm; and there are no trains to Ockley on Sunday. |
| 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 even to visit the family seat, in case he might corrupt his sisters. |
| Lunch | The suggested lunch place is the Scarlett Arms pub (tel 01306 627 243) in Walliswood. This is a friendly and unmodernised pub, with an inglenook fireplace for cold winter days, and a garden for sitting outside in the summer. It has a fairly standard pub menu with some vegetarian options. Food is served midday to 2pm Monday to Saturday, midday to 2.30pm Sunday. |
| Driving |
Start: Ockley Station is near : RH5 5HT. [gmap] Finish: Warnham Station is near : RH12 3SR. [gmap] |
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| Train Travel |
London to Ockley | Warnham to London |
| Warning | The text above was taken from an older edition of the book, and is a little out of date.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
