Walk 26 : Southease to Seaford

Standard walk Southease to Seaford 18.1km (11.3 miles), 5 hours 40 minutes. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals allow at least 10 hours.

Short walk option 1 Southease to Seaford without lunch at Rodmell12.3km (7.6 miles), 3 hours 50 minutes.

Short walk option 2 Southease to Bishopstone including lunch at Rodmell 16.3km (10.2 miles), 5 hours 10 minutes.

Short walk option 3 As above, from Southease to Bishopstone but without lunch at Rodmell 10.5km (6.6 miles), 3 hours 20 minutes.

For details of short walk options see below.

Long walk Lewes to Seaford 20.8km(12.9 miles) 6 hours 30 minutes. For details see the directions at the end of this text.

OS Landranger Map No. 198, OS Explorer Maps Nos. 122 & 123. Southease, map reference TQ432055 is in East Sussex, 5km south-east of Lewes.

6 out of 10.

This walk offers a wealth of contrasting scenery, passing alongside a river, then rising to the heights of the South Downs to command views both inland and out to the coast, before descending to pass through pretty villages en route to the seaside. It begins at Southease station then follows the banks of the River Ouse to Rodmell for an early lunch. Afterwards the route retraces to Southease via an alternative way which passes its picturesque village centre, then ascends to follow a ridge of the South Downs Way before heading south to the village of Bishopstone and the coast. It finally follows the seaside esplanade to the sleepy seaside town of Seaford with its variety of cafes, pubs and restaurants.

Option 1 Instead ofheading west to Rodmell for lunch, you could take a picnic and follow the route directly east to Seaford. Note: if you do this there is no prospect of refreshment until reaching Seaford (unless you find a welcome at St. Andrew’s church in Bishopstone).

Option 2 Another way of Walk Options is to end at Bishopstone station. For this option you could first follow the route to Rodmell for a pub lunch.

Option 3 Again, end the walk at Bishopstone but instead of detouring to Rodmell, head directly east from Southease on the South Downs Way, and then continue south to the coast. Although this means missing tea at Seaford, you could always visit the Garden Cafe at Lewes in between changing trains.

Rodmell’s best known landmark is the Monk’s House (tel 01892 890651).Thiswas the home of Virginia and Leonard Woolf who lived here from 1919 until Virginia’s suicide in March 1941 (when she filled her pockets with stones and drowned herself in the Ouse). Her ashes are buried in the garden. Leonard remained here until he died in 1969. Visitors to the house during the years they spent here included Vita Sackville-West, Lytton Strachey, E. M. Forster, Maynard Keynes, T. S. Eliot and Roger Fry. The house is open to visitors on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons only, April to the end of October 2pm to 5.30pm. Admission is £2.60.

St Peter’s, Rodmell is a restored Norman church dating from the 12th century.

St Peter’s, Southease This church has the unusual feature of a round tower and houses a collection of mediaeval wall paintings.

Bishopstone is so called because the Bishops of Chichester stayed here until the 1600's. St Andrew’s church has some of the earliest Saxon works in Sussex and parts of the eighth century structure remain. The church hosts two Summer fetes, on the first Saturday of May and the first Saturday of August, and it is worth considering these dates when planning to go on this walk as both events provide welcome refreshments. Otherwise please note there is nothing available between Rodmell and Seaford.

Take the nearest train after 9.30am from Victoria Station to Lewes,then change to go one stop further on to Southease (unless starting from Lewes as described in ‘Lengthening the walk’). Journey time 1 hour 17 minutes. Trains back from Seaford run twice hourly until 8pm, changing at Lewes. Journey time is approximately 1hour 30 minutes. Buy a day return ticket to Seaford.

There is no obvious place to park at Southease so it might be advisable to leave your car centrally in Lewes (maybe at the train station) and take the train one stop to Southease.

The suggested lunchtime pub is the Abergavenny Arms (tel 01273 472416), Newhaven Road, Rodmell which serves food from midday to 2pm Monday to Saturday and midday to 3.30pm on Sunday. This is a large friendly pub with a log fire, and wide menu advertising ‘traditional english wholesome home made food’. It is open all day during July and August.

Picnic Virtually anywhere along the South Downs would be a good picnic spot, or perhaps on the green outside St. Andrew’s Church at Bishopstone.Note under ‘Walk Options’ that if you are planning to picnic rather than lunch at the pub, you could dispense with the detour to Rodmell and continue directly east to Seaford. However, even if you don’t want lunch at Rodmell, it is still worth going there for the walk along the river and to visit Monk’s House when it is open.

The suggested tea place in Seaford is Hardy’s Coffee House and tea garden (tel 01323 894877)open until 5pm, closed Sundays, on Dane Road, opposite Safeway’s on the way to the station. Other options are The Shore just past Hardy’s on the right of Dane Road which sells alcoholic drinks and tea and is open until 11pm each night, the Beachcomber Bar (tel 01323 892719)on the corner of the seafront (Marine Parade) and Dane Road, or the Old Plough pub (tel 01323 872921)in Church Street in the old town serves tea and coffee. If you just want to grab a snack for the train journey home you might visit Trawler’s Fish and Chip restaurant and takeaway (tel 01323 892520)on Church Street, opposite and to your right as you come to the end of Dane Road (closed Sunday).

However, there are a huge variety of cafes, restaurants, pubs and bars in Seaford and it is worth browsing around the old town

Start: Southease Station is near : BN8 6JS. [gmap]

Finish: Seaford Station is near : BN25 2AR. [gmap]

London to Southease | Seaford to London

The text above was taken from the 2004 edition of the book, and may be a little out of date. Please check the updates for this walk.