Scenic steep chalk downlands around the Upper Lavant Valley, Cass Sculpture Park, the Goodwood Estate and unrivalled views from St. Roche's Hill
Length |
22.9 km (14.2 mi), of which 4.0 km (2.5 mi) on tarmac or concrete (2.7 km of that in Chichester). Cumulative ascent/descent: 498/524 m. For a shorter or longer walk, see below Walk Options. Time: 5 hours 30 minutes walking time. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals, allow at least 10 hours. |
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Travel |
Halnaker Crossroads is a stop on the number 55 bus service from Chichester to Tangmere. The service runs half-hourly Mon-Sat and is seamlessly linked to (on-time) trains arriving from London. It then takes 21 minutes to Halnaker. On Sunday line 99A serves this route, but runs only every two hours. Chichester station is on the London Victoria to Southampton West Coastway Line. Journey times (two trains an hour) are 88-94 minutes Monday to Saturday and 106 or 113 minutes on Sunday.
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Maps |
OS Landranger Map: 197 (Chichester & the South Downs) OS Explorer Map: OL8 (Chichester) and OL10 (Arundel & Pulborough) |
Toughness |
7 out of 10 (with several steep ascents around lunch, so may feel tougher than that) |
Walk Notes |
This West Sussex walk makes for a long day out, as it involves a bus connection on the way out after an already long train journey to Chichester. Its main purpose is to explore the scenic steep chalk downlands well north of Chichester around the Upper Lavant Valley, between St. Roche’s Hill and the South Downs chain, while enabling a visit to Cass Foundation’s Sculpture Park (on an extension) in the morning, and passing through the Goodwood estate as well as through Chichester’s Old Town at the end. The lonely grassy or wooded hillsides of the beautiful Lavant Valley are dissected by quiet flat-bottomed valleys, and feature several pretty villages, as well as providing for stunning views.
A very short Cass Sculpture Park-only walk, ending back in Halnaker, can be combined with out-and-backs to Halnaker Hill (with its windmill) and/or Boxgrove Priory, to make it a full day out. |
Options |
Out-and-backs at the start to Halnaker Hill or Boxgrove Priory add 5.1 and 2.6 km respectively.
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Lunch |
The Anglesey Arms at Halnaker, Halnaker, Chichester, West Sussex, PO18 0NQ (01243 773 474). Open 12.00-24.00 Mon-Sat and 12.00-22.30 Sun. Food served 12.00-14.30 and 18.30-21.30 Mon-Sat and 12.00-17.00 Sun. Located at the start of the walk, it is the lunch stop on a Sculpture Park-only walk. It would then come after 8.1 km (5.0 mi) of walking.
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Tea |
Plenty of options in West Dean, Lavant and Chichester. See the pdf for details. |
Profile | |
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Help Us! |
After the walk, we would love to get your feedback You can upload photos to the SWC Group on Flickr (upload your photos) and videos to Youtube. This walk's tags are:
swcwalks
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By Train |
Back (not a train station) |
By Car |
Start Halnaker, West Susex, PO18 0NQ Map Directions Finish PO19 8DL Map Directions |
Amazon | |
Help |
National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Travelline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234 |
Version |
Jul-19 Thomas G |
Copyright | © Saturday Walkers Club. All Rights Reserved. No commercial use. No copying. No derivatives. Free with attribution for one time non-commercial use only. www.walkingclub.org.uk/site/license.shtml |
Walk Directions
Full directions for this walk are in a PDF file (link above) which you can print, or download on to a Kindle, tablet, or smartphone.
This is just the introduction. This walk's detailed directions are in a PDF available from wwww.walkingclub.org.uk