Haywards Heath to Balcombe via Ardingly Walk

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Walk Map

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13. Main Walk (16 km)

1. Circular Walk, from Balcombe (16½ km)
2. Alternative Walk, finishing at Horsted Keynes (13¼ km)

Walk Directions

Click on any section heading to switch between detailed directions and an outline, or the heading above to switch all sections.

If you are doing the Circular Walk (from Balcombe), start at §C.

1. Haywards Heath Station to Copyhold Lane (2¾ km)
• Bear left out of the station and head north alongside the railway, at first on a path beside Sainsbury's car park and then up Wickham Way. Continue on the footpath heading north from Wickham Farm, across a golf course and then through a wood to reach Copyhold Lane.
1. Go down steps at the London end of the platform to leave the station through its ticket office and bear left across its forecourt. Cross the road at the pedestrian lights and go under the railway bridge. On the other side turn right by a mini-roundabout onto a combined pedestrian / cycleway going between Sainsbury's car park and the railway.
2. At the far end join Burrell Road, passing a small roadside garden? on the right. Go up to a T-junction and turn right to go back under the railway. After passing a timber merchants turn left into Wickham Way, signposted as a pedestrian route to Ardingly Reservoir, and follow this private road uphill past houses. At the top you come to a T-junction, with a metal fieldgate ahead leading into a large meadow (Wickham Fields).

The alternative route through Wickham Fields in [?] is much more appealing than the main route, but the landowner has erected “Private” notices around the meadow. Local residents have used these field paths for many years and the (provisional) alternative directions are for a new right of way which a Community Action Group is seeking to establish.

3. Main route

1. Ignore the fieldgate and turn right at the T-junction onto another private road (which is also a public footpath), going between brick pillars. In 100m turn left at a footpath signpost opposite more pillars. Go downhill on a gloomy and potentially muddy tree-lined path, heading N.
2. At the bottom of the slope go over a stream on a footbridge and continue gently uphill (if the main path is too muddy there are side paths through the woodland on the right as well as in the meadow, but you are likely to encounter more “Private” notices on these). You eventually emerge from the trees on the edge of a golf course, with a path from the meadow joining from the left.

4. Alternative route (provisional)

1. If access has been granted, make your way past the (locked) fieldgate into the meadow. Follow a mown path down through the meadow, later curving towards its left-hand side. Go down to the bottom corner to find a substantial plank bridge over a tree-lined stream.
2. After crossing the stream veer right, go through a gap in the hedge and follow a path sloping up to the top right-hand corner of another meadow. Go out through a gap to rejoin the public footpath on the edge of a golf course.
5. Head N on the public footpath through Haywards Heath Golf Course, which you will be following for about 500m. Initially there is netting on your right protecting you from big hitters on a distant driving range, and shortly afterwards you need to take care when passing in front of a tee. After the path goes into some trees keep right as indicated and follow the obvious path, passing a groundsman's hut along the way.
6. Eventually you come to a path T-junction with a three-way footpath signpost. Turn left into a wood, joining the Sussex Ouse Valley Way? (SOVW). Follow the path as it curves down to the right, then fork left at a waymarker post where a side path branches off to the right.
7. The main path down through the wood is often muddy but you can escape the worst of it on some well-trodden side paths (but take care not to stray too far from it). The path eventually bends left and leaves the wood through a metal kissing gate, emerging onto a lane by the remains of a low embankment for the abandoned Ouse Valley Railway?.
2. Copyhold Lane to Ardingly Reservoir (2 km)
• Join the High Weald Landscape Trail (HWLT) and follow it north across the Ardingly branch line, through River's Wood and across the River Ouse to Ardingly Reservoir.
1. Cross Copyhold Lane and take the tree-lined footpath just off to the right, now on both the SOVW and the High Weald Landscape Trail? (HWLT). After passing a cottage cross a ditch on a plank footbridge and go through a metal kissing gate into a potentially boggy field. Go straight across it and through another muddy area to continue gently uphill on a tree-lined track.
2. At the top of the slope go through a gate and across a brick bridge over the single-track Ardingly branch? line. Keep ahead through a metal kissing gate into River's Wood, part of the extensive Balcombe Estate. Follow the waymarked HWLT through the wood for 800m, gradually curving to the right while always heading roughly N.
3. At the end of the wood go through a gate and bear right across a grassy area towards a substantial wooden footbridge. Cross the River Ouse on this bridge (leaving the SOVW, which turns left) and continue along the left-hand edge of another grassy area.
4. Go over a second footbridge and keep ahead up the right-hand side of a field; as you gain height you will be able to see the Ouse Valley Viaduct?, just over 1 km away to the left. About two-thirds of the way up the field veer right through a gap in the hedge and follow a grassy path curving around the edge of another field.

   The massive building perched on a hill 600m away to the right is Ardingly College; the Main Walk passes through its grounds in the afternoon.

5. In the far corner go through a kissing gate and keep ahead through a small area of scrubland. At the bottom bear right at a footpath junction (leaving the HWLT) and go down a short slope to come to the Ardingly Activity Centre (which has a café) on your left, overlooking Ardingly Reservoir?.

Continue the directions at §E.

3. Balcombe Station to London Road (2¾ km)
• Go out through the station car park and take the footpath heading south, parallel to the B2036. At Kemps Farm take a footpath on the right through Pilstye Wood and over a small hill to Cherry Lane. Turn left briefly onto the road, then left again onto a bridleway through Pilstye Farm to return to the B2036.
1. Arriving from London on Platform 2, cross the station footbridge and go out through its car park. Where the access road meets the B2036 veer right onto a signposted footpath. Before this reaches a stile turn left at a three-way signpost.
2. In 50m keep ahead across a farm track to head S on a path through partly-cleared woodland for 250m, parallel to the main road. After emerging from the trees continue on the broad grass verge alongside the road for 125m, passing the driveway to Kemps Farm on the other side and a footpath signpost.

   You are now following part of Walk 1–16, in reverse.

3. At the start of some trees on your right veer right at another footpath signpost and follow a narrow path around the edge of the copse. Go over a stile into the top corner of a large farm field and turn right to go down a broad grassy strip on the field margin.

   The OS map shows the right of way as going straight ahead for 75m and then turning half-right down across the field, but the crops have been fenced off and it is clear that everyone follows the simpler route around the edge.

4. After about 250m along the field margin, where you are going alongside the bottom of the field, veer right through a metal kissing gate into Pilstye Wood. Cross a stream on a wooden footbridge and continue uphill for 200m, later with a fenced enclosure on your left.
5. Just after the end of the fence, the path veer lefts and goes up to a junction of tracks. Go straight ahead across one track and bear left onto another, still climbing and soon passing a rock outcrop on your right.
6. The track curves right and comes out into the open, where you keep ahead along a broad grassy strip between fields. As you go over the brow of the hill and start to descend you should be able to glimpse the Ouse Valley Viaduct?, 2 km ahead on the left.
7. Where the grassy strip curves right towards a house keep ahead briefly along the field edge, then go over a stile on the right by a pole carrying power cables. Go down a few steps and across a small field, through a gate and carry on down another field. At the bottom go through a gap in the hedge and turn left onto a lane.

   You soon leave the Walk 1–16 route, a footpath off to the right of the lane. The remainder of the morning section is the same as Part Two of Walk #22·S.

8. Where the lane turns sharply right, fork left onto a signposted bridleway to Pilstye Farm. Follow this farm track up and round to the right past the farmhouse and outbuildings, then simply head E along it for 500m to reach London Road, the B2036 again.
4. London Road to Ardingly Reservoir (2½ km)
• Cross the B2036 and take the footpath heading east across a stream and then uphill alongside Furland Wood to the railway. Turn right to go alongside it, then cross it on a bridge and continue across fields to Haywards Heath Road. Take the right of way past Stonehall Farm and through the Balcombe Estate, later heading east across fields to Ardingly Reservoir.
1. You are on the inside of a bend on this main road with fast traffic so use the two convex safety mirrors opposite to help cross it. Go through the metal side gate opposite onto the signposted footpath, going straight ahead down a sloping field. At the bottom bear half-right onto a farm track through the trees. At the end of this short track veer left to cross a stream on a wide bridge.

   A footpath signpost just off to the right indicates that the right of way is across a plank footbridge, but this is derelict and all but abandoned.

2. Make your way across a potentially boggy area and go up the left-hand edge of two large fields. At the top follow the field edge round to the right, parallel to the Brighton main line on your left.
3. About 100m before the end of the field, turn left to cross the railway on a brick bridge and continue on a track across another field. This gradually approaches a hedge where you turn half-right by a footpath sign. Cross a ditch on a plank bridge and bear slightly left across the next field. Go through a small metal gate and down a bank to a road (Haywards Heath Road).
4. Cross the road carefully, turn left and immediately fork right into the Balcombe Estate (the driveway is also a public footpath). Go past a couple of stone pillars and a lodge, then through a side gate. After passing the buildings of Stonehall Farm off to the left veer right at a track junction, away from the Jacobean Stone Hall? on the left.
5. As you head E along the tree-lined driveway there are views of the even more impressive Balcombe Place? 250m away to the left. The drive continues across a small dip and passes a few cottages on the right, then comes to a couple of metal fieldgates with a wooden side gate between them. As indicated by a footpath waymarker go over a stile into the field on the left.
6. Follow a faint grassy path slightly to the left of your previous direction, aiming for the right-hand end of a copse. Go over a stile in the hedge here and continue alongside the copse. At the end of the trees keep ahead towards a fieldgate and stile in the hedge on the far side. In the next field follow a faint grassy path slightly to the left and gently downhill, with glimpses of the reservoir beyond the trees on your left.
7. Near the bottom corner go through a metal gate and follow a path half-right through a belt of trees. Go through a wooden kissing gate and continue across a small wildflower meadow. Keep left at a footpath junction …
5. Ardingly Reservoir to Ardingly (village) (2¼ km)
• Go along the dam wall and then through a copse alongside the reservoir. Turn right onto a footpath going uphill to Townhouse Farm and continue along Church Lane to St Peter's church. Turn right and follow Street Lane into the centre of Ardingly.
1. Go all the way along the dam wall of the reservoir. At the far end go through a gate to continue through a copse, signposted as the Kingfisher Trail. Immediately after the path emerges from the trees turn right at a three-way footpath signpost (leaving the trail).
2. Go over a stile and up the right-hand side of a field. Go through a gap in the top corner and straight across a larger field, still climbing. At the top you come into the corner of a yard with some derelict farm buildings. Turn half-right onto the track beyond a four-way footpath signpost, initially heading NE.
3. The track soon bends left and becomes a long residential street (Church Lane), eventually coming to a churchyard on the left. If you detour through it to visit the church of St Peter? (which is usually open) you can leave via its lychgate further up the lane. Either way, go up to its T-junction with Street Lane.
4. Turn right and go along Street Lane for 1 km. In the centre of the village Fellows Bakery, the Ardingly Inn and the Ardingly Café are all close together on the right-hand side of the road, just before its junction with College Road and the B2028.

   Before reaching this group there might still be an inn sign for “The Oak at Ardingly” opposite a crescent-shaped green on the left, but the village's other pub was converted into a private residence (Snowdrop Cottage) many years ago.

If you are doing the Alternative Walk (finishing at Horsted Keynes), go to §J.

6. Ardingly (village) to the Reservoir (2¾ km)
• Head south-east on the B2028 for 200m, then turn right to rejoin the HWLT (in the other direction). Head south across several fields, then turn right at a path crossing. Go through Standgrove Wood and across College Road into Ardingly College. Follow the public bridleway through the school grounds. Keep right at a junction onto a footpath going past Great Saucelands, then turn left to come out onto a green space. Turn right (leaving the HWLT) and go up to the dam wall of Ardingly Reservoir.
1. At the end of Street Lane go straight across College Road and turn right onto the B2028, signposted to Lindfield and Haywards Heath. In 200m, shortly after passing Ardings Close on the left, turn right onto a signposted footpath along a driveway, heading back towards Haywards Heath on the High Weald Landscape Trail? (HWLT).
2. At the end of the drive veer right and left to go past the back of a house and follow a short enclosed path into a field. You will be heading S across three large fields for the next 750m, with views of the South Downs ahead.
3. Go along the left-hand edge of the first field, then straight across the second (crossing a concrete track in the middle). In the third field follow a grassy path swinging slightly round to the left, in 250m coming to the end of a hedge projecting into the field. Go through a gap and continue along the left-hand edge of a fourth field for just 75m, then turn right at a four-way footpath signpost onto a faint grassy path across the field, heading W.
4. On the far side go into Standgrove Wood and follow the potentially muddy footpath straight through it, ignoring one or two permissive side paths. At the end keep left through a parking area to reach a road (College Road again).
5. Cross the road carefully and take the main entrance into Ardingly College?, a public bridleway which follows the main driveway through the school grounds. After passing in front of the imposing main building follow the drive round to the left and past more school buildings, then keep right to go down a slope.
6. At the bottom follow the drive as it curves round to the right past Saucelands Pond, towards an attractive house on the far side. The drive bends left in front of “Great Saucelands” and goes across a small wooded valley.
7. About 25m before a fieldgate across the drive, turn left as indicated by a waymarker post. At the end of a short woodland path go over a stile and turn right (leaving the HWLT), climbing a grassy slope onto the dam wall of Ardingly Reservoir again.
7. Ardingly Reservoir to Balcombe Mill (3½ km)
• Repeat a short section of your earlier route through the copse and continue along the perimeter path around the eastern side of the reservoir. At the far end turn left onto a lane (Balcombe Lane, which becomes West Hill) going across a causeway. Turn left onto another section of the perimeter path and go all the way along the northern side of the reservoir. Continue through Great Burrow Wood and turn left onto Mill Lane to come to Balcombe Mill.
1. Veer right at the top and repeat your morning route through a copse. You will now be following the Kingfisher Trail along the whole length of the reservoir, so stay on the perimeter path where it emerges from the trees. In 1 km it swings right to go up a short slope. Go out through a metal kissing gate and turn left onto a footway alongside a lane.
2. After crossing the causeway separating two parts of the reservoir turn left through a gate onto another section of the perimeter path and follow it for 2 km, again with the reservoir on your left. Eventually the path climbs gently through a wood and comes out onto Mill Lane.
3. Turn left and follow the lane downhill, then round to the left where it goes between an old mill pond and the head of the reservoir. Shortly after the lane passes Balcombe Mill and curves to the right, there is a footpath signpost on the left.
8. Balcombe Mill to Balcombe (village) (1¾ • 1¼ km)
• For the suggested route continue along Mill Lane, then take a footpath on the right to a corner of Balcombe Lake. Follow the footpath through a wood to the west of the lake and turn left at a path T-junction to go uphill into Balcombe village.
  • Alternatively, shortly after passing Balcombe Mill turn left onto a footpath going up steps to a field. Turn right at the top and go through a small wood to rejoin Mill Lane. Turn left and follow the road briefly round to the left, then turn right onto a footpath heading north-west. Go across a valley and past a cricket pitch into the village.

The suggested route has been changed to go past Balcombe Lake. The previous directions have been retained as the short cut in [?], although the bridleway through the wood at the top of the steps can be very muddy.

1. Main route (1¾ km)

1. Carry on along the lane for a further 200m. After it has curved left and started to climb, turn right onto a signposted footpath. Go up a wooded slope, over a stile and along the right-hand edge of two fields, crossing a stream in the belt of trees between them.
2. At the end turn right briefly onto a lane, towards a corner of Balcombe Lake?. Before reaching it turn left through a metal kissing gate by a four-way footpath signpost. Go along the bottom of a small field and through a potentially muddy gap into a larger field, via a kissing gate and plank bridge over a stream if necessary.
3. Ignore a grassy path going straight ahead up the slope and turn right to go along the field edge. In the corner go through a kissing gate and follow the path round to the left for a short stretch with fine views across the picturesque lake, before the path bears left uphill into a wooded area.
4. The path winds its way through the trees, crossing a few streams on plank bridges along the way. In 400m turn left at a T-junction with a three-way footpath signpost.
5. Follow the path uphill past a large depression and out of the trees through a wooden gate. Keep ahead through a semi-open area and then up a large field, staying near its right-hand side.
6. In the top corner go out through an old metal gate and bear right onto an unsurfaced lane. After the lane turns half-left by the entrance to Balcombe House you pass the Balcombe Stores and then the Half Moon Inn, the suggested refreshment place if the coffee shop on Bramble Hill has closed for the day.

2. Short cut (1¼ km)

1. Turn left at the footpath signpost to go up a long flight of steps with a sturdy wooden handrail, passing an old millstone and seat “for the enjoyment of walkers” along the way.
2. At the top go through a metal kissing gate into the bottom corner of a field. Ignore the fenced path up the field edge and veer right onto a bridleway into a wood. In 75m this potentially muddy ride turns left; later it curves back round to the right and emerges from the wood on Mill Lane again.
3. Turn left and follow Mill Lane round to the left at its junction with the lane for Woodwards Farm. Shortly after this bend go over a stile in the hedge on the right and follow a faint path slanting down a field, slightly to the left.
4. At the bottom cross a stream on a wooden footbridge flanked by metal gates and veer left to go up the side of another field. In the top corner go through an old kissing gate onto a short path through a copse, emerging onto a cricket pitch beside its sightscreen.
5. The right of way cuts across the pitch to a gap in the boundary hedge 75m off to the right, although this direct route might not endear you to the players if a game is in progress. However you get there, go through the gap and bear right onto an unsurfaced lane going gently uphill between hedges.
6. In 200m follow the lane round to the left, where another footpath joins from the right. …
9. Balcombe (village) to Balcombe Station (1 • 2 km)
• Unless you want to take a direct route along Bramble Hill and the B2036, turn left briefly into Stockcroft Road. Fork right onto a footpath going along the side of the recreation ground and then past housing to Newlands. Turn right onto this residential street and veer left down a short link path leading to the B2036 opposite the station entrance.
  • For a short extension you can go straight across Newlands onto a footpath leading to a footbridge over the railway line, then double back along a woodland path alongside the B2036 to the station car park.
    

The suggested route to Balcombe station is different from the usual route along Bramble Hill and Rocks Lane (or the B2036), with less road walking. You can extend it with a short loop to the south of the station, essentially combining the main and shortcut endings of Walk 1–16.

1. From the road junction by the pub take the street opposite (Bramble Hill), signposted to the Railway Station. Unless you are in time for the JO.CO coffee shop (ahead on the right-hand side) turn left into Stockcroft Road.
2. On Stockcroft Road you pass Victory Hall on the right. Where the road bends left after 100m, veer right onto a tarmac path going past a bowling green and sports pavilion into the corner of Balcombe Recreation Ground.
3. Carry on down its left-hand side. In the corner continue on a tarmac path past some houses and keep ahead on a short residential street (Jobes). This comes to a T-junction with Newlands, with a footpath opposite which is the optional extension.
4. To go directly to the station, ignore the footpath and turn right onto Newlands, curving down to the right. At the end of the bend veer left across the road onto a tarmac path going down a wide gap between houses to the B2036. Cross the main road at the traffic island to the station entrance. Go down a few steps and over the footbridge onto Platform 1, for trains to London.

5. Optional Extension (+1 km)

1. Take the footpath opposite Jobes, which soon merges with a track from the left. Go through an area of scrubland and then all the way down the left-hand side of a field. In the bottom corner go through a metal kissing gate onto a path which leads to a footbridge over the Brighton line.
2. Cross the tracks and follow a short fenced path through some trees. Go through a small wooden gate and veer right to go out along the driveway to Kemps House. This curves down to the right past the buildings of Kemps Farm and leads to the B2036. Cross this road carefully and turn right onto the grass verge.
3. Take the signposted footpath ahead through partly-cleared woodland for 300m, retracing the start of the Circular Walk. Shortly after crossing a farm track turn right at a footpath T-junction to return to the B2036 by the entrance to Balcombe station. Go through its car park onto Platform 1, for trains to London.
   
10. Ardingly (village) to Highbrook (2 km)
• Head north briefly on the B2028 and turn right onto a footpath. At Withyland keep right and cross a stream in a valley. At the top turn half-left and follow the footpath past Highbrook Vineyard into the hamlet of Highbrook. Head north on Hammingden Lane to All Saints church.
1. From the major road junction in the centre of Ardingly head N on the High Street for about 150m. Opposite Holland House (#29) turn right into a short lane signposted to 28-60 High Street.
2. At the end go through an old kissing gate next to a fieldgate and take a faint grassy path across a field (slightly to the left), soon starting a long descent into a valley. Go over a stile in a belt of trees and continue down the right-hand edge of the next field. In the bottom corner go over another stile into a wood and follow the path down alongside a garden fence.
3. At the start of an open area fork right at a three-way footpath signpost, then keep ahead at another one, ignoring a footpath off to the right. Go along the right-hand side of a grassy strip, gently downhill towards a wood. Go into these trees and across a stream, then uphill on a narrow path at the edge of the wood.
4. At the top of the wood go through an old gate and keep ahead on a broad grassy path, soon alongside a young hedge between wire fences. Follow the footpath as it turns half-left, going through a metal fieldgate and now with high hedges on both sides.
5. At the far end go through another fieldgate and keep ahead, passing a gate leading into Highbrook Vineyard? on the right and a modern barn on the left. Briefly join a surfaced driveway, then opposite a large new house turn left as indicated. Cross a ditch on a plank bridge and follow an enclosed grassy path towards the spire of Highbrook church.
6. At the far end go through a new wooden gate and turn right to go diagonally across a grassy enclosure. In the opposite corner go over a stile and turn left. Go over a stile next to a new wooden fieldgate and keep ahead on Hammingden Lane, through the hamlet of Highbrook.
11. Highbrook to Leamland Wood Bridge (2 km)
• At the church turn right onto the footpath heading east across a valley and up to the Bluebell Railway line. Turn right onto the footpath running alongside the track, then round a short loop onto Leamland Wood Bridge.
1. In front of the lychgate for All Saints? church turn right onto a broad track, signposted as a footpath and immediately going past an unusual building on the right, Highbrook Smokery?. Keep left alongside the churchyard and continue between hedges for 300m, heading E with fine views ahead as you gently descend into a valley.
2. The track eventually opens out and you carry on downhill near the edge of several large fields, always with a hedge on your left. In the bottom left-hand corner of the last field go through a metal fieldgate onto a path through a small wood, curving round to the right. After crossing a stream on a wooden footbridge go up earth steps and leave the wood over a stile. Follow a grassy path slightly to the left across a field, climbing steadily.
3. At the top go over a stile in the fence and follow the signposted route ahead between fences. Go over another stile in the trees on the far side to come out in front of a level crossing over the single-track Bluebell Railway?. Do not cross the track but turn right onto a footpath running along the railway embankment, with fine views on both sides.
4. In 500m you can see Leamland Wood Bridge over the railway ahead, but you have to take a circuitous route to reach it: over a stile on the right and through a small plantation, round to the left along a short enclosed path and then up a track curving round to the right. At the top turn left to go over the bridge, with a view of Horsted Keynes station? off to the right.
12. Leamland Wood Bridge to Horsted Keynes (village) (2¼ km)
• To finish in the village, veer left at the top of the slope overlooking the picnic area and take the footpath alongside Leamland Wood to Cinder Hill Lane. Turn right briefly onto the road, then take the footpath on the left down through a wood to Mill Lake. Keep ahead at a path crossing to go along the valley floor and turn right up Church Road to the village green.
  • Alternatively, simply go down past the Bluebell Railway station to the bus stop at the end of its approach road.
    
1. On the other side of the bridge veer right through a small parking area onto a track, then veer left as indicated to cross a short plank bridge into a field. Follow a grassy path diagonally across it and go out through a gate onto a track overlooking a sloping field, with the visitors' car park for the Bluebell Railway station at the bottom.
   • At weekends the 270 bus calls at the station. If you want to cut the walk short (or take a closer look at the heritage railway), go down the slope and past the right-hand side of the car park onto a short access road leading to the station buildings. The bus stop is at the far end of the station approach road.
2. To finish in the village turn left onto the track and go through a gate onto an enclosed path heading E alongside Leamland Wood. You used to be able to stay on this path all the way to Cinder Hill Lane, but after 200m you now have to go over a stile in the fence on the left to follow a grassy strip between the fence and paddocks; in a further 200m another stile takes you back over the fence.
3. Take care as you go down an earth bank as it comes out directly onto the lane. Turn right and go along it for 100m, then turn left onto a signposted footpath. Follow the path through a strip of grassland dotted with trees, then steadily downhill through a wood. At the bottom turn right at a three-way footpath signpost onto a grassy path. This curves gently to the left around Mill Lake? and comes to a path crossing.
   • If you want to detour to St Giles church, turn left and follow the path past the picturesque Old Mill House and up through a wood to the village school and church. After visiting the church, go along Church Lane towards the main part of the village and resume the directions at [?].
4. For the most direct route into the village, keep ahead at the crosspaths and follow the footpath through the trees, heading SE. In 150m you pass a pond on your left and continue on a fenced grassy path along the valley floor, between paddocks and a meadow. At the far end go out between houses and turn right onto Church Lane (away from the church, up on the left).
5. Follow the lane uphill, passing the imposing gates to the Old Rectory on the left. At a road junction the suggested route is to follow Church Lane round to the left to come out by the village stores in Horsted Keynes?, with the Crown Inn? on the other side of the road and the long village green.
   • Alternatively, you can go straight ahead up the steep little path. The bus stop for Haywards Heath is off to the right on the other side of the main road, but you should veer left at the top of the path (as indicated) to a safer crossing point.
6. To complete the walk turn right at the top of Church Lane (or left if leaving the Crown) and go along the green, passing the Green Man and the stop for buses to East Grinstead on the right. Buses for Haywards Heath leave from a stop just beyond the road junction at the western end of the green.

At Haywards Heath alight at the Perrymount Road stop, just past a roundabout and opposite a large Waitrose store. Cross Perrymount Road at the roundabout and go past the store (which has a café) on your left to reach the station entrance.


Walk Notes

1. The small roadside garden on Burrells Road was established in 2013 to commemorate the outbreak of World War Ⅰ.
2. The Sussex Ouse Valley Way runs for 68 km, closely following the course of the River Ouse from its source in Lower Beeding to Seaford.
3. The Ouse Valley Railway was a ‘spoiler’ operation by the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway, which wanted to keep rivals out of its territory. It would have linked the Brighton line to St Leonards (near Hastings) via Uckfield and Hailsham. Shortly after work began in 1866 the collapse of the bank financing its construction led to the project being abandoned.
4. The High Weald Landscape Trail runs for 145 km across the length of the High Weald, mostly near its northern edge, from Horsham in West Sussex to Rye.
5. The Ardingly branch connected the Bluebell line with the Brighton main line at Haywards Heath. The intermediate station at Ardingly (2 km south of the village, on College Road) was popular with ramblers and often the destination for special trains. The short section from its old goods yard to the Brighton line is still used by freight trains.
6. The Ouse Valley Viaduct (seen to better effect on Walk #22) was opened in 1841 and carries the Brighton main line 450m across this wide valley, 29m above the river. Its 37 brick arches are topped with a stone balustrade and four classical pavilions, making it one of the most elegant railway structures in Britain.
7. Stone Hall was built in the late 17^thC as the dower-house for the Balcombe Place estate. It is listed Grade Ⅰ.
8. The imposing Balcombe Place was built in 1856 and is listed Grade Ⅱ*. It was originally the home of Lord Denman, then the Headquarters of the Women's Land Army in WW Ⅱ. It was fully restored in the 21^stC and is now an exclusive events venue.
9. The 198-acre Ardingly Reservoir is a popular venue for fishing and watersports such as sailing, canoeing and windsurfing.
10. St Peter, Ardingly dates from around 1330, with the tower added in the early 15^thC. The village later developed around the main road to the east, leaving the church on the outskirts.
11. Ardingly College is a fee-paying independent school, catering for around 750 pupils from 2½ to 18. It was founded by Canon Nathaniel Woodward in Shoreham-by-Sea in 1858 and moved to these new buildings in 1870 (with an inaugural sermon from “Soapy Sam” Wilberforce). Now one of a group of Woodward Schools, it retains a strong Anglo-Catholic tradition.
12. Balcombe Lake and Mill Lake were created to supply water for the local mills. Both are now popular fishing ponds.
13. The Queen's Green Canopy plaque commemorates a plantation of several hundred young trees planted for Her Majesty's Platinum Jubilee in 2022.
14. Highbrook Vineyard was planted with Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Chardonnay vines in 2018. It expects to produce its first harvest of sparkling wine in 2023.
15. All Saints, Highbrook was built in 1884, mainly using local sandstone. The tower used to have a carillon mechanism which played tunes on the church bells, but this has reportedly been removed to a museum.
16. Highbrook Smokery was built around 1780 to preserve meat from pigs brought into the Weald to feed on acorns in autumn. The building was restored in 2009.
17. The Bluebell Railway began operating a steam railway between Sheffield Park and Horsted Keynes in 1960, just two years after British Rail closed the line from East Grinstead to Lewes. It was extended north as far as Kingscote in 1994, and to East Grinstead in 2013 after a major project to clear a cutting of landfill waste.
18. Horsted Keynes Station has been restored to the Southern Railway period in the mid-1920s. It is surprisingly large for a sleepy country station on a secondary line, some way from the village it was built to serve. There is a £3 admission charge for non-travellers when trains are running, rather more than the 1d platform ticket in 1935.
19. The name Horsted means ‘a place where horses are kept’. The Saxon manor was given to the Norman knight Ralf de Cahaignes by William the Conqueror. The anglicized version of his name changed over the centuries to Keynes but the pronunciation stayed as canes, not keens.
20. The Crown Inn was seriously damaged by fire after being struck by lightning in 2003, and was closed for six years.

» Last updated: September 6, 2025

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