Rowlands Castle Circular walk
A walk, first through park- and woodland, then through some remote westerly valleys of the South Downs. At its best in spring for plentiful bluebells and wild garlic.
Length | 25.6 km (15.9 miles) with 473 ascent/descent. For a shorter walk or an extension see below Walk Options. |
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Toughness | 7 out of 10, with 6 hours walking time. For the whole outing, including trains, sights and meals, allow at least 10 hours. |
Walk Notes |
This West Sussex walk in the undulating western part of the South Downs is characterised initially by a mixture of park- and woodland, then steep lonely valleys and some far views to the main South Downs Ridge. |
Walk Options |
A Shortcut around lunch cuts 9.4 km and most of the ascent/descent (rated 2/10). Bus Service 54 (Petersfield – Chichester) runs through the walk area, serving West Marden (the early lunch stop) and Compton (the late lunch/early tea stop), 5 buses a day Mon-Sat, to late afternoon. |
Maps | OS Explorer: OL8 (Chichester) [formerly 120]
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Travel | Rowlands Castle station, map reference SU 734 108, is 14 km west north west of Chichester, 14 km north east of Portsmouth, 38m above sea level and in South East Hampshire. The walk itself is in West Sussex. The station is on the Portsmouth Direct Line from London Waterloo to Portsmouth Harbour with an hourly service. Journey time is between 88 and 99 minutes, but on the outbound journey you can cut 15 minutes by changing at Petersfield (Mon-Sat only). Saturday Walkers' Club: Take the train closest to 9.00 hours for the full and the extended walk, and the train closest to 10.00 for the short walk. |
Lunch |
The Victoria Inn Locksash Lane, West Marden PO18 9EN (023 9263 1330). Located 6.3 km (3.9 mi) into the walk. |
Tea |
The Village Shop and Tea Room The Square, Compton. PO18 9HA (023 9263 1144). Located 8.7 km (5.4 mi) into the short walk and 7.4 km (4.6 mi) from the end of all walk options. The shop and tearoom are currently closed!
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Profile | |
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Help Us! |
After the walk, please leave a comment, it really helps. Thanks! You can also upload photos to the SWC Group on Flickr (upload your photos) and videos to Youtube. This walk's tags are: |
By Train |
Out (not a train station) Back (not a train station) |
By Car |
Start PO9 6BP Map Directions |
Amazon | |
Help |
National Rail: 03457 48 49 50 • Traveline (bus times): 0871 200 22 33 (12p/min) • TFL (London) : 0343 222 1234 |
Version |
Aug-24 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