Two Churches Walk – Directions

Two Churches Walk Cocking to Heyshott and along the South Downs Way o Circular walk, 4.3miles/7km o Includes one steep uphill climb. A shorter route is possible (3.5miles/5.6km) avoiding the hill. o Parking may be available in roadside lay-bys in Cocking village (please be respectFul oF and considerate to local residents) or the walk also starts and Finishes on the route oF the No.60 Stagecoach Bus, which runs between Chichester & Midhurst. Timetable available here: https://www.stagecoachbus.com/timetables o ReFreshments available at either the Blue Bell Inn pub (Cocking), or Cocking Village Shop. There is also a pub in Heyshott, The Unicorn, although this requires a diversion From the main route. 1. Start at Cocking Village, Follow the signs to the 11th Century Church, down Mill Lane. 2. Walk quietly through the churchyard and you will emerge beside the war memorial with a view of the downs. The lane leads over the chalk stream and bears left. 3. Follow the lane. Please be aware it is a narrow single track at First, so take care to listen For agricultural traFFic, although the walk is usually quiet and undisturbed. You will pass a Farm with dark green painted window-frames, showing, that like many oF the properties in the area, it is owned by the Cowdray Estate. Cowdray properties oFten have bright yellow paintwork, but some of the rural and agricultural buildings wear a dark green colour. 4. You will Follow this same lane all the way to Heyshott, a route probably used For centuries by local Folk wishing to travel between the two villages. Look out For wildliFe such as deer and hares, and birds such as chafFinch and yellow hammer, buzzard and peregrine. The lane-sides are Full oF Flowers in spring and summer months, attracting butterFlies, whilst in autumn and winter the hedgerow bushes hold berries and seedheads For the birds. 5. The lane bends leFt, past an open sided barn, then right and leFt again beFore it enters the village past Leggs Farm and The Cobden Club Hall. 6. Heyshott Church sits across the road, and is bounded by a Flint wall. 7. Return leg oF walk, From Heyshott to Cocking a. Option 1, the less phyisically able can now choose to retrace the First halF oF the walk, to return to Cocking back along Leggs Lane b. Option 2, the second stage oF the walk takes you uphill, via a steep climb to the South Downs Way. Please be aware that this section oF the walk can be physically demanding due to the steep gradiant and should not be undertaken in or directly aFter very wet weather as the chalk can become dangerously slippery. 8. If taking Option 2, walk back across the road into Leggs Lane, and turn leFt behind The Cobden Club Hall, Following signs For The New Lipchis Way. 9. Follow the path along the Field edge. Cross into the next Field via a wooden bridge through a gap in the hedge. 10. Soon the signposts will direct you on a direct route across the middle of the Field, along a narrow path cut through the crop. This will emerge at shallow steps through the hedgerow onto a wider track. 11. When you emerge onto the track, turn leFt onto the Public Byway, and almost immediately you will see another signposted junction. Turn right, off the byway onto the public bridleway. The path will now begin to climb on a steady gradient. 12. You will reach the gateway to Heyshott Down Nature Reserve. This SSSI is an excellent example oF wildFlower rich chalk grassland, home to many types oF unusual orchid and other plants, as well as rare butterflies. Underneath the present day landscape are earthworks that date back to the Bronze Age; just another layer in the long history of the Downs. You can explore this nature reserve, but do be careFul of the steep undulating ground. 13. Our walk takes the bridleway that climbs sharply through yew Forest. Although this path is very steep, the gradient varies slightly in pulses, occasionally lessening to give the walker a slight rest, beFore a Final sharp ascent. The proximity oF the Heyshott Downland Reserve on the leFt oF the path provides great views oF wildFlowers and the complex tapestry oF the downland landscape. The yew trees cling precariously to the thin chalk soils on the slopes that Fall away to the right. 14. The path emerges at the top oF the hill into pastureland and takes a short line across a Field corner to join the South Downs Way. (This Field, and others along the South Downs Way oFten contain Flocks oF sheep, so please keep dogs on leads and away From the livestock.) 15. Turn right (west) onto the South Downs way and Follow downhill towards the Farms. 16. When you reach the Farm centre, turn right again, beside the Farm shop, opposite the timer yard. This path will take you downhill, past the chalk pits oF Cocking quarry, and emerge alongside the winterbourne and the war memorial. 17. Bypass the churchyard by keeping to the lane, which will bring you out, between dark and damp banks cloaked with green Ferns, beside the Cocking Village Shop and Post OFFice. You have now returned to the starting point oF the walk – why not treat yourselF to an ice-cream From the shop, or pop across the road to the Blue Bell Inn! .

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