Discover Bodiam Linger longer and enjoy exploring the slow way… Map Visits Tastes Pubs Journeys Car-free itineraries Places to stay I-Spy A22 Bodiam and the Rother Valley 9 M20 Ashford M23 Tunbridge Located in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on A2 KENT A28 2 Wells Hawkhurst Tenterden the Kent and East Sussex border. A Crawley 26 2 6 A 8 Highlights: R 9 ES 5 A23 K 2 Bodiam and A26 A • The word Weald comes from an old word meaning ‘wood’; small 5 8 26 Rother Valley woodlands, tree belts and hedgerows are everywhere. A A A21 2 Rye 8 • Majestic moated ruin of Bodiam Castle; arrive by boat from Newenden Uckfield EAST Heathfield or by the Kent & East Sussex Railway’s steam train from Tenterden. SUSSEX • Sheep and cattle-grazed pastures of the Rother floodplain; the reed- A27 Lewes A22 Hastings filled ditches and channels are an important wetland habitat. • South-facing slopes and sandy, loamy soils ideal for growing vines. High Weald Area of Brighton • Oasthouses dot the landscape, a reminder that the area was once hop Outstanding Natural Beauty Newhaven Railways country. Eastbourne • Timber-framed buildings; many weather-boarded or hung with 0 20 km distinctive pantiles. 0 10 miles • Excellent footpath network. www.highweald.org 1 Linger longer and enjoy exploring the slow way… 25 22 1 A 27 36 24 23 38 12 10 25 21 14 3 B 5 18 4 25 A 29 20 A 9 28 11 17 30 D 31 16 32 7 39 26 2 41 6 40 E 15 33 C 34 35 19 37 Key 13 8 1 Visits 24 Journeys 9 Tastes 26 Accommodation 14 Pubs A Walks (circular & long-distance) Click on numbers on map for further details The Ordnance Survey map data included within this publication is provided by East Sussex County Council under licence from the Ordnance Survey in order to fulfill their public function to conserve and promote the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). © Crown copyright. All rights reserved. East Sussex County Council - 100019601. Discover Bodiam Visits 1 Merriments Gardens and Nursery 2 Robertsbridge Hawkhurst Road, Hurst Green TN19 7RA You see a wonderful array of Wealden architecture 01580 860666 among the houses and cottages of this large village’s www.merriments.co.uk handsome sloping main street and roads leading David Weeks and his extended family have from it, where there are eye-catching examples of transformed what was in 1988 just an orchard and a tile hanging and half-timbering. Robertsbridge field into an eye-opening four-acre show garden. prospered during the heyday of the iron industry. A ‘The biggest challenge was the heavy clay soil’, says curious reminder of this is seen at Ripley Forge & David, ‘but it’s a lovely south-facing aspect.’ There Fireplaces: the stove shop has a huge collection of are colour-themed borders for sun and shade, dry Wealden firebacks, some very early and rare, outside and moist areas, and a hidden stream which links its premises and beside the bungalow garden of its two large ponds, a bog garden and a rock garden, owner. You can see them opposite the Robertsbridge and the nursery sells herbaceous perennials grown Cricket Club car park just east of the village. The on site. The garden includes a bridge that is a nod to shop can make casts of any of them for customers. Monet’s famous garden at Giverny in France. Local Cricket bats are still manufactured in the village produce on sale at the café includes Rother Valley by Gray-Nicolls; a by-product of these are willow beers, juices from Lamberhurst, fish from Rye and trugs (baskets of a type special to the Weald), which beef from Staplehurst. are made in Herstmonceux. You’ll see hops growing in fields around Robertsbridge, and there is even a working oast house which walkers can go past by walking along Fair Lane (by the Seven Stars), carrying on at the end over a footbridge across the A21, and left on the other side on Redlands Lane, past the oasthouse. Local hops here supply Harveys Brewery in Lewes: you can taste the finished article at the Seven Stars itself. Further along Redlands Lane are the scant remains of Robertsbridge Abbey, the only Cistercian house in Sussex. It’s virtually concealed, although you Using the map can see a wall of the lodging forming a wall of the • Click on the name beside the number for an enlarged view of its location. more recent tile-hung farmhouse. Robertsbridge • Click on Map in the Bookmarks panel (on the left) to return to normal size. never had a church to itself: the nearest one is at • Use the zoom buttons in the menu bar to enlarge or reduce the page. Salehurst. www.highweald.org 3 Linger longer and enjoy exploring the slow way… Discover Bodiam Visits 3 Bodiam Castle 5 Great Dixter House & Gardens Bodiam TN32 SUA Northiam TN31 6PH 01580 830196 01797 252878 www.nationaltrust.org.uk/bodiam-castle www.greatdixter.co.uk For many people this magnificent ruin, with its swan- This world-famous garden was the creation of the patrolled moat and what’s thought to be England’s late Christopher Lloyd, the celebrated gardener and oldest portcullis, is everything a medieval castle writer. Here you can see the focus of what he wrote should be. Its walls stand virtually to the height about for some 40 years up to his death in 2006: his when built by Edward Dalyngrigge. He began it in creation is a series of outdoor ‘rooms’, each a the 1385, when the river was much wider – at the distinct character, and full of colour and unexpected highest point upstream navigable to French raiders. views that suddenly reveal themselves. But, by the time it was completed, the threat had The garden is actively managed to promote passed. An introductory film sets the scene for biodiversity, and experts and volunteers survey for visitors, and costumed guides talk you through what moths, spiders, bumblebees and butterflies. Great life was like here when the castle was at its peak. Dixter is something of a rarity in the High Weald in Climb the spiral steps up to the rooftop for dizzying having with public access to a wildflower meadow views down into the courtyard and moat. Look out and in enabling close-up views of a range of typical for the World War II pillbox in the grounds – a Wealden farm buildings, including barns and an oast reminder of the site’s renewed military importance in house. the last century. At its hub is the half-timbered house of the To make a longer visit, picnic in the extensive ‘Wealden hall’ design, adapted by Edwin Lutyens for grounds or time your visit to coincide with one of the Lloyd’s parents, who moved here in 1910. Lutyens’ special events featured on the Bodiam Castle scheme opened up the interior into its original website – children might even get the chance to medieval form. dress up as a knight and try a longbow. Special events include various study days and workshops on aspects of gardening. There’s a well 4 Bodiam Nursery stocked shop selling garden tools, books, and locally sourced products, and refreshments are on sale. Bodiam TN32 5RA 01580 830811 www.bodiamnursery.co.uk Using the map A small nursery which focuses on plants for small • Click on the name beside the number for an enlarged view of its location. spaces, including raised beds, narrow borders and • Click on Map in the Bookmarks panel (on the left) to return to normal size. containers. They stock coastal and country plants, • Use the zoom buttons in the menu bar to enlarge or reduce the page. including many unusual varieties. www.highweald.org 4 Linger longer and enjoy exploring the slow way… Discover Bodiam Visits 6 Bixley Wood and Flatropers Wood 8 Brede High Woods Access from Bixley Lane, near Beckley TN31 6TH Access is from small car parks on the B2089 Steve Hanna Some parking by barrier by Bixley Wood sign. Broad Oak to Cripps Corner road. There’s free access to the tracks of Bixley Wood, a Brede High Woods, managed by the Woodland Forestry Commission woodland just south of Beckley. Trust, is a favourite among naturalists, thanks to its Among the conifers are broad-leaf species such as very old and varied habitats. During the summer birch, sweet chestnut and beech. Listen out for months the sunny rides are a great place for spotting typical woodland birds, such as green and great woodland butterflies such as the Silver-washed spotted woodpeckers. You can extend your walk by Fritillary and the site is known for other rare wildlife crossing Bixley Lane, and entering the neighbouring including glowworms, great crested newts and Flatropers Wood, a nature reserve owned by the dormice. Sussex Wildlife Trust, which harbours a range of wildlife such as palmate newts and tiger beetles. 7 All Saints Church, Beckley The former iron-producing village of Beckley remembers its industrial past in the place name of Beckley Furnace nearby, where an iron furnace was built in 1578. Within the church, a huge dug-out wooden chest dating from around 1200 includes what is thought to be some of the oldest ironwork in Sussex. The church tower, the oldest part of the building, dates back to around 1100 and displays herringbone masonry characteristic of the period. Using the map • Click on the name beside the number for an enlarged view of its location.