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A circuit from Charlwood

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Walk directions

With the recreation ground on your right, walk past 52 The Street and turn left up Chapel Road. Continue onto the byway and pass the extraordinary Providence Chapel. Behind the low picket fence, a few tombstones lean drunkenly to the side of this small, weather-boarded chapel with its wooden veranda. The building, which dates from 1816, is straight out of an advert for Jack Daniels, and seems to have dropped in from Kentucky. Go through a gate and turn left at the byway crossroads towards Stan Hill. When the gravel track bends right, continue ahead through a metal gate and straight across Norwoodhill Road. At the brow of the hill, take the signposted footpath on the left, just beyond the entrance to Barfield Farm.

The path leads to the corner of Beggarshouse Lane, where you turn left and follow the lane onto the tree-lined byway. At the woods beyond the buildings of Greenings Farm, turn left just after entering the woods over a plank bridge and waymarked stile. Follow the left-hand edge of an open field, then cross the farm lane at a pair of waymarked stiles and plank bridges. Continue over another pair of stiles and plank bridges until the hedge bears left at a stile. Don’t go over it, but steer right here towards the stile in the far corner of the field, then head across the next field to the stile into Partridge Lane.

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Location

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Byways and woodland paths, short sections on village roads and farmland, 8 stiles

Landscape - Well wooded, agricultural scenery

Dog friendliness - Keep on lead along roads and through Greenings Farm

Parking - On The Street in Charlwood, opposite the recreation ground

Toilets en route - None on route

Walks in Surrey Dog-friendly walks in Surrey

About the walk

Even some non-plane spotters will confess to a certain frisson of excitement every time they see a big jet dropping smoothly onto the tarmac, or climbing steeply off the runway like a rocket. Gatwick Airport may now be in Sussex (it was part of Surrey until 1974), but there’s no escaping its... day-to-day impact on this corner of Surrey. So, rather than ignore the area completely, let’s take a decent look at the place. You’ll see plenty of aircraft on this walk, which passes within 0.5 miles (800m) of the end of the runway. Gatwick Manor The airport itself may be a child of the 20th century, but the name Gatwick goes back to 1241, when Richard de Warwick assigned the rights over 22 acres (8.9ha) of land in the Manor of Cherlewood (Charlwood) to one John de Gatwyck. The land subsequently became part of the Manor of Gatwick, and remained in the same family until the 14th century. In 1495, the Manor of Gatwick was sold to the Jordan family and William Jordan built a fine and spacious new house at Gatwick, which replaced the old manor house, just to the east of Povey Cross (near the current airport). It was built in the style of William and Mary. The house was still standing until 1950, when it was demolished, and the site of the manor now lies under the buildings of Gatwick’s North Terminal. The nearby Gatwick Manor Hotel was never the Gatwick Manor. It was, in fact, another historic house of interest called Hyderhurst, which was the home of one Richard de Hyde. Taking flight The Surrey Aero Club purchased a piece of Gatwick land in 1930, and the Air Ministry issued the airport’s first commercial licence in 1934. Scheduled services began from Gatwick Airport in May 1936 – at that time a single fare to Paris cost four pounds and five shillings, and the price included the rail fare from London. The airport was requisitioned during World War II, and post-war operations resumed when Elizabeth II opened London’s new £7.8m airport in June 1958. Today, Gatwick operates as the busiest single-runway airport in the world. Over 90 airlines carry more than 32 million passengers a year to some 200 destinations worldwide. On average, an aircraft lands or takes off every two minutes of each day, all year round, and the airport generates employment for around 23,000 people.

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About the area

Surrey is one of England’s most wooded counties, with over a quarter of the landscape designated as an official AONB and plenty of history evident in the countryside. You’ll find sandy tracks, cottage gardens and welcoming village inns, and on the fringe of Greater London you can picnic in Chaldon’s hay meadows, explore the downs at Epsom, or drift idly beside the River Thames.

Route details

Difficulty:

Easy

Gradient:

Moderate

Distance:

4.3 miles (6.9kms)

Ascent:

262ft (80m)

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A circuit from Charlwood

Recommended by

Walk details

Difficulty:

Easy

Gradient:

Moderate

Distance:

4.3 miles (6.9kms)

Ascent:

262ft (80m)

Walk directions

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Turn left for 75yds (69m) before turning left again onto the signposted bridleway. Soon the path dodges into Glover’s Wood and, 200yds (183m) further on, a few paces before a waymarker post marking a woodland crossroads, turn hard left on a footpath, then continue to follow the waymarked footpath across Welland Gill via steps and a bridge, and carry on to the far side of the woods.

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Leave the woods via a kissing gate, then continue ahead on a short, fenced path between fields and through a second gate down onto Glovers Road. Cross Rectory Lane/Russ Hill Road and keep straight on down the footpath opposite. The path passes St Nicholas Church and you should take time to look inside this welcoming church, as there are some of the finest medieval wall paintings in the country. Most poignant is a hunting scene, fairly common in artwork from around the time of the Black Death, in which three youths encounter three skeletons. ‘As you are, we were,’ say the skeletons, before adding, ‘as we are, you will be...’ Beyond the churchyard, turn right past The Half Moon pub, then right again for the last 100yds (91m) back to the recreation ground.

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Location

Starting point

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Byways and woodland paths, short sections on village roads and farmland, 8 stiles

Landscape - Well wooded, agricultural scenery

Dog friendliness - Keep on lead along roads and through Greenings Farm

Parking - On The Street in Charlwood, opposite the recreation ground

Toilets en route - None on route

Walks in Surrey Dog-friendly walks in Surrey

About the walk

Been on this walk?

Send us photos or a comment about this route. Or recommend a route of your own.

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Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

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Get an AA guide

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Been on this walk?

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Walking in Safety

Read our tips to look after yourself and the environment when following this walk.

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Get an AA guide

Explore our range of ‘50 Walks in’ guides - they’re the ideal companion for a ramble.

Learn more

About the area

Surrey

A circuit from Charlwood

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Walking in Safety

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A circuit from Charlwood

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