South Downs Way: Rodmell to Alfriston

This section near the southeastern end of the South Downs Way begins with a note of sadness, crossing the River Ouse, where Virginia Woolf drowned herself in 1941. The bridge over the Ouse is a fine example of a swing bridge that is now listed. Once up on the Downs, you’ll find them dominated at first by the enormous radio mast on the top of Beddingham Hill, at 623ft (190m), while below is Beddingham itself, where a Roman villa was discovered. It would have been part of the trading routes of this region. To the north is Mount Caburn, an Iron Age hill fort. Below it is the village of Glynde, where John Ellman, who developed the local breed of Southdown sheep, is buried. Nearby is Glynde Place, a 16th-century courtyard house. A little further north is Glyndebourne, the Elizabethan mansion which hosts the annual world-famous Glyndebourne Opera season. The walk ends at the village of Alfriston, where the ancient buildings on its narrow main road do battle with day-tripper traffic.

From Rodmell, the route follows the road south towards Newhaven, turning into Southease; a village with a green, some 17th-century cottages, and a round-towered Norman church, which has some 13th-century murals.

The route passes Southease railway station and then crosses the A26 by a footbridge, to connect with the chalk track up the side of Itford Hill near to Itford Farm. This track curves its way up the hillside to head east past Red Lion and White Lion ponds. These are dried-up dewponds, in an area where a complete Bronze Age farming settlement was discovered.

Further on along the top of the down, the route meets with the road coming steeply uphill from Firle. Firle Park is at the foot of the hill, with its house, Firle Place, built for George Gage in 1557 and rebuilt in 1730. Carrying on past the car park towards the trig point at Firle Beacon (712ft/217m), the route
passes a maze of tumuli with extensive panoramic views.

Turning to the right to head southeast, the South Downs Way continues along the top of the Downs, passing Charleston house to the north, below. Once the home of the artists Vanessa and Quentin Bell, it is now open to the public.

While heading up Bostal Hill past Bopeep Farm and Jerry’s Pond, the route passes small villages of Saxon origin at the foot of the Downs. Alciston boasts a 170ft-long (52m) timber-framed barn, while Berwick Church has murals painted by the Bells and Duncan Grant. More tumuli give an interesting variation to the landscape, before the route heads downhill on a fenced track, via Long Burgh, towards the village of Alfriston on the banks of the Cuckmere River, where there is accommodation. Here, the South Downs Way emerges in the main street by the ancient Star Inn. By the river is a large church known as ‘the Cathedral of the South Downs’. Its handsome green is a good place to rest.