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Forest Row and Ashdown Forest

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Our view

"Explore the village of Forest Row, walk an old railway line and see a splendid 17th-century ruined mansion."

Walk directions

From the car park cross Hartfield Road via the pedestrian crossing. Continue to the left of the shops onto a private driveway that very soon leads to a path, Forester’s Link. Follow this round to the right and go to the right of the exercise park. The track skirts a timber yard, turns left at a waymarked T-junction and crosses a stream, the upper reaches of the River Medway, on a footbridge. Continue to a signboard for the Forest Way Country Park.

At the signboard go left and follow the footpath, signed ‘National Cycle Network 21’. Ascend to the right of a scout hut, then bear left onto a lane which passes a veterinary surgery and follow it to the main road, the A22.

Cross the road via the pedestrian crossing lights and go up a tarmac path to join the railway trackbed, now a multi-user path, and part of the Forest Way waymarked route.

At Brambletye Crossing leave the trackbed path and go left onto a lane. The lane bears right and passes the fascinating ruins of Brambletye House. Continue past the ruin, and with the 17th-century stone boundary wall on your left. Pass the gates to Brambletye Manor Farmhouse and go left onto a track. To your right, lumps in the grassy field mark the site of Brambletye House’s predecessor. Cross a stone bridge over the Medway, whose upper reaches were dammed in the 1950s to form Weir Wood Reservoir 0.5 miles (800m) to your right.

Immediately after the bridge, at the footpath crossroads, go left through a kissing gate. Continue with a young ash and oak wood on your right, cross a stile into a field and bear half right, leaving the river bank, towards a timber framed farmhouse, Burnthouse Farm. Over a stile ascend towards the house and barn. At the barn, go left and over a stile and turn right to another two stiles. After the second stile, bear left to continue alongside the left-hand hedge in pasture. Cross a stile and continue within scrub, the path meandering through to a footbridge. Cross this, winding along a shingle path beside the stream to emerge in the car park of a block of flats. Go up two flights of steps to pass beneath the flats and shops to Lewes Road, back in Forest Row.

Bear right towards the spiky spire of the parish church of the Holy Trinity, a modest stone building of 1836. Beyond the tile-hung and timber-framed Chequers Inn Hotel cross the road at the pedestrian lights and continue ahead behind the village hall to bear right along the quieter road with shops, and then turn left down Hartfield Road to return to the car park.

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Location

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Pavements in Forest Row, a former railway trackbed, lanes and field paths, several stiles

Landscape - Rolling countryside and the headwaters of the River Medway

Dog friendliness - On lead in Forest Row and in livestock fields around Burnthouse Farm

Parking - Car park on Hartfield Road signed for Community Centre

Toilets en route - None on route

Walks in East Sussex Dog-friendly walks in East Sussex

About the walk

If ever a name sounded like a Victorian suburban confection, Forest Row is it, but in fact it is an old settlement and was a highly descriptive name. Most small settlements that grew up on the edge of Ashdown Forest were clumps of sporadic cottages straggling into shapeless hamlets. Forest Row,... unusually, was developed as a single street of houses, or ‘row’, and is first mentioned by name in 1467 as ‘Forstrowe’, and then in 1546 as ‘Forest Rowe’. By the mid-19th century Forest Row was a hamlet with a few houses around a square green that has been partly built over by the 1836 parish church. Built as a chapel of ease within the then parish of East Grinstead, Forest Row did not become a fully independent parish until 1894. This was probably in recognition of the village’s expansion after the East Grinstead and Tunbridge Wells Railway station opened in 1866. The most flamboyant building in the village is Freshfield Hall, which faces south behind a small triangular green with a fine war memorial. Built for Henry Freshfield of nearby Kidbrooke Park in 1892, it is in local Sussex style, with ornate plasterwork in the gable and around the tablet dedicated to Freshfield’s son, who had died in 1891. The architect was a Scot, John M Brydon, who pulled out all the stops for his patron. After leaving the railway trackbed the walk passes the romantic ruins of Brambletye House. Three three-storey towers survive, with bits of the linking walls. The central entrance tower has the date ‘1631’ in a lozenge, and the southern tower retains its leaded ogee roof. This is the front elevation of the house, the sides and rear having long been demolished. It was built in the finest cut local sandstone and had large mullioned windows. The ruins are set back from the lane, fronted by the remains of the gatehouse and courtyard walls. The house was built for Sir Henry Compton, who died around 1649. He was a lawyer who, through his connections with the powerful Sackvilles of East Grinstead, was appointed a ranger of Ashdown Forest, a Justice of the Peace and MP for East Grinstead. However, it seems that Brambletye was abandoned by the end of the 17th century. There is another site nearby, its moat largely intact, and it is thought that this was the location of an earlier manor house. This was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ‘Branbertei’, and in 1091 as ‘Brembeltie’ – an enclosure where brambles grow.

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About the area

East Sussex is a land of stately homes, castles and the South Downs, with miles of chalk cliffs overlooking the English Channel. For history buffs, there are a great many historic landmarks within Sussex, such as the battlefield where the Battle of Hastings took place, or visitors can enjoy pretty towns such as Lewes, Rye and Uckfield and the city of Brighton.

Nearby places to stay

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Route details

Difficulty:

Easy

Gradient:

Gentle

Distance:

5.5 miles (8.8kms)

Ascent:

50ft (15m)

If you like this walk, you can try more routes in the area.

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Forest Row and Ashdown Forest

Recommended by

Our view

"Explore the village of Forest Row, walk an old railway line and see a splendid 17th-century ruined mansion."

Walk details

Difficulty:

Easy

Gradient:

Gentle

Distance:

5.5 miles (8.8kms)

Ascent:

50ft (15m)

Walk directions

1 of 6

2 of 6

Cross the road via the pedestrian crossing lights and go up a tarmac path to join the railway trackbed, now a multi-user path, and part of the Forest Way waymarked route.

3 of 6

4 of 6

5 of 6

6 of 6

Location

Starting point

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Pavements in Forest Row, a former railway trackbed, lanes and field paths, several stiles

Landscape - Rolling countryside and the headwaters of the River Medway

Dog friendliness - On lead in Forest Row and in livestock fields around Burnthouse Farm

Parking - Car park on Hartfield Road signed for Community Centre

Toilets en route - None on route

Walks in East Sussex Dog-friendly walks in East Sussex

About the walk

Been on this walk?

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

Find out more

Walking in Safety

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

Learn more

Get an AA guide

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

Learn more

Been on this walk?

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

Find out more

Walking in Safety

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

Learn more

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

East Sussex

Nearby places to stay

View all (8)

Forest Row and Ashdown Forest

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Forest Row and Ashdown Forest

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