Hilaire Belloc's Shipley

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Our view

"A walk around the village of a writer with a love for the Sussex countryside."

Walk directions

From the car park turn right and follow the road, Red Lane, round the left bend. After 100yds (91m) bear right through a defunct kissing gate and follow the right-hand boundary of the field. Look for a gate into Church Wood. Follow the path through the trees, ignoring the permissive footpath turns. Go through a gate and continue along the edge of the field to the road.

Cross over and follow a path through trees to a gate and enter parkland. Walk ahead across a field to reach a footpath fingerpost. Bear right and follow the drive towards Knepp Castle. On reaching a left turning, swing right and head across the pasture. On reaching a drive, turn right and pass New Lodge. Follow the drive as it runs alongside Knepp Millpond. The remains of the original Knepp Castle, designed by John Nash in 1809, can be seen across the fields.

Cross the A24 with extreme caution and locate a stile and gate just to the right of the bus stop. Walk ahead to a footbridge in the top right-hand corner of the field. The woodland path bears right and soon left by a stile and continues along the right-hand side of the field. At a hedge corner, with the roof of a house up ahead, go forward for about 75yds (68m) to a footpath sign and bear right. Follow the hedge to a gate leading into the churchyard, pass the church door and turn right at the footpath sign.

Make for a kissing gate situated in the corner of the churchyard and follow the paved path south. Cross the River Adur, bearing left to a gate and a concrete track which becomes a tarmac drive as it passes through the hamlet of Butcher’s Row. Follow it in a southwesterly direction, keeping right when you reach a junction with two tracks and a footpath. Bear left at the next junction and follow Rookcross Lane. Pass Rookcross Farm on your right, go through a gate and keep to the metalled drive for 0.5 miles (800m), passing Jasmine Cottage, before veering right at a private drive sign to Hobshorts.

Enter the next field and turn right, keeping to the field-edge. Keep to the boundary, pass some oak trees, cross a makeshift stile, and drop down beside woodland to cross a plank bridge. Keep to the left boundary of the next field to a ruined stile in the corner and recross the busy A24. Cross a stile and an electrified fence and follow the footpath over pasture to a junction. Turn left, passing through the electrified fence and a gate into a field. Pass a bungalow and turn right to cross a rickety stile. The path leads to the Crown Inn garden and car park.

Turn right on leaving the pub, walk through Dial Post and veer left into Swallows Lane. Once clear of the village, branch off to the left and follow the straight farm road to New Barn Farm, where the track kinks left and right. Ignore a footpath turn to the left, and another further on, and continue along the track to the road.

Turn left into Countryman’s Lane and pass a footpath that leads to the church. Continue to the next right-hand bridleway. Follow the path over two footbridges to Shipley Windmill, then continue to the main road and turn right for the car park.

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Location

Nearest postcode:

Additional information

Terrain - Field and woodland paths, country roads, several stiles

Landscape - Undulating farmland and parkland

Dog friendliness - Off lead on drives and farm tracks; under control through Knepp Estate Deer Park and near A24

Parking - Small free car park at Shipley

Toilets en route - None on route

Walks in West Sussex Dog-friendly walks in West Sussex

About the walk

It has been said that Hilaire Belloc is to Sussex what Wordsworth is to the Lake District. He was certainly passionate about the county, and this delightful walk suggests more than a hint of the great man’s spirit. Belloc was a poet, writer, historian and politician – and exploring the picturesque...

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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

Divided from East Sussex back in 1888, West Sussex has a variety of landscapes and coastal scenery, but it is the spacious and open South Downs with which the county is most closely associated. There are plenty of walking routes in the South Downs National Park, cycling routes by the sea or visitors can explore the pretty town of Arundel with its historic castle and buildings.