Fittleworth
Pulborough
Children will enjoy the play area right next to a cafe on this walk.
Families will love the play area right next to the village stores and cafe in Fittleworth
The Basics
Time: One hour
Distance: 3.2 km / 2 miles
Terrain: Village roads, woodland paths, field paths. A couple of short hills. The field paths can be overgrown in summer - see alternative below.
Pushchairs: A pushchair would get as far as Lower Fittleworth and The Swan Inn fairly easily. An off-road pushchair may cope with the return leg via Fittleworth Common if you follow the alternative route along Sandy Lane.
Dogs: Dogs are welcome on this walk although they are not permitted on the recreation ground or inside the village stores (they can be at the outside tables).
Refreshments: Fittleworth Village Stores adjacent to the play area has its own cafe stocked with cakes, sandwiches and full English breakfasts (note it closes at 2pm on weekends/5:30 weekdays). The walk also passes The Swan Inn in Lower Fittleworth.
Toilets: Toilets available for customers.
Public Transport: Use Stagecoach route 1 between Midhurst and Worthing and alight at School Lane.
Parking: Free car park at the stores or along School Lane (Postcode: RH20 1JB - W3W: ///thank.browser.presides)
Views across the South Downs from a meadow in Fittleworth
Fittleworth is between Petworth and Pulborough in the heart of the South Downs and it has an award winning, community run village stores and cafe. Directly beside this is an enclosed children’s play area, meaning the kid’s can play while you enjoy your coffee and cake. Fittleworth is surrounded by pockets of woodland, common land and South Downs views - all of which our walk makes the most of. And if this wasn’t enough, the route also passes the historically significant building of The Swan Inn.
The Route
1. Walk down School Lane and pass the school on your left. Just after Great Pin Croft cul-de-sac, join the footpath on your right beyond two metal barriers. When you reach the road at the top, turn right, and after a few metres, cross the road and join the footpath beyond another metal barrier. Walk up the hill and the path will soon turn to a tarmac lane. Continue up to the start of the woodland.
2. Turn left and walk with metal railings to your left and a large oak tree and bench to your right. Go around the gate and pass the information board then follow the path along the edge of Birchwalks Wood. Just after a bench at the end of the woods, go through the little gate and follow the thin path out to the paved track. Follow this down the hill with fields on either side.
3. At the bottom, you will reach the lane at Lower Fittleworth. Turn left and walk to The Swan Inn*. Turn right on the corner with the pub and walk under the wooden arch. Cross the road at Lower Street House and join the footpath opposite. Walk along the gravel track and look out for a footpath on your left going up steps to a kissing gate.
4. Take the path and walk up the left side of a field. In summer it can be quite overgrown with long grass. At the top of the first section, the path will bend right and you should continue with the barbed wire fence to your right. The path will bend left and then right again and gradually become less overgrown. When you cannot walk forward anymore, the path will take a turn up hill and go though a gap in a hedge into a meadow. Walk straight up the left side of the meadow and veer right at the top to go out the gate and onto Sandy Lane.
5. Cross the lane and join the path directly opposite going up into the woodland of Fittleworth Common. Climb upwards until you reach a T-junction at the top and then turn left. Continue along the same path until some fence panels come into view and you should then walk with these directly to your left. After the fence panels end, go left at the fork and start to head down the hill. Follow the yellow footpath arrow, branching left down an avenue of coppiced chestnut trees. At the next junction, ignore the yellow arrow on a black background signalling the public footpath, but instead veer left down the hill.
6. The path will soon take you out of the woodland and pass narrowly between fences. Just after the metal barriers, turn right up the thin path which will bring you to the recreation ground.
* In summer, the paths can be overgrown with long grass in step 4. To avoid this, turn left at the pub and walk up the pavement of the B2138. Turn right into Sandy Lane. Continue down Sandy Lane until the sign that states “no through road, sandy track ahead”. Just beyond this is the footpath on your left that joins Fittleworth Common at the start of Step 5 (note that this path may be too steep and uneven for pushchairs and you may find the unmarked path going up into the common a few metres before the official footpath is easier - turn left at the top and join the main path).
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Did you know?
In response to the fact that there were no longer any functioning shops left in Fittleworth, the community came together to raise funds and buy stakes in their own community shop. This thriving hub is run by volunteers and is now used as a successful case study by The South Downs National Park. On top of that, the shop was the 2024 winner of the Countryside Alliance ‘Best Village Shop in Britain’ award.
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