Midhurst
Children will enjoy the Cowdray Ruins and walking beside the River Rother.
The walk begins near the Cowdray Ruins
The Basics
Time: 1hr 15mins
Distance: 4.6 km / 2.9 miles
Terrain: Mostly flat, muddy areas near the river, some town roads with no pavement.
Pushchairs: This route is not suitable for pushchairs.
Dogs: Dogs are welcome on this walk, but will need to be on leads through the town.
Refreshments: There are plenty of refreshment opportunities in Midhurst including pubs, cafes, Tesco Express and a fish and chip shop.
Toilets: There are toilets, including Changing Places, on North Street by the car park.
Public Transport: Midhurst is served by busses which stop near the car park.
Parking: Town Centre car park on North Street, pay and display (Postcode: GU29 9DS - W3W: ///knots.resorting.barman)
The path goes across Woolbeding Parkland
Midhurst is a historic market town at the heart of the South Downs National Park. It is surrounded by some great estates and this walk connects two - Cowdray and Woolbeding - via paths along the River Rother.
The Route
Leave the car park and head back up towards North Street (the main street) and turn right. Walk along the pavement. Continue until just before a road sign for Easebourne, you see a permissive footpath leading off to your left away from the road.
Take the path and walk with the river to your right. You will follow the river for some time, initially passing a weir and then some peaceful stretches of countryside. Keep alongside the river until you reach a short stretch of board walk. Follow the boardwalk as it bends to the left, away from the river and takes you up into a a field.
At the entrance to the field, turn right and walk with the hedge/woodland to your right and the open field to your left. Proceed to a gap in the hedge at the edge of the field and then continue along the next field. At the gate, enter the Woolbeding Parkland and then veer left, following the worn path diagonally up the open space.
Go through the gate at the top and enter a small copse. Walk straight ahead and out the gate on the other side. You will now need to follow the path across another large stretch of parkland, passing a large tree in the middle to your left. Go through the hedge at the edge of the field and then turn left.
You will now be leaving the signs for the Rother Walk behind and should continue along the edge of the field to a small gate. Take the gate to the right and continue forward through the scrubby growth. Go through the next gate and then immediately turn right over a wooden footbridge over a ditch. Veer left, heading towards the 30 mph signs and emerge at the Half Moon Pub (it is our understanding that this is currently closed awaiting new ownership - Dec 2025). Turn left just before the pub and join June Lane.
June Lane is a residential street and you will pass a number of houses before the pavement ends, after which you will need to continue down the relatively quiet street with no pavement. You will soon be presented with a choice of how to return. We chose to continue down June Lane until we reached North Street at the bottom. Here we turned left as we wanted to walk past the shops and other businesses on our way back to the car park. If you would rather a more ‘off-road’ return to the car park, look out for the permissive path going up steps on your left at number 142 on June Lane. Although we did not follow this path, it is our understanding that it will bring you out around the back of Rother College and back to where you started near the river.
When you arrive back at the car park, you may wish to walk down the straight causeway to see the Cowdray Ruins up close. You cannot enter the ruins, but you can get a good view from behind the wall.
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Did you know?
As you walk across the Woolbeding Parkland, you will notice in the distance a rather intriguing glass building shaped like a giant gemstone. This is the glasshouse at Woolbeding Gardens, cared for by the National Trust. The gardens are open to the public in the summer months.
If you enjoyed this walk…
…try this short walk around the Cowdray Estate with information on how to find a brilliant park at Easebourne (you could also connect this to the walk above).
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