Wildhams Wood
Stoughton
Children will enjoy exploring the open access woodland on this walk.
Wild garlic under the beech trees
Ambling Path Members get 10% off at The Barley Mow in Walderton
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Ambling Path Members get 10% off at The Barley Mow in Walderton 🍺 Use the form below to become a member 🍺
The Basics
Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
Distance: 4 km / 2.5 miles
Terrain: Woodland paths and forestry tracks, sometimes rutted and muddy. One steady ascent. A very short section on a quiet country lane with grass verges.
Pushchair: This route is not suitable for pushchairs.
Dogs: Dogs are welcome on this walk.
Refreshments: There are no refreshments on the route, but the Hare & Hounds in Stoughton is a two minute drive away or the Barley Mow where Ambling Path Members get a 10% discount.
Toilets: There are no public toilets.
Public Transport: There is no public transport to this location.
Parking: Stoughton Downs car park on the large bend along Wildham Lane a mile east of Stoughton, free, height barrier (Postcode: PO18 9JQ - W3W: ///irrigated.publisher.impact)
Bluebells mixed in with the wild garlic
Wildhams Wood is situated just east of the beautiful village of Stoughton in spectacular West Sussex countryside. Although the area is popular with cyclists and walkers, the woods have a wonderfully isolated atmosphere. In May the forest floor is thick with wild garlic and bluebells creating one of nature’s most breath-taking scenes.
The Route
Go around the low barrier and leave the car park along the wide gravelled path, heading away from the road with beech trees to your right and a field to your left. The field will end and be replaced by woodland on either side of the path. Bear left at the fork onto the less well surfaced of the two tracks. Continue until you see a large tractor tyre discarded at the side of the path. Turn left just after this and climb steadily through the woodland.
Turn right at the top when you come to a cross path and walk along the wide track. In April/May, you should start seeing wild garlic and bluebells from this point. Keep going until you come to a large yew tree. Even if you don’t know what a yew tree looks like, this one is hard to miss as it is the only one around and it has a huge trunk and needle leaves.
Turn left immediately after the yew tree. As you approach the edge of the woodland, the path will begin to curve around to the left. Ignore the path forking left downhill and keep on the track at the very top edge of the top edge of the woodland. Follow this for around a kilometre and a half.
Just before you reach the road at a metal barrier, turn left along the forestry track. This is wide and grassy but quite rutted and muddy following recent forestry work. Follow this track with woodland to your left and the road just about visible through trees to your right. This path will end when it reaches a field. Turn right towards the road.
Turn left when you reach the road. Walk on the grass verge at the side of this quiet country lane for two hundred metres until you reach the car park.
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Did you know?
If you fancy making your walk longer then just across the lane is Inholmes Wood, which is also open access and also contains wild garlic.
If you enjoyed this walk…
…try this one at Idsworth where you can hunt for more garlic in the woods
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