Land and Sea, Hill and Plain, Ancient and Modern(e)

This walk uncovers some beauty and interest (and allows a swim) amid the sprawling seaside suburbia typical of the south coast. Half the walk will be suburban but half will be rural. First, we'll cross Highdown Hill, which is more prominent topographically (the views are superb) and mythically (the resting place of Saxon kings) than its modest height of 81 m suggests. Second, and after a visit to the freebie Highdown Gardens, we'll cross bungalowland to see flint cottages and farms and a private estate. In the latter, a house designed by a Bauhaus master and then an art deco garage will bring a dash of international chic to all the mock-Tudor mansions.

The sights:

Angmering: Built inland on two hillocks with a green inbetween. Not yet swamped with houses like its seaside suburb of Angmering-on-Sea at East Preston. St Margaret's Church is mostly by noted architect SS Teulon, as is the school and vestry hall opposite. All display his characteristic complex planning and polychrome brick, except for the C12 chancel arch and tower. A very pretty village centre with flint cottages, manicured lawns and lush planting.

Highdown Hill: A small but isolated promontory off the main South Downs belt, just 81m high but giving great views. In the property of the National Trust and the traditional burial-place of the Saxon kings of Sussex. Late Bronze Age (around 1000 BC) enclosure and early Iron Age (around 600 BC) hill fort. An Anglo-Saxon cemetery with around 90 graves has been excavated. In the C18, local miller John Olliver had his tomb built on the hill 27 years before his death in 1793. It is said that he was the leader of local smugglers and used the tomb to store contraband. He would set the sails of his windmill at different angles to indicate the absence of customs men to his followers out at sea. A runaway millstone from Ecclesden Mill is said to have given its name to a local farm and now garden centre. 

Kingston Gorse: In Angmering parish, a private estate of 'individually designed houses built after 1930 but mostly 1960s or later larger replacements offering a good chance to see many cliches of domestic design' (The Buildings of England - Sussex: West (Williamson, Hudson, Musson and Nairn)). Of the three best houses of the Modern Movement, only one is visible: Sea Lane House, 1936-7 by Marcel Breuer with FRS Yorke. Marcel Breuer worked at the Bauhaus where he was mentored by Walter Gropius before working in Britain between 1933 and 1938. His most famous work is the Wassily Chair. 

Ferring: An old flint cobble village swallowed up by seaside bungalows, typical of the Sussex coast from the Witterings to Lancing. The core, by the C13 roughcast church of St Andrew, along Church Lane is quite pretty.  

East Preston: A few old cottages near the church among the well-to-do suburbia. St Mary the Virgin, C12 with a C19 aisle added by Sir George Gilbert Scott as the population expanded. Actor and comedian Stanley Holloway (1890-1982), famous as Alfred Doolittle in My Fair Lady, is buried in the churchyard. Private estates were built between the old centre and the sea as part of Angmering-on-Sea Garden Village. Mostly big thatched cottages built at the end of the Arts and Crafts style, some mock-Tudor houses and a remarkable survival, a garage of 1929 given an up-to the-minute frontage in 1934 in a cool moderne style. The Shell petrol pumps from the late 1930s/early 1940s remain. Now converted into flats. 

The route:

We start by heading north from Angmering Station up Station Road to Angmering village centre. Heading east along the High Street ascend Highdown Hill which we'll descend after seeing the fort ramparts and having lunch. After crossing the A259 and railway line we'll briefly head west and southwest through the suburbs of Ferring and cross Ferring Rife to go to Kingston Gorse and the beach. We'll then head east along the beach and turn inland at Sea Road. After detouring to see the garage we'll head north through East then West Preston and go back to the station.

Dogs:

I love having dogs on my walks and this is a near-perfect summer walk for them if it is not too hot: it'll be cool in the trees, even cooler in the sea, and it's not too long. There are some lanes to walk down and busy roads to cross but they can run free on Highdown Hill and Kingston Gorse beach. Dogs are not permitted in Highdown Gardens, so dog owners will have to wait in the tea rooms or bar.

(Picture credits: Beach Huts, Ferring by Simon Carey; Looking Eastwards down Highdown Hill by Chris Thomas-Atkin; The Nineteen Acres, The In Close, Upper West Field by Simon Carey; Trig point on Highdown Hill by Robin Webster; Highdown Hill by Simon Carey; The Miller's Tomb by David Martin; Highdown Hill by Chris Thomas-Atkin; Looking West from Highdown Hill by Chris Thomas-Atkin; Windmill on the downs above Angmering by David Martin; Post box in the wall by Sandy B; Enjoying the Coastline by Sandy B; Kingston Beach by Simon Carey; Ferring Rife by Peter Webster; Maytree Cottage/ Evergreen Cottage, Church Lane/Ferring Street, Ferring by Simon Carey. Images permitted for use under Creative Commons License CC BY-SA 2.0. All other images were taken by the leader on different reconnaissances.)