Larking Around Harting and Ferretin' Around Buriton
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No ferrets will be used (or rabbits harmed) on this walk around three pretty downland villages and along the great chalk escarpment that shelters them. I meant 'ferreting' as in 'searching out, discovering', but you realised that. Not that there will be much to discover, because this area of the South Downs National Park might be well-loved but it is well-known. You might be tempted to come because it'll be mostly tarmac and gravel underfoot, and because we'll be having lunch at The White Hart in South Harting, the best pub in the best village in the best county. Plus, with Petersfield as our base there will be plenty of fast trains to whisk us in at the beginning and away again at the end.
The sights:
Buriton: A very pleasant quadrilateral of lanes with brick, timber, clunch, sandstone and flint buildings. The Manor House is an attractive brick and flint early Georgian affair, childhood home of the historian Edward Gibbon. St Mary's Church is directly below the downs and occupies a fine site overlooking the pond and village. Very fine 12th-century interior, bland tower rebuilt in 1714. The hills behind are some of the highest on the South Downs: War Down (220 m) and Head Down (205 m) but we won't ascend them.
South Harting: Rather like a nearby Hampshire village such as East Meon despite being one of the best in West Sussex. 'Demure brick and clunch cottages winding up to the church which deftly dominates... by its cruciform shape and by being at an angle to the street. The street seen the other way is elegant too...' (Ian Nairn). St Mary and St Gabriel Church is big and heavy, late 13th to early 14th-century, its famous green copper broach spire stands out in the landscape. Elaborate Elizabethan carpentry in the chancel roof and bare gothic arches beneath the tower following a fire in 1576. Gaudy but endearing monuments to the Cowper and Coles families. World War I memorial by Eric Gill, 1920. The hill behind the village, which we'll pass, is West Harting Down (215 m).
West Harting: A pretty straggle of timber-framed and brick cottages with no centre, no church, and since The Greyhound closed, no pub either.
Torberry Hill: An early Iron Age univallate (one bank and ditch) hillfort of 800–300 BC with a middle Iron Age promontory fort of 300–100 BC within. The hill is a chalk spur off the South Downs. Seen at a slight distance and not ascended.
Petersfield: Receiving its market charter in the 12th-century and growing rich on wool and cloth since this, Petersfield became an affluent 18th-century country town especially as a stop-off for coaches on the London-Portsmouth road. Its best buildings are all Georgian, but some timber-framed 16th-century houses do survive, mostly in the street called The Spain. On the south east side of the town is Petersfield Heath, 95 acres (38 ha) of SNCI including heathland, woodland, grassland, a pond, and a picnic and recreation area.
The route:
A wander through the town centre or The Spain will bring us to the Old Portsmouth Road, the B2070. We'll then walk a little way along The Causeway before heading off south along the Hangers Way to Buriton, or if the going is very wet, further along the Causeway and along the tarmac lane of the Shipwrights' Way. We'll then head past the church and southeast along a path, and then along the Milky Way byway to meet with the South Downs Way, or if wet and muddy, up South Lane. We'll then follow the South Downs Way all the way past North Lodge and Sunwood Farm. At Foxcombe we could either continue along the South Downs Way to the B2146 and descend to South Harting on footpaths, or if too muddy, down the Sussex Border Path to Little Torberry Hill and then walk along the B2146's pavement to the village to see the church and have lunch. The climbing will be mostly over by this point.
After lunch in South Harting, which is well over halfway round, we'll walk through the village and go north then northwest to West Harting, passing Torberry Hill via quiet lanes. Then we'll walk westwards along lanes and footpaths to Quebec, Manor Farm and Goose Green. We'll then have some muddy fields and abundant stiles to negotiate as we head to Heath Farm. We'll then be at Petersfield Heath and a route through the town will take us back to the station.
(All images are from Google Image Search and are labelled 'Free to share and use'.)
What to bring
Wear walking boots with thick socks (not trainers or shoes) to prevent blisters. Bring wet-weather gear if rain is forecast and cold weather gear if that is. Although much of the walk will be on tarmac and gravel, much of it will also be on dirt tracks which could be muddy after any prolonged rain, so wear walking boots rather than shoes.
Food & drink
Please bring drinks and snacks. We're booked in to have lunch at The White Hart in South Harting at about 13:30. We need to pre-order our meals, so I will contact you two weeks before the walk to ask what you would like to eat from the menu.
You're welcome to bring a packed lunch instead if you'd prefer which you can eat on a bench in the village. Please inform me of this so that I can notify the pub.
There are also pubs and tea shops in Petersfield at the end.