{"id":1867,"date":"2019-09-28T01:40:13","date_gmt":"2019-09-28T00:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=1867"},"modified":"2019-09-24T09:55:03","modified_gmt":"2019-09-24T08:55:03","slug":"eartham-stane-street-west-sussex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/?p=1867","title":{"rendered":"Eartham &#038; Stane Street, West Sussex"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script type=\"text\/javascript\">function popwalk(walk) {var url = \"\/Walks\/amap.php?f=\"+walk; varwalkwindow=window.open(url,\"walkwin\",\"height=740,width=1230,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes\"); if (window.focus) {walkwindow.focus()}}<\/script><br \/>\nFirst published in: The Times <a href=\"javascript:popwalk('Eartham.gpx');\" rel=\"nozoom\" title=\"Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window\">Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379747427_c18f4eb67f_z.jpg\" title= \"48379747427 Stane Street 1\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379747427_c18f4eb67f_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379749752_f262244394_z.jpg\" title= \"48379749752 Countess of Newburgh&#039;s folly on Nore Hill\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379749752_f262244394_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379604291_93f67cb9d6_z.jpg\" title= \"48379604291 joining Stane Street in the woods\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379604291_93f67cb9d6_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379604706_290637bc5a_z.jpg\" title= \"48379604706 looking back to Eartham from the harvested fields 2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379604706_290637bc5a_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379748382_8ff7e3ab92_z.jpg\" title= \"48379748382 looking back to Eartham from the harvested fields 1\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379748382_8ff7e3ab92_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379605326_4a707e1939_z.jpg\" title= \"48379605326 field path to Nore Wood\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379605326_4a707e1939_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379605591_2df2b91b8b_z.jpg\" title= \"48379605591 lane back to Eartham\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379605591_2df2b91b8b_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379749612_0b95e8265c_z.jpg\" title= \"48379749612 sunflower field on Nore Hill\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379749612_0b95e8265c_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379606981_2fd97da5c8_z.jpg\" title= \"48379606981 harvest fields and pastures near Eartham\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379606981_2fd97da5c8_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379607221_bf150e92b6_z.jpg\" title= \"48379607221 Great Down\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379607221_bf150e92b6_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379607861_be1f07e258_z.jpg\" title= \"48379607861 Great Down 2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379607861_be1f07e258_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379608156_3376194c16_z.jpg\" title= \"48379608156 Stane Street 2\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379608156_3376194c16_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379751657_6bfb651fda_z.jpg\" title= \"48379751657 Stane Street 3\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/farm66.static.flickr.com\/65535\/48379751657_6bfb651fda_s.jpg\" alt=\"picture\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nFacebook Link: <script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"http:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/wordpress\/?p=1867\" layout=\"button_count\" show_faces=\"true\" width=\"200\" colorscheme=\"dark\"><\/fb:like><br \/>\n<a href=\"javascript:pwindow=window.open('\/Walks\/prn.php?f=1867','pwin','height=700,width=1000,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes');\" title=\"Click for printable version\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/Walks\/print.gif\" align=\"right\"><\/a><br \/>\nA cock crowed from a farmyard and wood pigeons cooed in The Rookery as we walked out of Eartham. The distant calls bestowed a sense of peace on this breezy midday after weeks of summer heat.<\/p>\n<p>This corner of West Sussex countryside dips and rolls from cornfields to woods. The clouds in a grey and silver sky pressed down, sealing in pockets of heat among the recently harvested fields. I followed the outer row of stubbles for the pleasure of hearing the dry stems swish and crackle against my boots.<\/p>\n<p>A path in the cool shade of Nore Wood led north in a subaqueous green light to Stane Street, one flinty holloway among many converging under the beeches. Out across the open landscape of the downs we followed this 2,000-year-old way, built by the Romans soon after their invasion as a thoroughfare between their coast port of Noviomagus (Chichester) and Londinium. The raised ridge of the agger or road embankment, metalled with flints and mounded between ditches, still stood man-height, a seam of rabbit-burrowed earth and stones running northeast in a ruler-straight line.<\/p>\n<p>We walked in the shelter of a clump of whitebeam, their green fruits swelling among the crinkly leaves. Some of these old trees were huge; I stepped out round the skirt of one enormous low-growing veteran and reckoned a circumference of at least 200 feet.<\/p>\n<p>From Gumber Corner, another meeting place of ancient tracks, we went south over Great Down on a ridged, grassy path between fields of dark Zwartble lambs sporting white tail tufts. The Sussex coast spread out ahead, from the snout of the Isle of Wight on a blue-grey sea to the white miniature alps of the sunshades at Bognor&#8217;s Butlins.<\/p>\n<p>Shady green Butt Lane was floating with thistledown parachutes. We passed derelict Downe&#8217;s Barn, a handsome old brick and flint building for which the National Trust have great plans after repair &#8211; bat and owl boxes, wildlife ponds and outdoor adventures.<\/p>\n<p>Past Courthill Farm, where writer Hilaire Belloc found escape from his high-pressure London life in the early 1900s, and past a large triumphal arch perched on Nore Hill, a folly conceived as a picnic shelter by Anne, Countess of Newburgh, to give employment to local men out of work after the Peninsular Wars.<\/p>\n<p>We came down to Eartham towards evening, the declining sun polishing the harvest patterns in the stubble fields and turning the empty flower cups of knapweed into a sprinkle of reciprocal suns among the grasses.<\/p>\n<p>Start: George Inn, Eartham, West Sussex PO18 0LT (OS ref SU 939094) &#8211; please ask permission to park, and give The George your custom.<\/p>\n<p>Getting there: Bus 99 (Petworth-Chichester)<br \/>\nRoad &#8211; Eartham is signed off A285 (Petworth-Chichester)<\/p>\n<p>Walk (8 miles, easy, OS Explorer 121): From inn, right along road; round left bend (&#8216;Slindon&#8217;); on next right bend, fork left down lane (fingerpost\/FP; yellow arrow\/YA; pink arrow\/PA). In 700m, ahead across field (947094); inside wood, left (949095, FP &#8216;bridleway&#8217;\/BW). North through Nore Wood, following PA and blue arrows\/BA. In \u2154 mile, at post with YA and BA (952102), sharp left (BA) downhill. At bottom of slope, The Plain, go across track (951105; ignore BAs pointing left and right). Ahead up forest ride for \u2154 mile to 6-way meeting of tracks at bench (952114, 6-finger post).<\/p>\n<p>Follow Stane Street\/Monarch&#8217;s Way\/MW (3rd right, &#8216;Bignor&#8217;) NE for 1\u00bc miles. At bench and 4-finger post, go through gate (967126); right (MW, PA, BW); in 150m, right at Gumber Corner (BW) to follow BW south across Great Down. In 1\u2154 miles, just before gate, right (967101, FP, BA); in 40m, through gate; left (FP) along track. In 700m pass BW turning on right (965095); in another 250m fork right (965092, FP); in 30m, FP points left, but fork right to pass Downe&#8217;s Barn in 100m (965091).<\/p>\n<p>In \u00bd mile, right at road (960086); in 100m, right (&#8216;Bignor Hill&#8217;); just before Courthill Farm buildings, left up stony lane (960088). In \u00bd mile pass Row&#8217;s Barn (953091); in 200m, round right bend; in 30m, left along edge of trees (951092). At top of slope, enter trees (949092); right up green lane (BA); in 200m, left (FP) across field and back to Eartham.<\/p>\n<p>Lunch: George Inn, Eartham (01249-814340, <a href=\"http:\/\/thegeorgeeartham.com\">thegeorgeeartham.com<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>Accommodation: Blackmill Spinney, Blackmill Lane, Norton, Nr Chichester PO18 0JU (01243-543603, <a href=\"http:\/\/blackmillspinney.co.uk\">blackmillspinney.co.uk<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Info:  Chichester TIC (01243-775888); <a href=\"http:\/\/visitchichester.org\">visitchichester.org<\/a>; <a href=\"http:\/\/satmap.com\">satmap.com<\/a>; <a href=\"http:\/\/ramblers.org.uk\">ramblers.org.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A cock crowed from a farmyard and wood pigeons cooed in The Rookery as we walked out of Eartham.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-walks","category-3-id","post-seq-1","post-parity-odd","meta-position-corners","fix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.christophersomerville.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}