Sussex Walks - Rodmell to Southease Circular

Rambling roses, immaculate verges, tended trellises - Rodmell is quite the well kept village. It’s a joy to start a walk on and of course, when things open again there is the option of including a visit to Virginia Woolf’s country retreat Monk’s House with it’s romantic and historic garden.

This walk is literally food for the soul - when you hit the river it catches your breath and while you won’t catch many trains at the moment if you do spot one it’s joyous to see it snaking across the landscape.

Heron’s can often be spotted stalking the ditches on this walk as well as Egret’s along the river back. There is a host of things to take in and it’s vast openness will leave you feeling free and full of fresh air.

The walk stats

Duration: around 1.5 hours

Terrain: easy and fairly flat in dry weather but does get muddy/boggy in places when it’s been wet/in winter

Parking: You can find a spot on The Street, Rodmell. Please park responsibly. During Covid-19 Monks House is closed. If visiting after the pandemic please note the car park at the bottom of The Street is for Monks Houses visitors only. You can also park in the Abergavenny Arms car park if you’re visiting the pub after your walk.

Public transport: you can start this walk from Southease station (and pick the walk up from Southease bridge) where there is a train from Brighton/Lewes usually every hour. This information is for post pandemic.

Starting point

We’re starting at the Monk’s House car park, taking the track that is just to the left of the entrance - there is a bridleway sign. This is an obvious track and we’re just going to follow it all the way to the river.

Start walking along the track with a residential home to your left with an exciting looking garden. Lots of horses are kept here so watch out for riders etc if you have a dog. The track will take you through a few gates until you are facing a grassy bank with footpath signs pointing left and right. Climb the bank and this is where you get to drink in the sight of the flowing River Ouse and the rolling landscape behind it. It’s a bit morbid but essentially you’ve just taken the path Virginia Woolf did when she walked into the river and checked out of her monumentus life.

You’re heading to your right here and you’ll carry on along this path that keeps you alongside the river on your left for about half an hour when the 18th century Southease swing bridge comes into view. This 27 tonne wrought iron bridge was restored in a £1.7 million restoration in 2010 and was originally built in 1791, with a rebuild in the 1880’s.

When you get to the bridge, perhaps after you’ve stood on it and taken a photo you’re going to to take a right from the path you were on along the road into Southease Village. Southease train station is left across the bridge (when things reopen there is a lovely YHA with a cafe here).

Carry on along the road and it will soon open up onto the village green where you’ll see thatched cottages dating from the 17th century, a tree swing, a water tap and St Peters Church. St Peters is one of the three churches in Sussex that has a round tower that were all build in the early half of the 12th century.

Once you’ve paused in the village to have a little look around, take the road as if heading towards the main road to the right of the church but just after the church take a right and you’ll see a footpath sign and a gate heading to the left parallel to the lane. You’re now walking around the edge of a field but the path is fenced so it’s clear where you’re going and you’ll end up walking parallel to the main road. Some steps will take you lower than the road and here you may well see rabbits darting in and out of the bracken.

Once you’ve passed through a gate and start to climb a slight incline you’ll come to a track, the main road is very close to the end of the path so keep dogs close here.

Take a right down the track and you’ll walk through some residential cottages. The path will thin out and you’ll feel a bit like you’re in peoples gardens but you’re in the right place, when you come to the back of Rodmell church you’ll soon come to a bit of a cross roads in the tracks but you’re going straight on and taking a small wooden gate into the recreational field.

Just after the small hall there is another small gate which will cross your cross a small field back to the Monks House car park. From here you can see directly into the Monk’s House garden and I absolutely didn't spend 15 minutes trying to work out if it was a statue or a very a still gardener. Honest.

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