Southease, Rodmell and Lewes Brooks

Using a part of the South Down Way, this circular walk goes through Southease, Rodmell, along the River Ouse and include one steep hill.

Technical sheet

2146732
A Beddingham walk posted on 02/06/19 by Aurelie-21. Last update : 03/12/21
  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 9.61 km
  • ◔
    Calculated time: 3h 00 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Easy

  • ⚐
    Return to departure point: Yes
  • ↗
    Vertical gain: + 85 m
  • ↘
    Vertical drop: - 82 m

  • ▲
    Highest point: 83 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 0 m
River Ouse
Southease Church
River Ouse
Horses

Description

(S/E) Park next to YHA car park.

(1) Carefully cross the rails as instructed on the sign and follow the path until you reach Lewes Road.

(2) Turn right, cross Lewes Road to join Gorham's Lane. Go through the gate and follow the South Down Way signs. The path goes down and slightly to the right until you join the South Down Way, which is flat.

(3) Turn right before the farm and right again at the gate to go up Mill Hill. At the top, you will get a panoramic view of South Down National Park.

(4) Keep following the South Down Way signs, which shows you the direction of a path on the other side of the paved road.

(5) Turn right on the path called Greenwich Meridian Trail or White Way.

(6) Turn right and walk carefully on the side of the road for few meters. Cross the road when you see the start of the path on your left. Be careful since cars are coming fast.

(7) Turn left to bypass houses. Once you have reached the main road of the village, turn right and then left at the next intersection. A bit further, the road becomes a path and will lead you to River Ouse.

(8) Turn right at the gate and walk along River Ouse. There are in fact two paths side by side which lead to the same endpoint. One path is at the edge of the water and the other is a few meters below on the right.

(9) Turn left at the gate and walk back to the car park.

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 4 m - Car park
  2. 1 : km 0.13 - alt. 1 m - Rail
  3. 2 : km 1.19 - alt. 31 m - Junction with Lewes Road
  4. 3 : km 2.45 - alt. 24 m
  5. 4 : km 2.95 - alt. 77 m
  6. 5 : km 3.6 - alt. 79 m
  7. 6 : km 4.85 - alt. 17 m
  8. 7 : km 5.66 - alt. 9 m
  9. 8 : km 7.32 - alt. 0 m
  10. 9 : km 8.97 - alt. 1 m
  11. S/E : km 9.61 - alt. 4 m - Car park

Useful Information

Always stay careful and alert while following a route. Visorando and the author of this walk cannot be held responsible in the event of an accident during this route.

Reviews and comments

4 / 5
Based on 2 reviews

Clarity of route description
3.5 / 5
Clarity of route map
5 / 5
Walk interest
3.5 / 5
Captain Scott
Captain Scott

Overall rating : 3.3 / 5

Date of walk : 16/10/20
Clarity of route description : ★★★☆☆ Average
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Walk interest : ★★☆☆☆ Disappointing

A fairly dull walk with little to see and some very scruffy countryside. You are rarely away from traffic noise and the river section is very man-made and surrounded by pylons, a road and railway. There is a section of around 100 yards on a very busy road with minimal footpaths.

There are a few nice views and a beautiful and unusual church at Southease but it was shut to prevent us from getting Covid by going inside. There is a South Downs Way sign on the meridian line and the Monks House at Rodmell, although that again was shut due to Covid. The swing bridge at Southease is interesting.

The pretty church at Rodmell was open but the stern unmasked churchwarden told us we could only look around if we wore a mask, which we didn't have, despite us being the only people in there.

Overall, there are much nicer places to walk in the Lewes area.

Ted O
Ted O

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of walk : 13/06/20
Clarity of route description : ★★★★☆ Good
Clarity of route map : ★★★★★ Very good
Walk interest : ★★★★★ Very good

We just did the loop from Southease swing bridge along the Ouse river bank and up the lane past Monk's House to Rodmell. From there we took the footpath through the fields back to Southease church. It was a super day for a walk, warm and a little breeze. We saw a cuckoo on the telegraph lines near Monk's House - a rare sighting. The loop took us just over two hours at a leisurely pace.

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