Walk on Fulking
A moderate circular walk, starting and finishing at the Shepherd and Dog pub, comprising ancient landscapes and breathtaking views.
Explore a famous beauty spot on the South Downs
Along the way, look out for the lime kiln dating back to the Victorian era as well as banks of chalk grassland teaming with flowers and butterflies. At the top, take in the spectacular views across the downs before heading back down to the Shepherd and Dog for a well-earned pint. Please note that some of the sections of this walk can get very muddy in the winter.
Map
Start:
Shepherd and Dog pub car park, grid ref: TQ247113
1
From the pub car park take the public footpath which starts to the left of the pub garden and has bushes on both sides. The track is marked with a small concrete public footpath sign on the right-hand side. Turn right when you reach the fence at the end and continue along this path until you reach a stile.
2
Go over the stile and up the steps. At the top of the steps you will come to a T-junction with another path. Turn right along a narrow track.
3
Follow this track around the hill taking note of the direction indicated by the post with the pink arrow. You will come to a clearing in a dip with a trough in the middle. Go past the trough and continue up a wide path on the other side until you get to another junction of paths.
4
Continue following the path which is parallel to the fence on your right as indicated by the pink arrow on the wooden post at the junction. After a short distance you will come to a stile. Climb over this and continue to go straight ahead. When you get to the end of the fence turn left onto a wide chalky track which comes up the hill from your right.
5
Walk up the hill. After a short distance, where the track bends to the left, you will see an old lime kiln on your right. This dates back to the Victorian era.
What is a lime kiln?
Chalk was burnt with charcoal and changed into lime, which was mainly used for improving clay fields or in the building industry. What you can see of the kiln is the brick face where lime was removed. Behind this is a bottle-shaped hole the kiln. The kiln was loaded with layers of chalk from the quarry behind it and charcoal, probably from Furze Field woods, north of Edburton. The kiln worked continuously: as lime was removed below more chalk and charcoal was added at the top.
6
Continue up the main track until you reach the electricity pylon at the top. This is an old bostal track which snakes up the hill.
Bostal track
'Bostal' is a local Sussex name for a track up the side of a steep hill, usually one on the northern escarpment of the South Downs.
7
When you have passed the pylon you will see the South Downs Way following the fence line up ahead. Don’t take this route but instead turn to the left along a small track between two low banks. In summer the banks here will be teeming with butterflies, moths and orchids.
Butterflies and orchids
During the summer months the north-facing bank will be filled with butterflies and moths, such as the marbled white and the six-spot burnet moth. Fragrant and pyramidal orchids are also in abundance here. The south-facing bank, which gets the most sun, grows wild thyme.
8
At the end of this path you rejoin the South Downs Way which runs from Eastbourne to Winchester. Continue towards the fence ahead of you and go through the gate. On your right, over the fence, you can see the remains of the Fulking Isolation Hospital.
Fulking Isolation Hospital
Brighton Corporation established the isolation hospital at Fulking Grange in 1901 to keep patients suffering from infectious diseases, most notably smallpox, away from the healthy folk of Brighton.
9
Walk along the top of the left-hand bank of a sunken ditch descending to your left and follow it downhill until you reach a pair of wooden signposts. In late spring the banks of the ditch to your right are covered in cowslips.
10
Turn left and follow the broad grassy track which hugs the foot of the escarpment until you reach the junction above the steps you came up at the beginning of the walk.
11
Turn right and retrace your route down the steps, over the stile and along the path back to the pub car park.
End:
Shepherd and Dog pub car park, grid ref: TQ247113
