Cissbury Ring butterfly walk
One of the very best butterfly sites in Sussex, including numerous Adonis and chalkhill blues, dark-green fritillaries and marbled whites, lower numbers of dingy and grizzled skippers and small blue and the occasional brown hairstreak.
Explore the most historic hill on the South Downs
The walk is also very rich in flora, including bee orchids, field fleawort and round-headed rampion and has impressive areas of chalk lichen lawns.
Map
Start:
Storrington Rise car park in Findon Valley, grid ref: TQ129076
1
Take the path out of the Storrington Rise car park, heading across a neglected field towards the corner of a copse. Go through the kissing gate, and follow the path along the copse edge, under old sycamore trees. Cross the stile and follow the path across a grass field, through a kissing gate onto Cissbury Ring, by the National Trust omega sign and a bench.
Butterflies
A general interest area, with many meadow browns, marbled white, ringlet and other grassland species and, if you're lucky, a brown hairstreak along the wood or scrub edge.
2
Turn left onto the outer ramparts. The fence on your left gradually drops away. Go down the steps to the small car park in the northern corner (before the car park is an old sunken dew pond).
Wildlife
An excellent stretch for chalk downland butterflies, including numerous chalkhill blues in July and August, dark-green fritillaries in July, and dingy and grizzled skippers in May. Also, look out for chalk downland flowers, including various orchids and you may see and hear skylarks. The rare and legally-protected fairy shrimp appears in the dew pond during periods of heavy rain - the rest of the time it remains as eggs in the ground.
3
Turn right in the minor car park, before the gate into the field, and follow the vehicle track that leads through scrub and open flowery glades, with a steep slope on your left. It becomes more open, with a big grassy area appearing on your left. Go straight over the minor cross roads, staying on the upper of the two paths. Go through a bridlegate (not National Trust, but Open Access land) into a large area of open grassland with developing scrub. Explore this area for a while, then retrace your steps back to the bridlegate.
Butterflies and birds
An extremely rich area for butterflies, including a few brown hairstreaks during August and September, a host of browns including some wall brown (May and August), some dark-green fritillaries, and wandering species such as red admiral and painted lady. Not an important area for blues, though. Look out for birds in the scrub.
4
After the bridlegate, turn left at the crossroads. Go through another bridlegate, and aim for the main (eastern) entrance to the hill fort. (Before the entrance, you can do a detour to explore the steep south-facing slope at the head of Rifle Range Valley.)
Butterflies
The short turf at the head of Rifle Range Valley is good for Adonis and chalkhill blues, with the occasional small blue.
5
After the kissing gate leading into the hill fort, turn right to follow the path along the outer ramparts initially, before bearing left at the top of the steps to follow the inner rampart ditch. This leads past an area of flint mines.
Butterflies and downland flowers
A very rich area, with dingy and grizzled skippers in spring and also brown argus, Adonis, chalkhill and common blues, dark-green fritillaries (pictured) and marbled white. Also good downland flowers, including bee orchids, occasional plants of field fleawort, and much round-headed rampion - the pride of the Sussex Downs. The short turf around the flint mines support 'lichen lawns', including several rare species.
6
Follow the inner rampart ditch, past where you entered, round to the south-west entrance. Near the old beech plantation, turn right out of the hill fort entrance, go through the kissing gate and meander around the flint mines, before heading towards the bridlegate by the wood corner.
Butterflies
The flint mines area supports huge populations of Adonis and chalkhill blues. In late July and August, numerous butterflies feed from the patches of hemp agrimony here, including the odd brown hairstreak.
7
From the wood edge bridlegate, follow the straight diagonal path back towards the old sycamore trees, and return to the Storrington Rise car park.
End:
Storrington Rise car park in Findon Valley, grid ref: TQ129076
