Stanmer Park circular walk

Discover beautiful woods and extensive open park land

The Stanmer estate covers approximately 5,000 acres with a pretty village, manor house, farm, church and cafe.
Path: A mix of quiet roads, uneven tracks and forested parks.
Gradient: Steep in places.

Getting Here

By bus: There are regular services to Falmer, visit traveline.info/se. Stanmer Park is also served by the popular Breeze Buses during the summer months.
By rail: The Stanmer route is close to Falmer station. Visit nationalrail.co.uk

Points of Interest

Stanmer Park has a wealth of history to discover. It is thought that the word Stanmer comes from the Anglo-Saxon words ‘stan’ and ‘mere’ which mean ‘stone’ and ‘pond’. To the east of the church, which was built in 1838 on the foundations of a 14th century building, you can still see a stony pond. Archaeology shows that Stanmer Park has had human activity since Neolithic times with the
Great Wood containing Bronze Age barrows, tumulus and a cross ridge dyke (a prehistoric land boundary). In 765 AD, Stanmer was given to the Canons and Monks of St Michael, South Malling by King Aedwulf.

It belonged to the Church until the dissolution of the monasteries when it became property of the Crown. The estate changed hands frequently until Sir Henry Pelham purchased it in 1712 for £7500. It was the Pelham family that redeveloped Stanmer to the version we see today. The church, the village and the manor house stand on sites of much earlier versions of themselves, with some of the building materials being reused in the current buildings.

One Garden Brighton

While you are at Stanmer Park, pop in to see One Garden Brighton; a rediscovered walled garden now open to the public and free to visit. Managed by Plumpton college,  the garden celebrates both heritage and innovation, including productive traditional fruit and vegetable crops as well as a series of contemporary show gardens.

Directions

1. From the Stanmer Park bus stop at Stony Mere Way follow the tarmac road between the two white lower lodge houses into Stanmer Park. Continue through the park following the tarmac road for 700 metres.
2. At the fork in the road bear right and follow the road until you reach Stanmer Church on your left.
3. At the T-junction take the tarmac road on your right and follow the route through Stanmer Village, passing the Long Barn and Café on your right and the toilets on your left.
4. At the end of the village, with the pond on your left go through the gate and follow the bridleway past the barn and wood on your left.
5. At the junction take the path on your right and follow the bridleway up the hill until you come to the electricity wires at Millbank. Turn left and follow the bridleway towards High Park Farm and head towards Highpark Corner.
6. Turn left just before the Ditchling Road, follow the path through the woods with the road on your right towards Piddinghoe Plantation. Go through the gate, past the dew pond and through another gate under the power lines. Follow the open field  towards Upper Lodges.
7. Go through the gate following the path through the woods. At the tarmac road  turn left and follow it back to Stanmer Village.
8. From the pond follow your original route through the village and the park back to the Lower Lodges and bus stop.