South Downs Walks

Philip

Burne-Jones1897

SOUTH DOWNS NATIONAL PARK

with more info at: www.kiplingfestivalrottingdean.co.uk

Bazehill Road was the routetaken by the Kiplings in their pony cartup to the

’motherly Downs for

jam-smeared picnics’.

The lost village of Balsdean was800 years old when Canadian soldiersused it for target practice in WW2,leaving little to see today except aplaque marking the chapel,s altar.

A Rifle Range at Lustrell,s Valewas started during the Boer War byKipling who was concerned about thelack of training and preparedness oflocal youth.

Whiteway Lane was oncethe route for 17th and 18th centurysmugglers whisking their goods out ofthe village and inspiring Kipling,sThe Smuggler,s Song:

Five and twenty poniestrotting through the dark,

Brandy for the Parson, 'baccy for the Clerk.Laces for a lady, letters for a spy,

Watch the wall, my darling,while the Gentlemen go by!

The Grange was home to the artistWilliam Nicholson 1909 to 1914.

Rudyard Kipling first stayed inRottingdean with his aunt Georgiana andEdward Burne-Jones at Prospect Cottage asa boy and his own son John was born therein 1897. The young family then rented TheElms until 1902 before moving to Burwash.Well known pieces written while Kipling livedin the village include The Just So Stories, Kim,Recessional and Stalky and Co.

Others who have found inspiration roaming’

the whale-backed Downs’around

Rottingean include writers Virginia Woolf,Katherine Mansfield, DH Lawrence, OscarWilde, Enid Bagnold and Angela Thirkell,artists William and Ben Nicholson, Paul Nash,Aubrey Beardsley and William Morris - whilemovie stars like Bette Davis, Errol Flynn, CaryGrant and Julie Andrews enjoyed stays atthe Tudor Close Hotel. Following in theirfootsteps with the wide sky above and thepewter sea below may bring to mindKipling,s personal tribute to the Downs:

God gives all men all earth to love,but, since man's heart is small,

ordains for each one spot shall provebeloved over all.

Each to his choice, and I rejoiceThe lot has fallen to me

In a fair ground - in a fair ground -Yea, Sussex by the sea!

TRANSIT INFORMATIONbuses.co.uk nationalrail.co.ukParking, W.C

,s, and refreshments in

Rottingdean Village and on the seafront

Notes on the walk

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FALMER

ROAD

LEWES

ROAD

WOODINGDEAN RD

A2

6

A

23

LONDONROAD

A23

LONDONROAD

A259

A259 SOUTH COAST ROAD

A 2 5

9

A27

A27

A27

Falmer

HoveBrighton

SaltdeanPeacehaven

Beddingham

Newhaven

LewesPatcham

ROTTINGDEAN

A23

A27

A26

A26

A259

B2123

www.southdowns.gov.uk

B2123

FALMER

ROAD

LEWES

ROAD

WOODINGDEAN RD

A2

6

LONDON

ROAD

A23

LONDONROAD

A259

A259 SOUTH COAST ROAD

A 2 59

A27

A27

A27

A27

Falmer

HoveBrighton

SaltdeanPeacehaven

Beddingham

Newhaven

LewesPatcham

ROTTINGDEAN

A23

A27

A27

A26

A26

A259

B2123

South Downs National Park

Please follow thecoutryside code atall times.

This map may be usedin conjunction withOS Explorer 122

ROTTINGDEANin the footsteps

of Kiplingand Company

www.rottingdeanpreservationsociety.org.uk

TRAIL: 3 miles ALLOW: 2 hours

PATH: Mix of Road, Track and Grassland

Easy with moderate inclines, rolling Downs,muddy in places

DIRECTIONS AND POINTS OF INTERESTFrom the War Memorial and Village Greencross the road to St. Margaret,s church, turnleft and walk two streets up to

Bazehill Road. Turn right and follow uphill asthe road becomes a single lane and leads to

Panoramic views of the open downland,coastline, racecourse, windmill and theEnglish Channel.

The route dips, revealing the beautifulBalsdean Valley, then halfway down

Take a right turn, through a gate opposite afarm track. Go south along the grass path,through a second gate, and along the edgeof the field, on the far side of theBalsdean Farm buildings. Go through a thirdgate, walk straight through more openfarmland with views toward Saltdean.

At the bottom of the fields the path cutsbetween two houses and out ontoBishopstone Road.

Look left down into Lustrell,s Vale whereKipling set up a training rifle range in 1898.

Turn right onto Whiteway Lane leadingback down to the village and at the bottomturn right

at The Grange, once the vicarage, now theLibrary, Art Gallery and Museum with KiplingRoom, and Visitor Information Point, turnright to

Return to the War Memorial, facing Kiplng,s

house, The Elms. Look left across The Greento Prospect Cottage and Aubrey Housewhere Kipling

,s aunt Georgiana and Edward

Burne-Jones, the Pre-Raphaelite painter,lived, worked and first welcomed Kipling tothe village.

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