The Serpent Trail is a fabulous long-distance trail in West Sussex. It actually starts in Haslemere (Surrey) and finishes in Petersfield (Hampshire), but most of the trail is in Sussex. It is also within the South Downs National Park and the Western Weald.
The trail is just over 100 km long and includes an array of different landscapes. In 2024, SE teamed up with Friends of the South Downs, Rural Strides and Langham Brewery to walk the route over a series of days. This section is on the tailward journey from Cocking Causeway to Petersfield and is the last section. Like the other sections, it takes you through a landscape that is at times achingly beautiful and also past a number of points of interest.
Practical Details
As a linear walk, it takes a bit of planning. There is a bus stop at Cocking Causeway and a pub car park (please ask permission before parking there). The trail ends at Petersfield Heath and Heath Pond. Petersfield does have a train station but there is also parking at the Heath (What3words: passively.delved.golf). This section of the trail is 20 km and pretty flat.
It took us 5 hours moving time, but we were in no rush and enjoyed plenty of stops on top of that. As always, the trail is waymarked, but it is a complicated route, and easy to take a wrong turn as the waymarkers aren’t always apparent. The tail route is from Haslemere to Petersfield and is the purple one. The other way round is green. You need Ordnance Survey OL 33.
© Natural Earth Data © Mapbox © OpenStreetMap
Cocking Causeway to Stedham & Iping Common
After a few metres of road work, you turn west off the main road at Cocking Causeway and into Pitsham Lane. From here, you follow the redbrick road (well, red dust anyway) to Midhurst Common. You really need Rural Strides with you at this point (well, probably at all points) as she can explain the history of the long, thin Parish boundaries here for the likes of Iping and Stedham.
As you turn towards Midhurst Common and the Severals, you border the sandy beaches of a disused sand pit where the Midhurst whites (white bricks) were once made and then cross the old Rother Valley Way railway and turn north into the common. If you can, look out for the boundary markers here. In 1794, there was a boundary dispute between Viscount Montague of Midhurst and Sir Charles Mill of Woolbeding. As a result, the High Sheriff installed boundary stones marked with the letters M on one side and W on the other.
Next up is Stedham Common, where you’ll find one of a series of sculptures that form the Heathland Sculpture Trail. Dragonflies Rest is a replacement of the original sculpture and, sadly, is a little underwhelming. This part of the trail is heathland and still feels quite remote. It’s known for its butterflies, nightjars and glow worms, and as you walk onto Iping Commo,n there is a trig point to find and barrow burial mounds. A lot of this is owned by the Sussex Wildlife Trust and you cross over an old Roman road.
Iping Common to Nyewood
The landscape starts to change from here on in as you leave the commons behind you. Fields open up and (in the summer) you cross huge fields of barley and wheat as the path snakes along to Dumpford and then down to the old dismantled railway once more. You don’t walk long on the old railway before you turn north towards Nyewood. Along the way, you pass the studio of Alison Crowther, a well-known sculptor and furniture maker who works exclusively with English Oak. You also start to get a sense now that you are beginning to return to civilisation after many miles on a trail that often feels remote and far from the madding crowd, and there is a little more road work as you reach Nyewood.
Nyewood to Petersfield
Give a quick nod as you cross the dismantled railway once more, and then you gradually head west towards West Heath Common. You’re still circumnavigating large fields of crops, but the tracks are well-made and you soon meet the Sussex Border Path, which you last saw way back on the first section of this trail. You know you’re close to the Hampshire border here.
There are two ways around the old quarry at West Heath, but walking the south side will bring you out on the road at what appears on the Ordnance Survey Map as Rival Lodge, but is now Sky Park Farm. This is a good place for a pitstop as it has a fantastic deli, café and restaurant, as well as a visitor centre. Their speciality is deer and venison. But they also stock lots of cheese!
You have your last encounter with the old railway shortly after the farm and then pass close to Durford Mill and Abbey and follow the route of the river Rother. You increasingly feel you’re leaving the wilderness behind you and before you know it, the path gives way to the first housing of Petersfield. We turned right here, as that way our transport waited, but it’s not far to Petersfield Heath and leaving your adventure behind you.
The Serpent Trail is a fantastic way to discover this very distinct corner of West Sussex and we walked it over the course of five days.
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