The High Weald is an ancient landscape covering a large part of Sussex and seeping into Surrey and Kent. As an ancient landscape, it is both protected and distinguished by its ancient woodlands, rolling valleys and hills, ridgeways and steep wooded ghylls, as well as its network of droveways and Saxon paths.
Across it you will find Ashdown Forest, historic villages, castle ruins and centuries-old churches, and there are few more evocative times to explore the High Weald than in the autumn when it is splashed with golds, deep reds, ochres and browns as the year slowly lets go of its hold.
The perfect day out
The perfect day out in the High Weald in autumn isn’t about trying to see everything. It’s about slowing down, taking time to relax and enjoy the season: perhaps a restorative moment in nature, something beautiful and aesthetic to enjoy, a little learning, excellent food and drink, and maybe a spot of first-rate shopping.
Breakfast in Tunbridge Wells
Tunbridge Wells makes an elegant starting point for an autumn day out. And why not start the day with a late breakfast at Eggs Eleven in The Pantiles? Although the town is in Kent, it is surrounded by the High Weald. What’s more, the historic Kent–Sussex boundary also runs through the original town centre, close to the Pantiles, so at Sussex Exclusive, we claim it as ours!
The town became a fashionable spa destination after its iron-rich spring was discovered in the 17th century. Queen Anne helped make it the place to be in the 18th century, and today the Georgian colonnade of The Pantiles is lined with independent shops, galleries, cafés and restaurants. Take time to browse here and around the Old High Street and Chapel Place, where you’ll find boutiques, jewellery and interiors alongside places to pause for coffee.
You can still visit the Chalybeate Spring, the source that first drew visitors to the town. It’s a small but fitting stop before setting off into the countryside.
Mad about Mayfield
About ten miles south of Tunbridge Wells, Mayfield makes a natural place to pause. It is a village rich in history, with a historic and handsome High Street and a church dedicated to St Dunstan. Local legend says that the saint, a blacksmith before he became Archbishop of Canterbury, recognised the Devil beneath the disguise of a beautiful woman by the cloven hooves showing under her dress. Dunstan seized the Devil’s nose with red-hot pincers; the Devil fled and plunged it into the spring at Tunbridge Wells to cool it, warming the water in the process. Mayfield’s other great stories are iron and owling (wood smuggling)and there is also a self-guided historic trail of some of the notable buildings, one of which is Middle House.
Early afternoon tea at Middle House
Middle House is a striking Grade I listed, timber-framed building in the High Street. Its wattle-and-daub frontage and carved details make it a destination in their own right and inside, the hotel’s ornate carved fireplace is attributed to Grinling Gibbons. On a sunny autumn day, take tea on the terrace or in the glass conservatory, with views across the Rother valley and High Weald; if the weather turns wild, retreat to the warmth of the beamed interior. Afternoon tea is currently served Thursday to Saturday, so check availability when planning your visit. It is superb.
Discover Bateman’s and its autumn treasures
Seven miles east of Mayfield, the village of Burwash is your next stop. Its historic High Street hints at a long past and it’s another village that sits at the heart of iron ore history and has its own tales of smugglers. But the main destination is just outside the village: Bateman’s. This National Trust property was the Jacobean home of Rudyard Kipling and his wife from 1902. They lived here until their deaths, and the surrounding landscape found its way into Kipling’s writing.
Inside, one of its most striking rooms has embossed leather walls, inspired by Indian chintz designs and finished with silver leaf beneath varnish, giving them a warm, golden sheen. There is also local oak panelling, Kipling’s study and a collection that includes rare watercolours and a Japanese painted hand scroll.
Outside, the 12-acre garden has all the touches of an autumn garden, from the orchard and wild garden to the river, meadow, watermill and lily pond. Beyond it, the wider landscape is awash with autumn colour, with buzzards and other birdlife overhead. Bateman’s sits right in the cradle of the High Weald, and at this time of year the setting feels as evocative as the house itself.
This autumn, look out for Bateman’s Reimagined, a paper sculpture by artist Su Blackwell. Made from copies of Kipling’s handwritten The Jungle Book manuscript, it brings together the story and the home that inspired it. You’ll find it in Elsie’s Room on the ground floor. From mid November, the house is also transformed into A Jungle Book Wonderland as part of the festive celebrations.
Then there is just time for a quick coffee in the café before you head home.
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