Just outside Henfield (on the A2037 going south) and not far from Tottington Woods, is Wood Mill Nature Reserve, and a great place for a gentle walk. It also happens to be the home of the Sussex Wildlife Trust and an environmental educational centre.
Wood Mill is a mixture of wetland and woodland habitats where you’ll find ponds and a lake, ancient woodland, streams and meadows. There used to be a flour mill here (hence the name) and the Victorian waterwheel and Old Miller’s House are just across the bridge from the car park and now used as SWT HQ. The last millers worked here from 1898 to 1927. The site covers a total of 47 acres and you can download a map from the Sussex Wildlife Trust website or there is one on an information board on site. The nature reserve is free to visit and has been open to the public since 1968.
There are two main walking routes: an accessible path around the main body of the nature reserve or a longer route that will take you across meadows and back. If you want an even longer walk, at the far end of the meadow, it joins up with a footpath that will take you on to Tottington Woods (a great spot for bluebells) and on to the South Downs. The shorter walk is less than 1 km and the walk around the meadows is about 3 km.
What you’ll see
The main reason to visit is the abundance of wildlife and the air of tranquillity. Despite being near the road, it’s really quiet and the reserve is known for its amazing birdlife, amphibians, fungi, bugs, bluebells and other woodland and water flowers.
In the car park, there are some striking wildlife murals, then you cross the bridge for a potter. There is a horse box café (open in the summer) and more murals.
Head on to Hoe Wood, classified as ancient woodland, and then look out for large piles of ancient stones and the sleeping stone knight.
There is not much information about these at the nature reserve but it would seem they were imported to the site in the 1930s by the then owner, Arthur Pike. He supposedly wanted to create an Italianate Garden.
The stones are apparently old and authentic but no one knows where they came from. Pike was later convicted of murdering his young chauffeur / lover in Brighton. The stones are an unexpected and slightly haunting find, covered as they are in moss and lichen and left to crumble for decades. I hope that at some stage someone is able to track down their origins. There are also a series of wooden sculptures on the side of the footpath to be discovered as you walk.
What is a scrape?
If you head out towards the meadows, you will see strange shaped pools of water. These are scrapes. These were created in 2023 in distinctive shapes to provide habitat for wildlife and to retain rain water. They were still quite barren when I visited but are expected to grow lush and interesting vegetation.
It won’t take you long to discover Wood Mill Nature Reserve, but it’s a great spot for a family walk with boardwalks, woodland walks and a bit of mystery!
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