The Sussex Border Path is a long-distance

footpath A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide ...

around the borders of

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the Englis ...

, a historic county and former medieval kingdom in southern

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. The main path is long and stays close to Sussex's borders with

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

and

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, connecting Thorney Island () to Rye (). There is also an additional spur known as the Mid Sussex Link, which links

East Grinstead East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the extreme northeast of the county, the civ ...

with Fishersgate and

Mile Oak The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 Engli ...

on the western boundary of the city of

Brighton and Hove Brighton and Hove () is a city and unitary authority in East Sussex, England. It consists primarily of the settlements of Brighton and Hove, alongside neighbouring villages. Often referred to synonymously as Brighton, the City of Brighton and H ...

. The Sussex Border Path is not a

National Trail National Trails are long distance footpaths and bridleways in England and Wales. They are administered by Natural England, a statutory agency of the UK government, and Natural Resources Wales (successor body to the Countryside Council for Wal ...

, but when the

England Coast Path The England Coast Path is a proposed long-distance National Trail that will follow the coastline of England. When complete, it will be 2,795 miles (4,500 kilometres) in length. The trail is being implemented by Natural England, a non-departm ...

National Trail is completed, its Sussex stretch will in combination with the Border Path make a route allowing a complete walk around the county.

History

The path was first devised and published in 1983 by Ben Perkins and Aeneas Macintosh. The footpath uses existing rights of way to follow the

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

border and is waymarked. It is managed by volunteer teams from the Sussex area of

the Ramblers The Ramblers is the trading name of the Ramblers Association, Great Britain's leading walking charity. The Ramblers is also a membership organisation with around 100,000 members and a network of volunteers who maintain and protect the path ...

. The path is

waymark Trail blazing or way marking is the practice of marking paths in outdoor recreational areas with signs or markings that follow each other at certain, though not necessarily exactly defined, distances and mark the direction of the trail. A blaz ...

ed with signs showing a

martlet A martlet in English heraldry is a mythical bird without feet that never roosts from the moment of its drop-birth until its death fall; martlets are proposed to be continuously on the wing. It is a compelling allegory for continuous effort, expre ...

, the heraldic bird found on the

Sussex flag Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English C ...

and

heraldic shield In heraldry, an escutcheon () is a shield that forms the main or focal element in an achievement of arms. The word can be used in two related senses. In the first sense, an escutcheon is the shield upon which a coat of arms is displayed. In the s ...

. Sussex's external boundaries probably crystallised around the 6th and 7th centuries. To the west,

Bede Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom ...

describes the boundary with the

Kingdom of Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

as being opposite the Isle of Wight, and which later fell on the River Ems. To the east at

Romney Marsh Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about . The Marsh has been in use for centuries, though its inhabitants commonly suffered from malaria until ...

and the River Limen (now called the River Rother or Kent Ditch), Sussex shared a border with the

Kingdom of Kent la, Regnum Cantuariorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the Kentish , common_name = Kent , era = Heptarchy , status = vassal , status_text = , government_type = Monarchy ...

. North of the Forest Ridge in the Wealden forest lay the sub-kingdom of Surrey, which became a frontier area disputed by various kingdoms until it later became part of Wessex. In 1974 the area of Sussex was divided into two

ceremonial counties The counties and areas for the purposes of the lieutenancies, also referred to as the lieutenancy areas of England and informally known as ceremonial counties, are areas of England to which lords-lieutenant are appointed. Legally, the areas i ...

East East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

and

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

, and Sussex continues to formally exist as a historic county. The Mid Sussex Link follows the boundary between the current ceremonial counties of East and West Sussex.

Route

The Sussex Border Path begins at Thorney Island, now effectively a peninsula that juts into

Chichester Harbour Chichester Harbour is a large natural harbour in West Sussex and Hampshire. It is situated to the south-west of the city of Chichester and to the north of the Solent. The harbour and surrounding land has been designated as an Area of Outstandin ...

. The path forms a circuit around the island; it then extends across the South Coast Plain to

Emsworth Emsworth is a town in the Borough of Havant in the county of Hampshire, England, near the border of West Sussex and located at by the south coast of England. It lies at the north end of an arm of Chichester Harbour, a large and shallow inlet fr ...

on the Hampshire side of the River Ems, the river which forms the Sussex-Hampshire border at this location. The path continues over the chalk ridge of the

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, in the Eastbourne Downland Estate, East Sussex, in the eas ...

and onto the

Greensand Ridge The Greensand Ridge, also known as the Wealden Greensand is an extensive, prominent, often wooded, mixed greensand/sandstone escarpment in south-east England. Forming part of the Weald, a former dense forest in Sussex, Surrey and Kent, it r ...

of the

western Weald The western Weald is an area of undulating countryside in Hampshire and West Sussex containing a mixture of woodland and heathland areas. It lies to the south of the towns of Bordon, Haslemere and Rake and to the west of the town of Pulborough. ...

. Here the trail ascends Blackdown, the highest point in Sussex at and the highest point on the Sussex Border Path. From Blackdown, the path continues into the Low Weald to

Gatwick Airport Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after ...

and into the High Weald to the town of

. From here the path descends to the Romney marshes to end in the historic town of Rye. The Mid Sussex Link begins at

and passes through

Sharpthorne Sharpthorne is a village in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, South-East England. It lies on the West Hoathly to Forest Row road 3.8 miles (6.2 km) south of East Grinstead. The Bluebell Railway The Bluebell Railway is an he ...

and

Scaynes Hill Scaynes Hill is a village in the civil parish of Lindfield Rural in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. It lies on the A272 road 2.2 miles (3.5 km) east of Haywards Heath. Landmarks Scaynes Hill has a Site of Special Scientif ...

Ditchling Ditchling is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is contained within the boundaries of the South Downs National Park; the order confirming the establishment of the park was signed in Ditchling ...

, then over the South Downs to Fishersgate, between Southwick and Portslade.

Image gallery

File:Great Deep, Thorney Island.JPG, alt=Great Deep separates Thorney Island from the mainland, Great Deep separates Thorney Island from the mainland File:Farmland to the west of Sussex Border Path - geograph.org.uk - 1095399.jpg, alt=Farmland near Rogate, Farmland near

Rogate Rogate is a village and civil parish in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England, in the Western Rother valley. The village is on the A272 road west of Midhurst and east of Petersfield, Hampshire. The civil parish includes the villages o ...

File:Edge_of_Black_Down_looking_south_west_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1071966.jpg, alt=Near Blackdown, Near Blackdown File:Gatwick Stream at Gatwick Airport - geograph.org.uk - 1183890.jpg, alt=The Gatwick Stream near Gatwick Airport, The

Gatwick Stream The Gatwick Stream is a tributary of the River Mole in southern England. The Gatwick Stream rises in Worth Forest below Clays lake in West Sussex, flows northwards through Tilgate Forest, alongside Tilgate golf course, through Maidenbower, T ...

near

File:Sussex Border Path - geograph.org.uk - 226197.jpg, alt=Near Crawley Down, Near

Crawley Down Crawley Down is a small village in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. There is one church, one school, and a number of social groups. It lies seven miles from Gatwick Airport. The next nearest railway stations are Three Bridges an ...

File:Bewl Water Reservoir, Kent.jpg, alt=Bewl Water,

Bewl Water Bewl Water is a reservoir in the valley of the River Bewl, straddling the boundary between Kent and East Sussex in England. It is about south of Lamberhurst, Kent. The reservoir was part of a project to increase supplies of water in the a ...

File:Bodiam 3 (4325624250).jpg, alt=Bodiam Castle,

Bodiam Castle Bodiam Castle () is a 14th-century moated castle near Robertsbridge in East Sussex, England. It was built in 1385 by Sir Edward Dalyngrigge, a former knight of Edward III, with the permission of Richard II, ostensibly to defend the area again ...

File:Rye - Town Gate - panoramio.jpg, alt=The town of Rye marks the eastern terminus of the Sussex Border Path, The town of Rye marks the eastern terminus of the Sussex Border Path File:View south from Forest Way - geograph.org.uk - 1700839.jpg, alt=A section of the path shared with the Forest Way, following a former railway line between East Grinstead and Groombridge, A section of the Mid Sussex Link shared with the

Forest Way The Forest Way is a linear Country park providing walking, cycling, horse riding and the quiet enjoyment of the countryside. It runs for around 16 km from East Grinstead to Groombridge. The Forest Way lies within the High Weald Area of Ou ...

, following a former railway line between

and

Groombridge Groombridge is a village of about 1,600 people. It straddles the border between Kent and East Sussex, in England. The nearest large town is Royal Tunbridge Wells, about away by road. The main part of the village ("New Groombridge") lies in t ...

References

External links

The Sussex Border Path Long Distance Walking Route

The Sussex Border Path, Long Distance Walkers Association
Long-distance footpaths in England Footpaths in East Sussex Footpaths in West Sussex County-themed walking routes in the United Kingdom {{UK-trail-stub

History

Route

Image gallery

See also

References

External links