The Serpent Trail is a

long distance footpath A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, equestrianism or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents exce ...

. It runs from

Haslemere The town of Haslemere () and the villages of Shottermill and Grayswood are in south-west Surrey, England, around south-west of London. Together with the settlements of Hindhead and Beacon Hill (Hindhead, Surrey), Beacon Hill, they comprise ...

Petersfield Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own Petersfield railway station, railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rai ...

, which are 11 miles apart in a straight line, by a route which is designed to join up the many

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

areas on

greensand Greensand or green sand is a sand or sandstone which has a greenish color. This term is specifically applied to shallow marine sediment that contains noticeable quantities of rounded greenish grains. These grains are called ''glauconies'' and co ...

in the western

Weald The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex, and Kent. It has three parts, the sandstone "High W ...

.Long Distance Walkers Association
/ref> The path takes its name both from its serpentine shape and from passing through habitat of all three British species of snake ( adder,

grass snake The grass snake (''Natrix natrix''), sometimes called the ringed snake or water snake, is a Eurasian semi-aquatic non- venomous colubrid snake. It is often found near water and feeds almost exclusively on amphibians. Subspecies Many subspecie ...

and

smooth snake The smooth snake (''Coronella austriaca'')Street D (1979). ''The Reptiles of Northern and Central Europe''. London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. 268 pp. . is a species of non-venomous snake in the family Colubridae. The species is found in northern and cen ...

The route

From Haslemere High Street the trail goes south to Blackdown, then westward through Marley Common, Linchmere Common, Stanley Common and Chapel Common to

Rake Rake may refer to: Common meanings * Rake (tool), a horticultural implement, a long-handled tool with tines * Rake (stock character), a man habituated to immoral conduct * Rake (poker), the commission taken by the house when hosting a poker game ...

. South of Rake the trail turns east, heading over Fyning Hill to Iping Marsh, Woolbeding Common, Henley Common, Bexley Hill and Leggatt Hill to Upperton Common. From Upperton to

Petworth Petworth is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Chichester (district), Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is located at the junction of the A272 road, A272 east–west road from Heathfield, East Sussex, Heat ...

the official route follows the public road, but many walkers may prefer to cross Petworth Park, which can be entered down some steps by the southernmost house in Upperton. A tunnel on the northern side of

Petworth House Petworth House is a late 17th-century Grade I listed English country house, country house in the parish of Petworth, West Sussex, England. It was built in 1688 by Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, and altered in the 1870s to the desi ...

leads into the town, as do the lodge gates south of the house. From the east side of Petworth the trail crosses the Shimmings valley and climbs the sandstone ridge, passing through Flexham Park to Bedham, where it turns southward in a gentle descent to

Fittleworth Fittleworth is a village and civil parish in the Chichester (district), District of Chichester in West Sussex, England located west from Pulborough on the A283 road and south east from Petworth. The village has an Anglican church, a primary s ...

passing, at its easternmost part, close to ''Brinkwells'', the former home of composer

Sir Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

Two long distance paths share a signpost - geograph

From Lower Fittleworth the trail crosses the River Rother and follows the greensand

stratum In geology and related fields, a stratum (: strata) is a layer of rock or sediment characterized by certain lithologic properties or attributes that distinguish it from adjacent layers from which it is separated by visible surfaces known as ...

that lies between the river and the

South Downs The South Downs are a range of chalk hills in the south-eastern coastal counties of England 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 ...

escarpment An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations. Due to the similarity, the term '' scarp'' may mistakenly be incorrectly used inte ...

, passing through Sutton Common, Burton Park,

Duncton Duncton is a village and civil parish in the Chichester (district), District of Chichester in West Sussex, England. The village is in the South Downs south of Petworth on the A285 road. The civil parish is about long north – south and less ...

Common, Lavington Common,

Graffham Graffham is a village, Anglican parish and civil parish in West Sussex, England, situated on the northern escarpment of the South Downs within the South Downs National Park. The civil parish is made up of the village of Graffham, part of the h ...

Common and

Heyshott Heyshott is a village, Anglican parish and civil parish in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England. It is approximately three miles south of Midhurst and lies within the South Downs National Park. Like many villages it has lost its shop ...

Common to Cocking Causway. Crossing the A286 the trail skirts the west side of

Midhurst Midhurst () is a market town and civil parish in the Chichester District in West Sussex, England. It lies on the River Rother (Western), River Rother, inland from the English Channel and north of Chichester. The name Midhurst was first reco ...

to Midhurst Common and passes through Stedham Common,

Iping Iping is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Stedham with Iping, in the Chichester (district), Chichester Districts of England, district of West Sussex, England. It lies just off the A272 road west of Midhurst, on the River ...

Common and Trotton Common to Dumpford. The trail continues along Dumpford Lane to

Nyewood Nyewood is a hamlet in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England situated in the Western Rother valley. The village is on an unclassified road between Rogate and South Harting, the hub of the Harting civil parish that also includes the sma ...

, then crosses farmland to West Heath Common, reaching the

A272 road The A272 is a road in southeast England. It follows an approximate east–west route from near Heathfield, East Sussex to the city of Winchester, Hampshire. Route The eastern end of the A272 starts at a junction with the A267, north-west ...

at Durleighmarsh, then passing the site of Durford Abbey to Heath Common at

, ending at Heath Pond.

Way markers

The trail is waymarked with white plastic discs showing a snake in the approximate shape of the route on a purple triangle.

References

External links

{{commons category, The Serpent Trail
Serpent Trail
(West Sussex County Council)
The Serpent Trail Official Guide

www.serpenttrailrace.com
- Trail Running races that take place on the Serpent Trail, from all 100k of it to 10k.
Route on OpenStreetmap
Footpaths in Hampshire Footpaths in West Sussex Long-distance footpaths in England