5th December 2020
Devils Dyke is a very beautiful spot in Sussex with views which covers miles and miles of stunning Sussex scenery.
Devils Dyke is the country’s longest, deepest & widest dry valley and you can either believe it exists as the result of the ice age 10,000 years ago or that it was dug overnight by the devil who planned to drown the local residents. The devil however was foiled in his plot because he made enough noise to wake up a little old lady who lit her candle which caused her cockerel to crow. The devil thought that the morning had arrived and ran off leaving the local residents safe & giving us a lovely location for a walk.
The walk begins along the South Downs Way towards Upper Beeding. We go near the lost medieval village of Perching [///crumbles.performed.dwelled] (it was appropriately perched on the side of Perching Hill) but it was abandoned so long ago that there is nothing left to see. It would have been a very difficult place to live high up on the Downs & changes in farming methods probably resulted in the few remaining residents deciding they would be better off elsewhere.
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| Olly introducing himself to some snoozing bulls |
We passed a small surviving settlement at Truleigh Hill which had a newly built property up for sale. I checked on Rightmove and it was up for sale for £775,000 (three bed chalet). A very exposed location, nowhere near any shops and a good chance of being snowed in. I would love living there so if I win the lottery any time soon I may well move there!
On the other side of the South Downs Way are the remains of a medieval motte & bailey [///upholding.unlucky.grumbling]. This was possibly constructed shortly after the Norman Conquest and was still in use in the 12th century. Again there is not much left to see.
As we headed towards Truleigh Hill on the first part of our walk we were reminded of the Rudyard Kipling poem:
I am not Sussex born (neither was Kipling) but it is a truly beautiful place to live.
At Beeding Hill we turn off the South Downs Way into Monarchs Way and made our way to towards the A27 at the Southwick Tunnel which we went over the top off before taking a sharp left turn back up towards Devils Dyke partially along the Sussex Border Path passing by another long lost settlement; this time the Iron Age enclosure of Thundersbarrow [///little.jeep.presented]. This site which was probably occupied until the Roman period has now mostly disappeared as a result of ploughing. Archaeologists have found evidence of the site being used (in addition to agricultural uses) from the Bronze Age through to WW2 when slit trenches were dug as part of an army training ground.
The weather was interesting on this walk. At the start of this blog is a photo taken just before we started our walk and doesn't it look lovely weather for December but don't be fooled - it didn't last! Having had a very wet walk just a few days earlier I was relieved that there was only a 10% chance of rain according to the Met Office forecast. Hah! They got it very very wrong. We had rain and hail for the last half of the walk. We got very very wet.
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| Just in case you don't believe me - you can see the sleet (look closely!) |
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| Whilst we were being pelted we could see sunshine in the distance! |
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| I don't like this mum, can we go home now |
A lovely hilly walk which was mostly on footpaths (not so much mud!) but difficult to enjoy when contending with the weather. I will have to go back when it is a bit warmer and drier.
There is a gpx file for this walk but there are lots and lots of walks from Devils Dyke and it is nice just to go for a wander around. It is a National Trust location so if you are not a member you have to pay for parking (various amounts depending how long you plan to stay up to £6 for the day). There are other free car parks further afield.
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