Hassocks to Lewes
17.7 km (11 miles) · Linear with a train back
- Starts
- Hassocks station
- Ends
- Lewes station
- Stations on the way
- Hassocks, Lewes, Plumpton
- Time
- 5 hours 30 minutes (allow at least 9 hours 30 minutes for the whole outing)
- Stiles
- 2 stiles
A linear South Downs Way walk from Hassocks station past the Clayton windmills and Ditchling Beacon, down to the Half Moon at Plumpton for lunch and back up, then over Black Cap and down through Offham to the Ouse, finishing through Lewes Castle's Barbican gate at Lewes station. An alternative ending walks from the pub to Plumpton station (13.3 km in all). The source gives km, with miles in brackets.
The ground
Rated 5 out of 10. A road down to Plumpton that can be slippery in the wet; after Black Cap a chalky track to Offham, also slippery in the wet; an earth track below Offham that is muddy in winter; then a gravel-topped Environment Agency flood embankment along the Ouse into Lewes. The A275 is crossed at Offham. Part of the Plumpton station ending is described as getting 'a whole lot muddier'.
Livestock
The source mentions no livestock.
Pubs and cafés on the way
- The HassocksHassocks, by the stationstart
- Half MoonPlumptonmidway
- Elephant and CastleLewesend
- White Hart HotelLewes High Streetend
- The RunawayLewes stationend
The line on the map
The paths down to the Half Moon at Plumpton and back up to the ridge are the router's choice, so that stretch is approximate.
The route is from Saturday Walkers' Club (Time Out Country Walks 1, walk 29): read it at the source before you go (Page version Jan-25; last walk check April 2023; Plumpton station ending added January 2025). The line on the map is drawn by Lewes Dogs on OpenStreetMap data (ODbL). With a dog? Lewes Dogs has this walk, with the rules and the livestock.