Charleston Farm & Firle Beacon from Firle

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This East Sussex walk takes you onto the South Downs for spectacular views north at Firle Beacon. The walk also offers the opportunity to visit Charlestown Farmhouse with its bohemian decor and associations with the Bloomsbury set. This walk has un challenging climb.

Details

n°293033
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  • Walking
    Activity: Walking
  • ↔
    Distance: 7.46 km
  • ◔
    Average duration: 2h 40 
  • ▲
    Difficulty: Moderate
  • ⚐
    Back to start: Yes
  • ↗
    Ascent: + 199 m
  • ↘
    Descent: - 191 m
  • ▲
    Highest point: 215 m
  • ▼
    Lowest point: 25 m
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Photos

Firle Tower

Description of the walk

Start : Main car park in Firle village (BN8 6NS) Grid ref. TQ471073

(S/E) After parking follow the path across the parkland aiming for Firle Tower. Reaching a bridleway (grid ref. TQ477072) continue East through the gate with the Firle Tower to your left.

(1) Continue on this bridleway passing Charleston Farm on your right. Reaching the barns, keep right and walk towards the Downs.

(2) Cross a track (grid ref. TQ492061) and continue Southwards climbing onto the Downs. Reaching the top you meet the South Downs Way.

(3) Go right and continue up to the trig point on the summit of Firle Beacon (grid ref. TQ485059) to enjoy the view.

(4)To return to Firle village continue West along the South Downs Way.

(5) After passing through a gate bear right (grid ref. TQ480059) to descend across the face of the escarpment on a bridleway.

(6) Reaching a T-junction (grid ref. TQ474068) go left and follow the track into Firle village.(S/E)

Waypoints

  1. S/E : km 0 - alt. 25 m - Firle village
  2. 1 : km 1.95 - alt. 42 m - Charleston Farm
  3. 2 : km 3.04 - alt. 64 m - Track junction
  4. 3 : km 4 - alt. 195 m - South Downs Way
  5. 4 : km 4.76 - alt. 215 m - Firle Beacon
  6. 5 : km 5.38 - alt. 184 m - Gate
  7. 6 : km 6.46 - alt. 64 m - T-junction
  8. S/E : km 7.46 - alt. 26 m - Firle Village

Notes

Start : Main car park in Firle village (BN8 6NS) Grid ref. TQ471073

Terrain : This walk has un challenging climb.

Reviews and comments

4.6 / 5
Based on 7 reviews
Reliability of the description
4.6 / 5
Ease of following the route
4.4 / 5
Route interest
4.7 / 5
Delphinium
Delphinium ★

Hello Cathers,
Thank you for taking the time to give this feedback and contribute to the community. 🙌🏼
As you just did the walk, could you please suggest a precise description so I can adjust the plot?
Enjoy your walks

Cathers
Cathers

Overall rating : 4.3 / 5

Date of your route : May 20, 2023
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Great little walk - although the climb up to Firle Beacon would put it in the Moderate rather than Easy category in my book!
The route map is just slightly off in one place - at the start of the ascent to the Beacon, go up the lane between the trees to stick to the footpath instead of walking up the side of the field to the right, which is what the map suggests. We initially went up the edge of the field and ended up having to climb over a padlocked gate and get through a barbed wire fence to rejoin the footpath. (I now see another walker has made the same observation, wish I’d read that before I set off!)

The Ram at Firle is a great pub for lunch afterwards.

Ruth-on-the-go
Ruth-on-the-go

Overall rating : 3.7 / 5

Date of your route : Feb 22, 2021
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★☆☆ Average
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

I'd say the walk was 'medium' hard, certainly not 'easy' climbing Firle Beacon, although the rest of the walk was easy. So windy up top it was exhilarating with great views over the Downs and out to sea. We got slightly lost following the description and ended up at Bo Peep B&B but easy to retrieve. With the detour about 3 hours.

SussexHiker
SussexHiker

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Sep 14, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★☆ Good

Nice circular walk through countryside with short, quitec steep climb and great views from Firle beacon. Firlevis a delightful old village worth exploring. Charleston farmhouse you pass has a long, artistic history and the gardens were open.

Sues
Sues

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 03, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

A beautiful easy walk with lots of varied interest. Would love to have known about Chilley farm shop and cafedefinately visiting it next time!

Katg
Katg

Overall rating : 5 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 26, 2020
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Amazing route perfect timing and very clear map. The route featured all the best attractions in the area and was completely free to download! Perfect!

Walkytalky
Walkytalky

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Aug 11, 2019
Reliability of the description : ★★★★☆ Good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★★ Very good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Great walk passing areas of interest meaning you may want to allow more time to visit eg Charleston House & Garden, or take a little diversion to Beanstalk Tea Garden (when open; turn right at the bottom of the descent instead of left for Firle Village, and walk approx 10mins straight on, ignoring track joining from the left).
Stunning views from the Beacon after a bit of a climb up a grassy path.
Descent is on a chalky path - caution if wet.
Directions could be a bit more specific but in conjunction with the map we were alright. (You walk right through the middle of Charleston Farm / House where there are some loos when open 😊 and keep going to the end of the access road, then bear right to continue on up to Tilton Farm and then right to the Downs. When you reach the track, cross it and take the path through the trees not the field track, or you’ll end up climbing over locked farm gates to get back on track 😊.)

froglet86
froglet86

Overall rating : 4.7 / 5

Date of your route : Jul 15, 2018
Reliability of the description : ★★★★★ Very good
Ease of following the route : ★★★★☆ Good
Route interest : ★★★★★ Very good

Very good walk with beautiful views from up the hills. The only problem we had was near Charleston Farm" we have been rerouted by the fact 5 gates had padlocks. We were lucky to have our Garmin to put us back on our right way by had to deal with electric fences and barbed wire to go over.
Any way we made it eventually and enjoyed the scenery.

Jean-Michel

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