Walk 1 - Lindfield to Ansty (Moderate)

Walk 8 - Lindfield Circular (Moderate)

Walk 2 - Ansty to Handcross (Moderate) 

Walk 9 - Ansty Circular (Moderate)

Walk 3 - Handcross to Balcombe (Moderate)

Walk 10 - Handcross Circular (Moderate)

Walk 4 - Balcombe to Crawley Down (Moderate)

Walk 11 - Balcombe Circular (Moderate/Difficult)

Walk 5 - Crawley Down to East Grinstead (Easy)

Walk 12 - Worth Circular (Easy)

Walk 6 - East Grinstead to West Hoathly (Moderate)

Walk 13 - East Grinstead Circular (Moderate)

Walk 7 - West Hoathly to Lindfield (Moderate)

Walk 14 - West Hoathly Circular (Difficult)

Handcross

References: woods, stage coach wheel, Nymans bird motif, High Beeches gentians, Japanese lantern top, flames

Zoar Baptist chapel was built around 1782 because of established local need from ‘woodmen and labourers’.  The village developed further because it was a stagecoach stop on the London to Brighton route. Handcross has some very significant gardens close by to spend time in. One is Nymans which was developed by the Messel family and the other High Beeches which was established by a branch of the Loder family, (the family that also established Wakehurst and Leonards Lee). 

Gentian asclepiadia is a special species that has naturalised at High Beeches and is depicted here with its very sculptural trumpet shaped flowers and spear shaped leaves.  The bird motif used is from the pot in the sunken garden at Nymans and is familiar from many visits over the years.  The lantern top is a reference to the fashion for all things Japanese that swept through garden design after the 1903 London exhibition.  This top is a composite of the stone lanterns on display at both of these local gardens.

Lindfield

References: sheep, bee, lime flower, lime leaf, lime buds

A market charter was granted in 1343 for this village to hold sheep fairs and it became one of the most important in the county, so sheep are very important to Lindfield being a significant place with so much history. Pollinators was the requested focus of marker by the Parish Council as they were working on a new meadow by the footpath and the bee represents this. 

The lime tree is a reference to the village name. In Saxon times it was called Lindefeldia meaning ‘open land with lime trees’.  Limes line the High Street currently and there is a lime tree at the location of the Waymarker.  When you look closely at the lime flowers and buds, they are extraordinary and sculptural too.  The carving is intended to draw attention to these qualities of the actual plants.

Ansty

References: woods, furnace, deer, mill wheel, equal cross, sports (darts, cricket, football, snooker), ivy

The iron industry has left its mark on this village in the names nearby of Old Furnace, Furnace Wood and there are mill cottages at Highbridge and on the edge of Cuckfield Park.  Watermills also supplied the power for the furnaces in 16^th century. The ivy symbolises how this industrial time has passed and the sites have often been reclaimed by plants.  The deer represents the medieval Cuckfield Deer Park (disparked in the 16^th century) which came right up to the location of the marker and wild deer can still be seen across the playing fields. 

The equal cross represents the Hussey family that commissioned the nearby Legh Manor. The cross is at the centre of their coat of arms and has been used extensively by Ansty village. The village pub name was once the Green Cross then Ansty Cross, and the symbol was depicted on the pub sign up until very recently when it was demolished and redeveloped. The sports represent the local successes and broad range played at this location.

East Grinstead

References: railway, steam train wheel, valve control wheel, ounce (snow leopard), bluebell, primrose, sycamore leaf

The Waymarker is located at a strategic site between old and new functioning railways but is also near to a marked change of atmosphere if you leave the railway stations and start down the Worth Way on the walk.  The first obvious tree on the worth way behind the car park is a sycamore, so represents the start of nature maintaining its place here. The ounce (heraldic snow leopard) is from the Duke of Dorset’s coat of arms. 

The Sackville family were the Dukes of Dorset and they owned a lot of property in the area. Sackville College was established in the town in 1609 by Robert Sackville as an alms house, and it is still in use.  It has a flagpole-carrying ounce on the roof, there was also a pub called The Cat on East Grinstead High Street because of the ounce image, and now Weatherspoons has adopted the name Ounce and Ivy Bush for their premises further along the street (an ivy bush was displayed outside to denote a pub open for business).  The historic Bluebell Railway line that has its end point here was once nicknamed the bluebell and primrose line because that is what you could see as a passenger. The historic railway is represented by steam from the dragon’s mouth, a valve wheel and an engine wheel. 

Crawley Down

References: railway, water, kingfisher, fish (roach) tadpoles

This site is located on the edge of the Worth Way path which is in the cutting of the ex-railway line and where there was once a grand garden to be viewed from the train.  The Crawley Down pond was one of three fishponds that were part of the Tiltwood estate which was bought in 1873 by George Scaramanga and developed over the following decades. The fish in the sculpture represents this history.  The fragment of the original garden space that is now in public hands has been reclaimed to an extent by wildlife.  Roach fry have been found recently and kingfishers can be seen.  Despite the many ducks that live here other wildlife like frogs and tadpoles also share the space.

Balcombe

References: woods, railway, viaduct, furnace, half moon, hill site trees

This hilltop site was a small village with woods around.  Furnaces and ironworks developed this small site as a focus but with the coming of the railway and the construction of the Balcombe viaduct the population numbers more than doubled in 10 years (1831 – 1841).  The name Balcombe is thought to have originated from Old English for ‘lush vallery’ and it currently has attractive views over Wier Wood reservoir and Balcombe Pond – the hill site trees are a reference to this.  The half-moon refers to the community owned pub which is still in the heart of the village.

West Hoathly 

References: beech mast, acorns, pigs, toposcope view lines, Tudor rose healing plants – acanthus, mallow, fern.

In Medieval times the village became an important location for fattening pigs on beech mast and acorns for 6 weeks in Autumn (pannage).  This brought prosperity to the village as a whole. The Priest House was built in 1496 by Lewes Priory and was probably an estate office for the lands the Priory owned in the area.  The Priest House garden is planted with healing plants and culinary herbs as the Priory gardens would also have been in this period. 

The current curator picked out two significant plants of acanthus and fern. The fern being mentioned in a Shakespeare play (Henry IV) as a magic plant where the seeds can be held in your hand to make you ‘walk invisible’.  The Tudor Rose is a reference to the Priest House and other local lands being reclaimed from the Cluniac church at the reformation and then being owned by Henry VIII, Cromwell, Anne of Cleves, Mary and Elizabeth I.  The carving also has a reference to the hill site and the far-reaching views of the toposcope, symbolised by the landscape and view lines.