Wooded ridges, sunken lanes and deep stream valleys across the old iron country of the south-east
One of the most wooded corners of lowland England, the High Weald covers parts of East Sussex, Kent, Surrey and West Sussex. Its 1,462 km² hold small fields and sandstone ridges, sunken lanes and steep wooded valleys called ghylls. The pattern of the land is medieval, and much of it has changed little for centuries.
At its heart sits Ashdown Forest, a high open heath of gorse and pine with long views across the surrounding woods. Above it, Crowborough is the highest point of the area, a broad sandstone hill with the countryside falling away on every side.
There are no mountains here and nothing to catch out a walker, so it’s country for gentle days out, best in spring for bluebells or autumn for colour. The clay underfoot turns to mud after wet weather, and the lanes are narrow.
