Ditchling Beacon
The highest point in East Sussex, a beacon hill on the South Downs Way with the county's best excuse for a big view
Open accessNational Trust land — free to wander
Ditchling Beacon, at 248 metres, is East Sussex’s county top, though the climb is gentler than that title suggests. There’s a car park near the summit, and the South Downs Way runs right over it, so a good many people arrive at the highest point in the county having barely broken a sweat. Cyclists doing the London to Brighton ride get no such shortcut — the climb up from the Weald side is the ride’s traditional sting in the tail, steep enough to have ended plenty of charitable ambitions early.
The name is a hand-me-down from its original purpose: this was one of a chain of hilltop beacons lit to pass warnings across the county, Armada included, back when a fire on a hilltop was the fastest news service available. There’s an Iron Age hillfort earthwork on the summit too, so people have been finding reasons to stand up here for a very long time, whether to watch for ships or just to look at the view — the Weald spread out to the north, and the sea a grey line to the south on a clear day.
Paragliders take advantage of the updraft along the scarp slope most weekends. Wolstonbury Hill and Devil’s Dyke and Saddlescombe continue the ridge west if the legs have more in them.
Visit on the National Trust website →
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