A restored patch of sandy lowland heath on the Downs between Midhurst and Petworth, with heather, birch and easy walking
Heathland like this is rarer than it looks — most of southern England’s heaths were lost to farming and conifer plantation, and Graffham Common was cleared of its planted pines and brought back to open heath by the Sussex Wildlife Trust. It runs to about 38 hectares of heather, birch and sandy tracks on the greensand between Midhurst and Petworth, part of the wider South Downs. Lowland heath is a scarce habitat, good for reptiles and ground-nesting birds, and the going is flat and easy, with informal paths for an hour’s wander. The Serpent Trail, which links the sandy heaths of the Weald, clips the edge, and there’s more of the same at Ambersham Common and Lavington Common close by.
