The South Downs Way
Saddlescombe Farm
As you might expect of a National Trust property, Saddlescombe Farm is a kind of romanticised farm, designed to provided an enjoyable day out for National Trust members and educational tours for children.
Saddlescombe almost seems like a fake farm, a soft farm with ducks carefully placed on the pretty pond, the buildings uniformly beautiful and well-maintained and scarcely a hint of the usual debris of downland farming.
Saddlescombe is also one of the best places to eat along the South Downs Way thanks to the Wildflour Cafe - an upmarket cafe located in a very pretty courtyard at Saddlescombe.
The menu is imaginative and it's worth scheduling in a stop here - this is comfortably one of the best watering holes on the route.
Saddlescombe Farm itself has a considerable and interesting history, dating back to the twelfth century when the farm came into the ownership of the Knights Templar. The donkey wheel at the farm draws water from a well which the Knights had dug in the thirteenth century.
And Saddlescombe's Maude Robinson wrote an enjoyable account of her childhood on the farm in the 1860s called A South Downs Farm in the 1860s.
Places to visit close to the South Downs Way
Amberley | Arundel | Ashington | Bepton | Bignor | Bramber | Bramber Castle | Burpham | Bury | Chanctonbury Ring | Charlton | Chilgrove | Clayton | Cocking | Compton | Cootham | Devil's Dyke | The Devil's Humps | Didling | Duncton | East Dean | East Harting | Edburton | Findon | Graffham | Harting Down | Heyshott | Houghton | Hurstpierpoint | North Marden | Parham House | Poynings | Pyecombe | Rackham | Singleton | Slindon | South Harting | South Stoke | Stedham | Steyning | Storrington | Torberry Hill | Treyford | Trotton | Truleigh Hill | Uppark | Up Marden | Upwaltham | Upper Beeding | Washington | West Dean
You might also like
- A guide to walking,cycling or riding along the South Downs Way in West Sussex
- The best West Sussex walking and hiking equipment shops
- The Downs Link - a flat walk from Shoreham-by-Sea on the Sussex coast to the North Downs in Surrey
- Tips for West Sussex walkers
- LIPCHIS Way - a footpath from Chichester to Liphook
- A flat walk you can do with kids from Chichester to the Beach along Salterns Way and Chichester Harbour
- The Sussex part of the historic Monarch's Way
- West Sussex mountain bike clubs, blogs and information
- West Sussex horse riding
- West Sussex bridleways - cycling and horse riding
- B&B Midhurst
- Hotels Midhurst
- B&B Chichester
- Hotels Chichester
- Hotels Petworth
- B&B Arundel
- Hotels Arundel
- B&B Worthing
- Hotels Worthing
- B&B Haywards Heath
- Hotels Burgess Hill
- Butser Hill to Harting Down
- Harting to Cocking
- Cocking to Upwaltham
- Upwaltham to Amberley
- Amberley to Washington
- Washington to Upper Beeding
- Upper Beeding to Devil's Dyke
- Devil's Dyke to Ditchling Beacon
- Devil's Dyke viewpoint
- The Devil's Dyke
- Saddlescombe Farm
- West Hill
- Newtimber Hill
- Newtimber to Pyecombe
- Pyecombe Village
- Pyecombe Church
- Pyecombe Golf Course
- Clayton Windmills
- East Sussex Border
- South Downs Way Tips
- Cycling in Sussex
- Bike repairs
- Bicycle hire
- Mountain Biking
- Sussex Walking
- The Ramblers
- Other trails
- Horse riding
- Arundel
- Bognor Regis
- Burgess Hill
- Chichester
- Crawley
- East Grinstead
- Haywards Heath
- Horsham
- Littlehampton
- Midhurst
- Petworth
- Shoreham-by-Sea
- Steyning
- Worthing
