Fernhurst

Tucked into the northern fringe of West Sussex, right where the county gives way to Surrey, Fernhurst sits in a fold of the Weald beneath Blackdown, the highest point in the whole of Sussex at 280 metres. The village grew up around St Margaret's Church, first built in the 13th century, and its centre still clusters with 14th and 15th-century timber-framed houses alongside handsome 16th and 17th-century buildings. In the 1600s and 1700s, Fernhurst was a working centre for the Wealden iron industry, its furnaces fed by the surrounding forests and its trade carried along an old turnpike road that still threads through the village today.

That mix of history and landscape has long drawn visitors and residents of note. Oliver Cromwell is said to have stayed at Blackdown House, once home to an ironmaster, while the Fabian Society held gatherings at nearby Friday's Hill House with George Bernard Shaw among the regulars. Alfred, Lord Tennyson built his summer home, Aldworth, on the eastern slopes of Blackdown and lived there until his death in 1892. Fernhurst was named West Sussex Village of the Year in 2007, and it still has the feel of a place where the past hasn't been tidied away, just quietly folded into everyday life around the green.

Top things to do in Fernhurst

Fernhurst's setting inside the South Downs National Park means outstanding walking is on the doorstep, alongside a scattering of historic houses, gardens and market towns nearby.

• Blackdown — the highest point in Sussex at 280 metres, owned by the National Trust since 1944, with sweeping views across the Weald to the Devil's Dyke and, on a clear day, as far as Lewes.
• Marley Common — a National Trust heathland and woodland site acquired in 1911, grazed by Belted Galloway cattle and criss-crossed with paths for a shorter, gentler walk than Blackdown.
• St Margaret's Church — the 13th-century parish church around which the village first grew, with later additions spanning several centuries of Fernhurst history.
• Verdley Wood and Fernhurst's footpath network — a web of ancient Wealden woodland and field paths linking the village to Blackdown, Marley Common and neighbouring hamlets.
• Haslemere — a handsome Surrey market town just under three miles north, with independent shops, the Haslemere Museum and its own pocket of Georgian architecture.
• Midhurst — a historic market town about five miles south, home to the ruins of Cowdray House and within easy reach of Cowdray Park polo ground.
• South Downs National Park — Fernhurst sits inside the park boundary, giving direct access to a protected landscape of chalk downland, heath and ancient woodland stretching across Hampshire and Sussex.

Getting to Fernhurst

Fernhurst lies just off the A286, the main road linking Haslemere to Midhurst and on to Chichester, making it an easy drive from both the M25 and the A3. Haslemere, around three miles away, has a mainline railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line with regular services to London Waterloo in around an hour, and a taxi or bus link covers the short final stretch into the village. Gatwick Airport is roughly 40 minutes by car, and the South Coast at Chichester and Bognor Regis is under half an hour further south along the A286.

Best time to visit Fernhurst

Late spring and early summer bring bluebells and fresh green growth to the woodlands around Marley Common and Verdley Wood, while a clear day on Blackdown at almost any time of year rewards the climb with long views over the Weald. Late summer turns the heathland on Blackdown and Marley Common purple with heather, and autumn brings rich colour to the beech and oak woods that surround the village. Winter is quieter, with crisp walking weather and the Red Lion's inglenook fire a fitting reward at the end of a muddy circuit.

Where to stay in Fernhurst

Fernhurst itself is a small village, so accommodation tends towards characterful pubs with rooms, bed and breakfasts in period cottages, and self-catering properties in the surrounding countryside, with a wider choice of hotels available in nearby Haslemere and Midhurst for those wanting more facilities on site.

Food and drink in Fernhurst

The Red Lion, dating from 1592 and overlooking the village green, is Fernhurst's best-known pub, serving home-cooked classics, Sunday roasts and regular themed nights beneath its low timbered ceiling and inglenook fireplace. The King's Arms offers a second traditional option a short distance away, and the wider choice of restaurants, cafes and independent food shops in nearby Haslemere and Midhurst is easily reached for an evening out or a market-day browse.