West Hoathly

West Hoathly itself has only a small number of places to stay, most notably characterful rooms at the historic Cat Inn, right in the heart of the village and within easy walking distance of the Priest House and St Margaret's Church. For a wider choice of hotels, guest houses and chain options, East Grinstead and Haywards Heath are both a short drive away and offer good rail links back to London, making either a practical base for touring the High Weald. Those after something more indulgent should look to Gravetye Manor, the Elizabethan manor house on the village's doorstep, now a country-house hotel built around William Robinson's celebrated gardens, with an acclaimed restaurant using produce from its own walled kitchen garden. Further afield, the wider High Weald and Ashdown Forest area is well served by boutique inns and farmhouse B&Bs, many set in converted oast houses or Wealden barns, giving visitors the choice between staying in the thick of the village's history or retreating to quieter countryside a short drive away.

West Hoathly is small, but it punches well above its weight for genuine, unspoilt history. Highlights include:

• The Priest House Museum and Garden — a timber-framed hall house built around 1400 for the priory of St Pancras in Lewes, later extended into a yeoman farmer's home. It is now a museum of country furniture, ironwork and domestic bygones, and holds the extraordinary Suffragette Handkerchief, embroidered by women imprisoned at Holloway in 1912. The cottage garden holds over 170 herbs.
• St Margaret's Church — the parish church at the heart of the village, with roots going back to the 11th century and a Norman font among its historic features.
• The Cat Inn — a 16th-century timber-framed pub once part of the Sackville estate, said to take its name from the wild cats on the family's coat of arms; a well uncovered during renovations was still in use as late as 1724.
• Gravetye Manor gardens — the Elizabethan manor a short walk from the village was bought in 1884 by William Robinson, the pioneering "wild garden" writer, who laid out the grounds that still influence English gardening today.
• High Weald AONB walking — the footpaths radiating from West Hoathly cross classic Wealden scenery of shaws, ghylls and hop-garden fields, with the Sussex Border Path passing close by.
• Bluebell Railway (Kingscote station) — the nearest working station on this much-loved heritage steam line is a walkable distance away, with trains running through wooded Wealden cuttings to Sheffield Park and East Grinstead.
• Wakehurst and the Millennium Seed Bank — Kew's wild botanic garden, home to the world's largest wild plant seed conservation project, lies about a mile and a half to the south-west.

The Cat Inn is the obvious focal point, a 16th-century timber-framed pub serving seasonal, produce-led food alongside real ales in a warren of low-beamed rooms. For a special occasion, Gravetye Manor's restaurant draws on its own walled kitchen garden and orchards to put a modern, ingredient-driven spin on English country-house cooking. The Priest House Museum also runs a small tea room in season, a pleasant stop after exploring the gardens.

West Hoathly and the surrounding High Weald offer some lovely, low-key camping country, though it is worth remembering that wild camping without the landowner's permission is illegal in England, so an established campsite or a farm pitch with the owner's agreement is the way to go. The Weald's terrain of small fields, shaws and ghylls (steep wooded stream valleys) makes for sheltered, intimate pitches rather than wide open ground, and several local farms and smallholdings offer simple camping alongside more developed touring sites near East Grinstead and Haywards Heath. The heavy clay-and-sandstone soils of the Weald mean the ground can turn soft after rain, so late spring through to early autumn is the most reliable window, with June to September offering the driest pitches and the best chance of long evenings to enjoy the surrounding countryside. Bluebell season in April and May adds a particular reason to pitch up nearby, with the ancient woodlands around West Hoathly and Ashdown Forest putting on one of the region's best seasonal displays. For those who prefer a roof over their heads without giving up the outdoor feel, glamping has taken hold across the High Weald in recent years, with shepherd's huts, safari tents and converted horseboxes appearing on farms within easy reach of the village, typically offering proper beds, log burners and a lower-effort alternative to a traditional tent while keeping the same rural, wooded setting. Whichever option you choose, book ahead in peak summer weekends, as sites across this popular corner of Sussex fill quickly once the weather turns fine.