Strolls in Sussex: The Long Man of Wilmington

Weather: Warm, Sunny and Breezy

Sussex is a county I've not visited since I was a lad, growing up on the south coast of Hampshire. We used to visit relatives in the Chichester area but we never ventured much further east. Having timed our visit during the only week of good weather we seemed to get this Spring I decided to make the most of it with a six mile walk around one of the most striking landmarks in the area - the Long Man of Wilmington. One of the reasons I wanted to do this walk was that we have a etching of the long man by the artist Jeremy Blighton.

The Long Man of Wilmington by Jeremy Blighton

The view at the start of the walk

The walk starts with a stunning view of the Long Man, which is something like a film trailer showing all the best bits leaving you disappointed with the rest of the film. However I was not to be disappointed by this walk.

After walking up close to the feet of the Long Man (which is now made of concrete blocks painted white rather than being carved out of the turf) you head up and along the face of the escarpment and then down a chalk track to a road. This section was very busy with people flying kites, walking dogs and riding bikes at breakneck speed down the rather rugged track. They were all very polite and managed to avoid me in their pursuit of speed.

After a short road section beside several buildings built in local brick and flint and black painted woodwork the path climbs steeply onto the ridge. The landscape here is very open and I was very glad for my hat as the sun was strong and reflected brightly from the chalk of the path.


The path runs through the Lullington Heath Nature Reserve and I had a moments terror when I reached the far end of it and checked the map on the back of the reserve sign. According to that I had walked at 90 degrees to my intended path and was miles away from where I should have been!

I had two choices: 1. Go back to the pond at the heart of the reserve, about an hour or so back from where I stood or 2. Trust my judgement and my map reading and head on.
Fortunately I trusted my map-reading and a couple of hundred yards on there was the junction with the South Downs Way.

The next section has fantastic views into a coombe which had kites and buzzards soaring on the updraughts, it is always exciting to see birds close up and from above! You then continue above the Long Man getting a strange perspective on the figure and in spring the fields still show the chalky soil between the rows of grain just starting to grow.

Arty shot of fields

The track soon starts to descend and you rejoin the path that leads up from the car park. The walk is well worth doing, lots of open space, interesting sites and fairly easy navigation. The Giant's Rest pub had stopped serving food by the time I got back to it so be prepared for this.