Ashdown Forest

The area in and around Ashdown Forest is rich in the diversity of places to visit, from East Grinstead in the north to Uckfield in the south, Crowborough in the east and Haywards Heath in the west, and the whole of Ashdown Forest itself in between. The four towns themselves, although very different in character, each offers a wide range of shopping, cafes, restaurants and pubs, and each has a leisure centre with swimming pool.

Just off the A22 are two of the foremost attractions of the area - the Ashdown Forest Centre, where you can learn everything about the Forest, and the Ashdown Forest Llama Park. The A275, which forks off the A22 just south of Wych Cross, will take you to three more treats – Heaven Farm, with its farm museum, craft shop and tearoom, Sheffield Park Garden National Trust and the Bluebell Railway.

To the north, in East Grinstead, with fast links to London and just outside the town, Standen, an Arts and Crafts house by Philip Webb, owned by the National Trust.

On the east side of the area, just off the A26, is Barnsgate Manor Vineyard with its tearoom and restaurant, its giftshop selling Barnsgate wines and its magnificent views. A little farther south, off the A272, is Wilderness Wood, a working woodland with fascinating walks, picnic and barbecue areas and a teashop. Along with wood ‘workshops’ in the looking after of the forest. It is open most days

Just beyond the Forest boundary, in the north east of the forest, is Groombridge Place Gardens and the Enchanted Forest. A few miles away, on the outskirts of the village of Hartfield, is Bolebroke Castle.

Ashdown Forest is part of the 'High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beatuty' this area extending from Horsham in the West to Rye in the East caries with it outstanding countryside, beautiful buildings and an interesting past. Thare are 31 United Kingdom Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty

Pooh Bear One of the Forest's more famous inhabitants, Christopher Milne wrote that "Pooh's Forest and Ashdown Forest are identical". many of the sites described in the stories can be recognised on the Forest although their names have been altered. For example, the Five Hundred Acre Wood became the 100 Aker Wood and Gills Lap became Galleons Leap. The North Pole and the Gloomy Place are in Wrens Warren Valley while the name, Enchanted Place, is applied to a memorial to Milne and Shepard. Hartfield is 'Pooh Central' with walks and other ativities centred around Pooh Bear.

unusual places

Airman’s Grave

west of Duddleswell. A memorial to all six of the crew who died when their bomber crashed here on its return from a raid on Cologne in 1941.

The Greenwich Meridian traverses the Ashdown Forest area from the east side of East Grinstead through the Weir Wood reservoir and the western side of the Forest, then almost down the center of the village of Danehill.

The Hanging Tree, at the foot of Wall Hill in Forest Row. Brothers John and William Beatson were found guilty and sentenced to be hanged here at the spot where their crime was committed. Their hangings were the last hangings of highwaymen, and one of the last public hangings in England.

Nutley Windmill

just north of the Nutley to Duddleswell road. Open Apr-Oct on the last Sunday of each month and Bank Holiday Sundays and Mondays. One of the best preserved of the surviving windmills in Sussex, it is over 300 years old. Nutley mill has been restored to full working order and is managed by the Uckfield and District Preservation Society. Organic flour is on sale there, ground by the very mill

Old Radio Station

near Duddleswell crossroads. A communications station built by the Canadians during World War II. Later it was refit to become a nuclear fallout shelter.

Two lengths of Roman Road can be seen crossing Ashdown Forest. One can be seen at Roman Road car park; the other is between Coleman’s Hatch and Wych Cross.