Where is Ditchling Beacon?

Ditchling Beacon is in East Sussex, South-East England, United Kingdom (postcode BN6 8XD), in the parish of Ditchling.

How do I get to Ditchling Beacon?

The nearest railway station is Hassocks, about 3.7 km away. Drivers can use postcode BN6 8XD.

Is Ditchling Beacon a protected site?

Yes — Ditchling Beacon is part of the Clayton to Offham Escarpment SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest and the High Weald National Landscape (AONB).

Is Ditchling Beacon free to visit?

Yes, Ditchling Beacon is free to enter.

How do I get to Ditchling Beacon?

The nearest railway station is Hassocks, about 3.7 km away. Drivers can navigate to postcode BN6 8XD.

Mountains & hills · South East England

Ditchling Beacon

In or near Falmer.

Free admission

Ditchling Beacon — Named summit at 249 m.

Ditchling Beacon, mountains & hills in East Sussex — Wikimedia Commons contributors — see linked file page for photographer and licence licence

Plan your visit

Typical visit: 3 h–8 h
Best time of year: Late spring – early autumn (May–Oct)
Nearest railway station: Hassocks · 3.7 km

Free entry
Family-friendly
Dog-friendly

Getting there & planning your visit

To visit Ditchling Beacon, the nearest railway station is Hassocks, located 3.7 km away. Entry is free, and the location is accessible via postcode BN6 8XD.

Directions on Google Maps →

Ditchling Beacon is a named summit in the United Kingdom. Wikidata describes it as: "Named summit at 249 m.". Coordinates: 50.9017°, -0.1076°.

Photo gallery

360° viewimagery from 2021

Imagery © Mapillary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0

Protected designations

Site of Special Scientific Interest: Clayton to Offham Escarpment SSSI
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty: High Weald

Designations sourced from Natural England open data under OGL v3.

From the Wikipedia article

Ditchling Beacon is the highest point in East Sussex, England, with an elevation of 248 m (814 ft). It is south of Ditchling and to the north-east of Brighton. It is a large chalk hill with a particularly steep northern face, covered with open grassland and sheep-grazing areas. It is the third-highest point on the South Downs, behind Butser Hill (270 m (890 ft)) and Crown Tegleaze (253 m (830 ft)). A road runs from Ditchling up and across the northern face and down into the northern suburbs of Brighton, and there are car parks at the summit and the northern base. Various charity, sporting and other events which are run regularly between London and Brighton incorporate this steep road as a challenging part of their route. It was also featured as a climb on the first of two days' racing in Britain in the 1994 Tour de France. The Tour organisers gave Ditchling Beacon a climb category of 4. 20 years later it was included as part of the route of the seventh stage of the 2014 Tour of Britain from Camberley to Brighton. Ditchling Beacon is part of the Clayton to Offham Escarpment biological Site of Special Scientific Interest and an area of 24 hectares (59 acres) is a nature reserve managed by the Sussex Wildlife Trust. The slopes represent some of the best chalk downland in the area.

Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.

Background

History

Ditchling Beacon was an Iron Age hill fort and its ramparts are detectable on their north and east sides (), though the overgrown vegetation and fences makes it difficult to walk them in parts. The eastern ramparts bound a fragment of derelict chalk heath, which is disappearing under scrub and rank grassland. The Beacon represented an excellent position for defensive purposes as it dominates adjoining parts of the South Downs ridge, and particularly the much lower ground to the north (where the villages and towns of Mid Sussex are now located) in the Lower Weald. A single defensive bank and ditch enclosed an area of approximately 5.5 hectares (13.6 acres), making it one of the larger camps…

Visiting

There are three bostals that run up the escarpment to Ditchling Beacon, the middle one of which carries the motor road. The other two are walkable, but most people do not notice the higher (west of motor road) and lower (east of motor road) bostals, which give easy access, because the slopes are still broken up by thickets despite Sussex Wildlife Trusts's valiant and ongoing efforts to clear the scrub. In contrast, many people scramble enthusiastically up and down the slopes of the Beacon's sister site, Devil's Dyke. The only road access to the summit is via the steep and narrow Beacon Road, which runs from the centre of Ditchling village and takes the name Ditchling Road once the summit is…

Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Coordinates: 50.9017, -0.1076
County: East Sussex
District: Lewes
Parish: Ditchling
Postcode: BN6 8XD
Parliamentary constituency: Lewes
Nearest railway station: Hassocks — 3.7 km

Sources

osm: n33825466 (ODbL)
wikipedia: Ditchling Beacon (CC BY-SA 4.0)
commons: D Beacon (N from Summit).jpg (CC BY-SA 4.0)

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👶↗ eastsussexinfigures.org.uk