RST Route 4 Fairfields Crossroads To Shipley

1 mile within Thakeham and then 2.5 miles to Shipley. A mainly level route initially on farm tracks, footpaths and minor roads with the final section a bridleway. Pedestrians only.

On leaving the junction (B2139 / B2133) take the unmade up road leading east up a gentle incline between a couple of houses. Through a copse of mature trees Apsley Farm is reached which is now a small hamlet of six or so properties. John Apsley, by marriage, had obtained ownership of half of the Thakeham estate by 1377. The Apsley family name appears to have been taken from the de Braose demesne of Apsley and Thakeham recorded as such in 1073. The family have a plaque in St. Mary’s Church. Continue on the farm track in open country until two derelict barns are reached which mark the edge of Thakeham Parish. Take the footpath left across the middle of an arable field into Shipley Parish.

Pass through a hedgerow and heading NNE now with a field on the left arrive at Lower Barn (on some maps) or Palacelands Farm. The path leads past the back of the rear garden and then joins the driveway which is a straight track to Hooklands Lane. To the left for 400 yards is a flat and prepared lawn perhaps 20 yards wide which is a light aircraft strip.

At the road turn left and continue for half a mile to 200 yards beyond the Oaklands Farm drive. Take the footpath to the right through a gate and then immediately over a stile. Follow the path at the left edge of the small field to a stile at the next corner. Pass through the farm yard and then a field on the same alignment to a pedestrian gate at the right hand end of a substantial hedge. You have now entered the Knepp Castle Estate which extends up to and beyond Shipley and across to the east and the A24 (from which the original Norman castle ruins can be seen). It covers about 3,500 acres and with its wilding programme provides a unique area for wild life, farm animals and even humans.

Continue due east for nearly half a mile to Pen Bridge which is a modest structure carrying the bridleway aligned north south across a small pond. Turn left onto the bridleway and continue to Countryman Lane running east west a few hundred yards south of Shipley. Turn right onto the road and arrive at Shipley either by a footpath leading up to the windmill (once owned by Shipley’s famous former resident Hillaire Belloc who lived most of his life there) or by a farm track towards the church (dating from the 12th century and built by the Knights Templar).

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