The Octagon walksWalks from the door: the Octagon Way and its eight short loops

What the Octagon is

The Octagon is the name for eight small villages tucked into the Downs between Chichester and Petersfield: Compton, the four Mardens, Stoughton, Racton and Forestside among them. The South Downs National Park publishes two free booklets of walks that join them up, and the routes are waymarked on the ground.

This is quiet country. No main road crosses it, and on a weekday in winter you can walk for two hours and meet nobody. The paths run through beech hangers, along dry chalk valleys and over open downland.

The nine walks

Distances are measured from our own map of each route, and the climb is the total ascent. The 3D map shows every route over the hills, its profile and the way to it from the farm, and each one downloads as a GPX file.

• Octagon Way: 15.2 miles, 462 m of climb, a full day. A loop through Racton, Walderton, Stoughton, East Marden, North Marden, Up Marden, Compton, West Marden and Forestside. It passes a quarter of a mile west of the farm, so you can start and finish at your own front door.
• West Marden (walk 7): 2.7 miles, 81 m of climb, about an hour and a quarter. Starts in the village and finishes past the Victoria Inn.
• Compton to Telegraph Hill (walk 5): 2.9 miles, 86 m of climb. Starts half a mile from the farm and ends by the Coach and Horses in Compton, which may be closed: check it is open before you set out.
• Compton to Compton Down (walk 6): 3.2 miles, 103 m of climb. Open downland and big skies, three quarters of a mile from the farm.
• Up Marden (walk 8): 1.7 miles, 55 m of climb. The shortest, and it passes St Michael’s, a 13th-century church alone on the hill.
• Walderton to Watergate (walk 2): 3.5 miles, 91 m of climb, with the Barley Mow in Walderton.
• Stoughton to Pitlands Farm (walk 3): 2.3 miles, 100 m of climb, with the Hare and Hounds in Stoughton.
• Stoughton to Kingley Vale (walk 4): 4.1 miles, 168 m of climb, the hilliest of the short walks. It climbs to 205 m on Bow Hill and the ancient yews of Kingley Vale.
• Stansted Park (walk 1): 2.7 miles, 38 m of climb, almost flat, through the parkland and avenues of Stansted Park.

Which to choose

For a first morning, do the West Marden loop: it needs no car and no planning, and it ends at the pub. With a dog that needs a proper run, take either Compton walk. For a short winter afternoon with the light going, Up Marden is under an hour and the church is worth the walk on its own.

For a day out, the Octagon Way is the one. Fifteen miles is six to seven hours at an easy pace, and there are pubs on the route at Walderton and Stoughton, so lunch takes care of itself. Book a table at weekends. The Coach and Horses in Compton may be closed, so check it is open before you set out.

After rain the chalk paths are slippery and the valley bottoms are muddy from November to March. Bring boots. There is a wood burner to come back to.

Maps and directions

The South Downs National Park’s booklets have turn-by-turn directions: the Octagon short walks booklet and the Octagon Way leaflet. The area is on Ordnance Survey Explorer map OL8, Chichester.

Our route lines follow mapped footpaths from OpenStreetMap and can be up to 100 m out where a path crosses an open field, so carry the booklet as well as your phone. Mobile signal comes and goes in the valleys.