Saddlescombe Farm and Newtimber Hill

Saddlescombe is a working farm hamlet in a fold of the South Downs near Devil's Dyke, recorded in the Domesday Book and once owned by the Knights Templar. The oldest part of the farmhouse dates from around 1630, and among the mostly Victorian outbuildings is a well-preserved donkey wheel that once raised water from a well 50 metres below. The donkey wheel and an information barn, with audio recordings to download, are open all year and signposted from the South Downs Way, although much of the working farm is private. Above rises Newtimber Hill, where ancient woodland hides a 1,000-year-old lime tree and the chalk grassland turns purple with devil's-bit scabious in early autumn. Reviewers single out the donkey wheel and the independent Wildflour Cafe on the farm. Parking close by is limited, so many visitors walk over from Devil's Dyke or take the 77 bus from Brighton. Dogs are welcome on leads, as livestock graze the surrounding fields.