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About
Gallery
Parking
Poo bins?
Self-guided walk
About
The Ashdown Forest is in East Sussex (although parts of it are not far from the Surrey border) and it has some absolutely stunning locations to enjoy (see also this walk at Chelwood Vachery and this alternative route to the Garden of Eden waterfall from Ellison’s Pond).
Despite its name, the Ashdown Forest is chiefly made up of lowland heath, with woodland comprising less than 40 per cent of its total area – however, it was originally a deer hunting forest in Norman times.
More than 300 years old, Nutley Windmill is a grade II listed open trestle post mill, which has been restored to working order. It’s thought that this mill was originally built in Kilndown near Goudhurst in Kent and moved to Nutley around 1817 or 1835, depending on your source of information. Apparently a mill “disappeared” from Kilndown sometime between 1710 and 1769 and someone has concluded that it ended up here. The wood that post is made from, however, has been analysed and given a felling date of between 1533 – 1570, so it is much older and has probably supported at least two other mills before this one.
In 1928, the windmill’s owner, a Lady Castle Stewart, had the by-then-rather-neglected mill shored up with bricks and steel joists. Work to restore it started in 1968, and its sails were turning merrily once more by 1971, with grain being ground again from 1972. In 1975, Lady Stewart gifted the windmill to the Uckfield and District Preservation Society.
In popular culture, Nutley Windmill featured in the 1976 film The Song Remains the Same as the location for the fantasy scene with Led Zeppelin’s bass and keyboard player, John Paul Jones. In 2017, it was on a Royal Mail postage stamp.
The Garden of Eden waterfall is tucked away, just off one of the main rides and formed by a stream cascading down over some rocks. Manage your expectations, you’re not in the Yorkshire Dales or the Peak District, but it’s a pretty little spot all the same.
Gallery: What’s it like here?
Parking
For this walk, park at Box car park. Parking charges, sadly, were introduced in late 2022 – see the Ashdown Forest website for details.
| Duration | Fees |
| Up to 1 hour | £2.00 |
| Up to 2 hours | £2.50 |
| Up to 4 hours | £4.00 |
| All day | £5.00 |
| Annual pass | £80.00 |
Poo bins?
None, please take waste home with you
Self-guided walk
Here is a Footpath app route from Box car park that takes you past the Friends’ Clump to Nutley Windmill. Then it heads down to the stream and along the water’s edge to the Garden of Eden waterfall, before looping back to the car park. Also on my AllTrails.
Length: approximately 2.9 miles/4.7 km
Terrain: This is quite a challenging walk compared to most of the routes on this site. There are fairly steep slopes, and the ground is really quite rugged underfoot in places, especially on some of the wide main paths. The little path that runs along the stream is also very uneven, with lots of ups and downs and tree routes to clamber over – so this is a walk that is best avoided if you’re at all unsteady on your feet. While there are trees sheltering some parts of this walk, quite a bit takes in open heath, with no respite from the sun (or rain) so not a walk for hot days.
Stiles/kissing gates? No stiles, no kissing gates
From the back of Box car park, with the road behind you, turn left onto the wide main path and follow it up the hill to the group of pine trees you can see ahead. This is called the Friends’ Clump. Scots pines were first ordered to be planted in the Ashdown Forest in 1825 by Elizabeth, Countess de la Warr, whose descendants owned the area until 1988. At the time, locals were outraged by these “interlopers” and many of the trees were cut down! The Friends’ Clump trees were planted in 1973 by the Friends of Ashdown Forest to commemorate the “Year of the Tree”.
When you reach Friends’ Clump, continue straight ahead with the trees on your right and head down the slope. Take care as the ground has eroded such that deep gulleys have formed in the path. There is gorse on your left and open heath to the right, beyond which you can see the impressive Old Lodge.
Look out for a wooden sign for the windmill, pointing to a fork to the left – follow this between holly bushes. After the house on the left and the wire fence, the windmill will be visible. Follow the path to the gate and feel free to go through to the lane for a better look. The windmill is open to the public on most Wednesdays throughout the year, from 11am to 3pm. There are also a number of official open days throughout the year – check the website for details. Entry is free, but a donation is welcomed.
When you’re done at the windmill, go back through the gate and continue on the path you were walking on, which now has a stick fence along the left hand side. It descends quite sharply around the root ball of a fallen tree. Carry on on this little path through the woods, with a grassy field to the left. Go over the fallen tree trunk and head down to where it joins a main path.
Bear left onto this wide path and you’ll almost immediately come to a large fork – continue ahead on the right hand path. As it descends, the trees give way to heath with lots of gorse. It will curve quite sharply to the left and, as it does so, another wide – but grassy – path comes off down to the right – take this and curve round and down towards some silver birch trees. At the next wide junction, continue straight ahead and ignore the path that curves round to the left.
Follow the path along the treeline and then into the trees. After a little while, there is a small path off to the left and you can see it heads towards a swing hanging from a tree. (Heading down to this can make for a nice little diversion!) If you aren’t distracted by the swing, stay on the path until it comes to a fork.
Go left on the lower path rather than right up the hill. This path gets smaller and smaller, and sometimes you’ll lose it but just keep going ahead (the line on the Footpath app route can help here) and you’ll emerge at a gullied path cutting across your way. Turn right here and go up the slope to join the main path, where you turn left.
You’re on this main path for a fair way. It will gently curve to the right and descend, passing a lone tree sticking up from the gorse on the right.
A little after that, you’ll come to a cross paths, where the way to the right goes up a steep hill, and to the left, it goes down to the stream and a wooden post marked Barker Crossing, which is next to a pond on the right. Head down here, straight past the wooden post and up the slope ahead, with the woods to your left. Ahead, you’ll see two lone trees, one on either side of this main path. Where those two trees are, there is a really tiny path heading diagonally left, down into the woods to the stream.
You can then follow this shaded little path along the edge of the stream. It’s very small and windy and rugged but a lovely little route and all you can hear is the sound of running water and the birds chirping. Just keep the stream on your left the whole way. There are loads of spots where you can easily get down to the water if you want to and a few little waterfalls on the way too.
You’ll come to a more open bit where a little tributary joins the stream and then the path goes up a short but steep bank. From here you can see the Garden of Eden waterfall ahead.
As I note on the other post with the route to this waterfall from Ellison’s Pond, it’s not exactly Niagara Falls, but it is beautiful and you can paddle through it. This is a lovely little spot for a bit-of-a-sit or a picnic if you’re lucky enough to be here on a quiet day without loads of people coming by (having had the same ”oooh, let’s find the Eden waterfall” idea as you!)
When you’re done at the waterfall, cross through the stream at the top of it, where the water cascades down to the left and follow the little path round to the right until you get to Nobby’s Bridge. Turn right, cross the bridge, and then follow the wide main path straight ahead.
Far ahead in the distance, you can see the Friends’ Clump at the top of the hill.
This path takes you back past the two trees that are on side of the main path and, from there, go back down to Barker Crossing, passing the pond, which is now on your left. Walk up the slope to the main path and turn left, following this uphill all the way back to Box car park.
Walks with Rena 