The Royal Oak, East Lavant and Saint Roches Hill Walk is a 5.2 mile loop trail located near Chichester, West Sussex, England that features a river and is rated as moderate. The trail is primarily used for hiking, walking, nature trips, and bird watching.
A circular pub walk from The Royal Oak in East Lavant, West Sussex. The Royal Oak is at heart a country inn, run by people dedicated to good food, warm hospitality, and personal service. The walking route explores the pretty village before heading north along the West Sussex Literary Trail to reach the summit of St Roches Hill. From this wonderful vantage point, you will have views across Goodwood, Chichester and the south coast. The walk consists of one long steady climb for the first half (a total ascent of 170 metres), with the equivalent descent for the second half. The paths are generally wide and well-made, but there are a couple of stretches that can be muddy or overgrown. The main loop follows bridleways, meaning there are no stiles and only a couple of simple bridle gates along the way. You will cross two pastures that are likely to be holding sheep (and may be holding a few alpacas that are used to guard the sheep too). There is an optional detour on a footpath that takes you onto the summit of St Roches Hill- this includes an extra kissing gate and the summit is occasionally grazed by cattle for conservation (omitting this detour will reduce the total ascent by 50 metres and reduce the walk length by about half a mile). Allow 2.5 hours.
East Lavant is located about 2 miles north of Chichester. The walk starts and finishes at The Royal Oak on Pook Lane. The pub has its own small car park opposite for those taking refreshments. Approximate post code PO18 0AX. At peak times, it would be more helpful for walkers to use roadside parking ' the best option is alongside the village cricket field on Sheepwash Lane (close to Waypoint 1).
This is a good trail but is way too flooded to do all the way, I would recommend going starting at the Royal Oak, walking up the long pathway to the hill and back down that way to avoid the floods
Very wet along Lavant valley so much so path became a pond with paddling so had to go up Centurian way