1
From outside the Tiger Inn at East Dean, cross the village green to the Frith & Little Deli and turn left then fork right down the road marked “No Through Road”. Follow this surfaced road past a few houses until you reach a gate. Go through the gate and head fairly steeply uphill, ignoring a cross path, and through two smaller gates onto the access land at National Trust’s Crowlink. Follow the path through the woods up to the crest of Went Hill where you’ll see a barn with a red roof in the distance. Make for the barn in the direction of the sea, keeping to the right of the barn and following the bridleway down to a gate at the bottom of the field. Go through this gate and through another gate before turning right onto the South Downs Way (SDW). (Birling Gap is 2 mins to the left downhill and further east still is the decommissioned lighthouse Belle Tout (A))
(A) Until the lighthouse at Belle Tout (pronounced “toot”) was completed in 1832, the only reliable warning light for ships was provided by Jonathan Darby, the vicar of St Jude’s church in East Dean. He became so concerned about the danger to sailors that he excavated a makeshift lighthouse and rescue-centre twenty feet up the face of the cliffs at Birling Gap. Darby spent night after night in his cave and saved many lives until 1726, when, rather unfairly, he died from exposure. Parson Darby’s cave still sits beneath Belle Tout lighthouse.
2
Here is where the 4 km/2.5 mile rollercoaster of the Seven Sisters starts: it’ll take approx 45 mins to traverse all Seven Sisters. Cross Went Hill Brow (Sister No 1); descend into Michel Dene; ascend Baily’s Hill (Sister No 2); and down into Flathill Bottom; briefly up Flat Hill (an uncounted Sister!) and down to Flagstaff Bottom; up to Flagstaff Point (B) (Sister No 3); down to Gap Bottom; up to Brass Point (Sister No 4); down to Rough Bottom; up to Rough Brow (Sister No 5); down to Limekiln Bottom; up to Short Brow (Sister No 6); down to Short Bottom; and finally up to Haven Brow (C) (Sister No 7).
(B) Locals often profited from the sailors’ misfortune, and “wreckers” hung false lights from the Seven Sisters to lure cargo ships to their doom. One unfortunate vessel to strike the cliffs was the Coonatto. This three-masted clipper weighing 633 tons was en route from Adelaide laden with wool and copper ingots when she ran around in the early hours of 21 February 1876. Inquisitive “wreck hunters” can find the ship off Flagstaff Point (TV537966) during spring low tides, when the large teak and iron frame of its hull protrudes from the foreshore.
Contrary to popular belief there is no general right of access to beaches, cliffs or foreshore in England and Wales. The Ramblers campaigned to change this with the proposal of a continuous path around Britain’s coast with “spreading room” on either side for access which resulted in the Marine and Coastal Access Bill 2009. Since then Natural England have been working hard work to open up the coast and hope to complete the England Coast Path (almost 3,000 miles long) in 2020.
(C) High above the beach the “rollercoaster ride” of ups and downs reaches a crescendo at the top of Haven Brow. The reward for surmounting the highest “sister” is the magnificent view across the tranquil Cuckmere valley from 78m/255ft. The only inhabitants of Cuckmere Haven moved into the coastguards’ cottages on the far side of the beach in 1818. The Navy built these cottages to provide a permanent base for Customs & Excise Men to tackle the prolific trafficking of gin, brandy and tobacco up the Cuckmere River to Alfriston. One notorious smuggler lived at the Manor House in East Dean. James Dipperay amassed a large fortune from the supply of contraband and, when he was finally arrested, betrayed his fellow local smugglers in return for his own freedom. His colleagues were deported to Australia, and Dipperay retired a wealthy man.
3
Here take the left fork leading steeply down and away from the South Downs Way (SDW). Continue along the cliff and over a stile. The path skirts the edge of Cliff End to the right, descending to Cuckmere Haven (D).
(D) The fate of Cuckmere Haven could have been very different if the Luftwaffe had fallen for the plan to create a night-time decoy. The Army and Navy were in favour of the scheme, but the RAF reckoned the Germans would not be fooled. An exact replica of Newhaven harbour’s lighting system was laid out in the valley south of Exceat Bridge, with a control panel housed in a Nissan hut close to where the Cuckmere Inn is today. It seems the RAF were right, and Cuckmere Haven was left relatively unscathed. The same cannot be said of Seaford. Despite its lack of strategic importance this small town suffered 36 air attacks, resulting in the death 23 citizens, with hundreds more injured. Over 140 high explosive bombs and countless incendiary bombs fell on the town during the war – more than any other town in Sussex, with the exception of Brighton and Eastbourne.
From Cuckfield Haven you need to double back along a path at the base of the cliff to reach the beach. Cross the beach to the mouth of the Cuckmere River (E).
(E) The wild meanders of the Cuckmere River were first tamed in 1846 by cutting a straight channel from the shoreline to Exceat Bridge. The channel was built to improve drainage, prevent flooding and create land for pasture. Today the valley is further protected by earth banks along the river’s course and the extensive maintenance of shingle banks to the west of its mouth. But climate change and rising sea levels have placed an impossible burden on resources, and there are plans to allow the valley to return to its natural state. It is hoped that if the process is managed carefully and gradually it will result in a self-sustaining tidal estuary of saltmarsh and mudflats.
Follow the path tight against the river's canalized bank, which makes a beeline to Exceat (F) (about 20 mins).
(F) Exceat suffered a different blight. The village was a flourishing settlement until the fifteenth century, and is said to have served as a naval base for Alfred the Great. But a series of poor harvests, frequent raids by French pirates, and the Black Death, led to rapid depopulation and its eventual desertion. Today it’s occupied by the Seven Sisters Country Park Centre and, on the far side of the bridge, the Cuckmere Inn. It also marks the departure of the South Downs Way from the Vanguard Way. Our route follows the latter, which skirts the western edge of Cuckmere Haven and climbs past the coastguards’ cottages to Seaford Head.
When you reach the road, cross Exceat Bridge towards the Cuckmere Inn and turn left into the car park.
Buses link Exceat with Eastbourne and Seaford for those wanting a shorter walk of 7.3km/4.5miles
4
At the far end of the Cuckmere Inn’s car park go through the gate and follow the Vanguard Way south for 20–30 mins, ignoring paths to left then right, before emerging on the west side of Cuckmere Haven with the coastguards’ cottages in front of you, and our great view of the Seven Sisters from Seaford Head.
5
Passing the coastguards’ cottages on your left continue uphill to Hop Gap and then right following the cliff edge through Seaford Head Nature Reserve, and walk for a further 30 mins past Hope Bottom and along the esplanade to the Martello Tower (G). (Seaford station is 10 mins further down the esplanade, and right up Dane Road.)
(G) Seaford town was first recorded in 788AD as “Saeford” but there were earlier Roman and Celtic settlements here at the mouth of the River Ouse. The town became an important port and was granted membership of the Cinque Ports Federation. But the gradual silting of the Ouse coupled with a great storm in 1579 caused the river to burst its banks, diverting its course further west. A port was built at the new river mouth and Seaford’s influence was gradually eclipsed by the “New Haven”. Today the town is unremarkable but for the moated Martello Tower on the seafront which houses Seaford Museum.
There are 74 Martello towers lining England’s coast, from Folkstone to Seaford. Seaford’s tower was the last link in this defensive chain built to repel the French during the Napoleonic Wars. The towers were inspired by a round fortress at Mortella Point in Corsica, which so impressed the Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean, Admiral Sir John Jervis, that he resolved to erect one “on every part of the [English] coast likely for an enemy to make a descent on”. “Martello” is believed to be a corruption of “Mortella”.
