Stansted House is a stately home run by a Foundation that is a charitable trust. You can pay and visit the house and gardens (which is very worthwhile) but you can also walk around Stansted Park for free.

The house has a Garden Centre, and this walk starts from its car park. The house also has a very nice tea shop, so you can give yourself a well earned reward of tea when you have completed the walk.

The walk is across the Sussex counntyside, but is different because the grounds are closely managed. There are lots of other walks you can do around the estate, but I hope you enjoy the one I have picked out.

Distance: 5.9 km, 3.7 miles

Walking Time: 1 hour 30 mins

Difficulty: Easy

Wheelchair Accessible: No

Start/End: Stansted Garden Centre car park

Access:
10 minutes drive from the Square in Emsworth
No bus service

Itinerary

The walk starts from the car park of Stansted House Garden Centre. From Emsworth head north up North Street and Horndean Road out of the village, up the hill and turn right at the junction into Emsworth Common Road sgnposted to Stansted House.
Go along this road for about 1 kilometre and taken the second turning on the left, signposted to Stansted House. Stay on the road and after a while you will see the gatehouse to the estate. As you reach the end of the drive turn right and drive to the garden centre car park.
The walks starts as you head north up the approach road. At th road turn right towards the house. Immediately turn left onto a footpath that heads NNE across the front of the house.
From your map you can see that there are a number of paths around the estate. This is just one possible itinerary.
Passing down this path, you can see Stansted House off to the right. It is open to the public and is worth a visit if you have the time.
The house claims connection with Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire popularised in the recent film, but the house you see today was built following a fire in 1900 on the foundations of the original house.
What you see today was thanks in large part to the Bessborough family, and is a beautiful example of an Edwardian country House.
After about 250 metres the path ends, and you want to turn left onto the estate road for about 100 metres where you turn back to the NNE and through a gate onto a bridleway.
Follow this bridleway, keeping the woods on your left and a large field on your right.
This path continues on for just over 1 kilometre, where if bears left and heads into the woods.
Stick to the bridleway on the right as it continues to head NNE. Carry on until you reach the edge of the wood where you turn right onto a footpath.
This footpath heads east, passing through the northern edge of the woods and eventually emerges between two large fields. Continue along the path as it traces the edges of other fields and then reaches a plantation, where you turn right and head down towards Broadreed Farm.
The footpath leads through the farmyard and emerges onto a farm track where you head SSW between more fields. The path then arrives at a house and some fences, with one path going to the right. You want to bear left onto the path that heads south through the woods with the fence on your right.
Follow this footpath until you reach a T junction with a farm track where you turn right and follow the track west.
The path continues between the fields until it reaches a junction. Keep left and head WSW for about 200 metres. You then come to another junction from where you can see the footpath you used at the start across the front of the house.
Follow the path and retrace your steps back to the car park and the starting point.