Midhurst & Cocking

Midhurst and Cocking lie in the Chichester district of West Sussex, set where the River Rother threads through a small market town and the lower slopes of the South Downs. Midhurst’s streets curve around older stone and timber-framed buildings and the parish church. Just south of the town are the ruins of Cowdray House, left after the 1793 fire, and the adjoining Cowdray Park polo ground, where the annual British Open (Gold Cup) is staged each summer, drawing a season of matches to the valley floor.

Cocking occupies higher ground on the downs, with a network of bridleways and footpaths that run along chalk ridges and down into the Rother valley. Farms and small woodlands sit between fields and lanes, and local routes link the village to Midhurst for shops and services. Walkers use the lanes and tracks as access to open downland; riders and cyclists also use the rights of way that cross the scarp and lead to panoramic viewpoints over the surrounding countryside.