Balcombe – Walking Route, Viaduct and History

Balcombe offers several points of interest for a trip: the Balcombe Circular, the Ouse Valley Railway Viaduct and St Mary’s Church. They draw attention to a walking route, a structure and a historical event. When planning your stay, the details of each can help you choose a more specific focus: would you like to follow a particular route, are you interested in architecture, or would you like to explore local history? The three topics answer these questions in different ways.

Walking the Balcombe Circular

The Balcombe Circular is 7.5 miles (12 km) long and rated moderate to challenging. The circular route starts and ends at the car park at Balcombe Station on London Road. This clearly identifies both the route length and its shared start and end point. Both distance and rating matter when making your choice: the distance indicates the extent of the walk, while the difficulty rating provides a different kind of guidance. They answer different questions and are not interchangeable. If you would like to include a walk in your travel plans, you can use these details to check whether the route matches the level of challenge you want. Having the same start and end point also makes the circular nature of the route clear; when planning, you can link the starting point directly to the end of the route.

The Ouse Valley Railway Viaduct

The Balcombe Circular passes beneath the Ouse Valley Viaduct. This establishes a specific connection between the walking route and the structure. The Ouse Valley Railway Viaduct was built between 1839 and 1841 and consists of 37 tall round-arched openings. The dates place its construction in historical context, while the number and shape of the arches describe its architectural form. A round-arched opening is characterised by its curved arch. For those interested in architecture, the construction period and the shape of the arches offer two specific points of reference: the construction period provides a timeframe, and the arches reveal the form. At the same time, the Circular passes beneath the viaduct. This connects an architectural view of the structure with a clearly identified section of the circular route.

A historical event at St Mary’s Church

St Mary’s Church in Balcombe offers a third, historical point of interest. A royal wedding took place there in 1931, and Queen Elizabeth II was present as a young bridesmaid. The year, occasion and her role at the time belong together: the historical connection is based both on the wedding and on the fact that the future queen was there as a young bridesmaid. For travellers who want to include local history among their interests, this provides a clearly defined connection to Balcombe. This focus differs from the viaduct: there, attention is on the construction period and the form of the arches, while at St Mary’s an event from 1931 and one of its participants shape the story. In this way, the church can be understood through a specific historical event.

Which focus suits your trip?

If you would first like to decide on the character of your trip, the three points of interest are clearly distinct. The Circular supports your walking plans, providing the distance, difficulty rating, and start and end point. The viaduct connects the route with construction history and architecture. St Mary’s Church is associated with the 1931 wedding and the presence of the young bridesmaid. You can therefore give walking, architecture and historical memory whatever weight best suits your interests.

Discover more destinations: Amberley, Hurstpierpoint, Chichester, Thakeham, Yapton, Hassocks, Midhurst, Horsham

For the broader travel overview: West Sussex.