This must be where the Ents live, where dryads play and fairies sleep under toadstools — yet it is only three miles from the coastal city of Chichester.
A walk through these ancient, twisted yews, which are among the oldest living things in Britain with trunk girths of up to 16ft, is an enchanting rarity.
Follow the nature trail through this 500-acre SSSI and enjoy spectacular views of the English Channel and South Downs. Within the nature reserve are 14 scheduled monuments, including the Iron Age Devil’s Humps (barrows) and Goosehill Camp, plus green woodpeckers, red kites and chalkhill blue, holly blue and brimstone butterflies.
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Racton Folly, West Sussex: Flying bricks, faces in windows and a ghost tractor that sneaks up behind you
Our Secret Britain series continues with a look at a crumbling folly in Sussex.
Gwennap Pit, Cornwall: 'The most magnificent spectacle this side of Heaven’
Annie Elwes kicks off our series on Britain's secret places with a look at Gwennap Pit.
Credit: Wyndcliffe Court
10 of the best secret gardens in Britain — and how you can visit them
The lure of a secret garden is as strong now as it was when Frances Hodgson Burnett first published The
Humphry Repton's 'secret country gem' at Endsleigh, one of the finest hotel gardens in Britain
Non Morris explores the historic 100-acre grounds of Endsleigh, Olga Polizzi’s alluring West Country hotel, designed by Humphry Repton in
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Sold, singed and sunk: The sorry tale of Normanton HallFew English country houses suffered more than Normanton Hall.
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A Clarkson's Farm of one's own: Five properties with just enough farmland for you and your family, from under £1 millionMoving to the country is one thing; moving to the country and being able to grow and rear all your own food is another level entirely, and all these properties offer exactly that.
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St Patrick’s Chapel ruins, Heysham: The mythical Lancashire ruins with a heavenly viewAnnunciata Elwes takes a look at St Patrick’s Chapel ruins, a Morecambe Bay landmark.
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Suisnish, Isle of Skye: The atmospheric ruins of a Clearance villageBeauty now reigns in a tragic spot where hundreds of villagers suffered during the Clearance
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Covehithe beach, Suffolk, where the cliffs crumble like cakeThe most eroded beach in Britain has a post-apocalyptic feel.
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Clydach Ironworks, Monmouthshire: Ruins in the gorge that inspired ShakespeareAn oasis of quiet now stands where the steam hammers thudded at this Welsh ironworks, in a river valley that may have moved Shakespeare to write A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
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Royston Cave, Hertfordshire: A mysterious site full of sacred energyOur Secret Britain series continues with a Hertofrdshire cave whose true nature remains unknown.
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John Bunting War Memorial Chapel, Scotch Corner: The painstaking transformation of rubble to War MemorialAnnunciata Elwes celebrates the effort that turned a derelict house into a memorial.
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The Garden of Cosmic Speculation: The surreal space where Lewis Carroll and Willy Wonka meet Capability BrownSurrealism, philosophy, nature and gardening come together at the Garden of Cosmic Speculation, as Annunciata Elwes explains.
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The Airman’s Grave, Ashdown Forest: A touching and little-known memorial to victims of war and fateA wartime tragedy in East Sussex's Ashdown Forest is among our Secret Britain picks, as chosen by Annunciata Elwes.
