Hilaire Belloc

The Hilaire Belloc connection in Sussex is more about literary pilgrimage than a formal visitor attraction. Belloc, the prolific writer, essayist and politician, lived in this corner of West Sussex for much of his life, and his presence still echoes through Arundel and the surrounding villages - though there's no dedicated museum or house open to the public.

What you're actually doing here is walking in his footsteps. Belloc was an obsessive walker who tramped these South Downs paths for decades, and if you know his work, you'll recognise the landscape that shaped his writing. The rolling hills, the sense of English catholicism deeply rooted in the villages, the way the countryside feels lived-in rather than prettified - it's all in his essays. History types and serious readers will find genuine satisfaction in this; casual tourists might find it a bit thin on the ground.

Arundel itself is the practical base - it's a proper market town with castle, river walks and decent pubs where you can sit and read Belloc if you're that way inclined. The nearby camping sites at Old Farm Slindon and Graffham offer decent pitches if you're making a week of it exploring the Downs.

Frankly, unless you're already a Belloc enthusiast or a devoted literary wanderer, this is something to layer onto a broader Sussex break rather than a destination in itself. But if you are keen on early twentieth-century writing and walking, it's well worth half a day exploring the lanes and villages that meant so much to him.