Exceat, West Dean, Friston Hill, East Dean, Seven Sisters and Cuckmere Haven

Opposite the car park at the start of the walk is Exceat Farm, whose buildings are all that remain of the lost village of Exceat (named after Exe, the old name for the River Cuckmere). Mentioned in the Domesday Book, the community was depopulated by the Black Death in 1348–49 and French pirate raids.

Passing through West Dean with its 1280 parsonage and All Saints' Church (housing an Epstein bust of Viscount Waverley), the route enters Friston Forest and emerges on open downland at Friston Hill. Continuing past the 11th-century church of St Mary the Virgin, the path leads to East Dean, featuring flint cottages around a village green and the ancient 13th-century Tiger Inn.

Reaching the coast near the Crowlink estate (restored to traditional sheep grazing by National Trust tenant farmers), you arrive at the clifftops overlooking the English Channel. Walking across the 'Sisters' — Brass Point, Rough Brow, Short Brow, and Haven Brow — provides magnificent views overlooking Cuckmere Haven, Seaford Head, and Firle Beacon in the distance.

Descending into the valley past World War II pill-boxes and Dragon's Teeth tank traps, you return along the level track beside the river meanders, offering excellent opportunities to observe water birds.

Acknowledgment: Text derived from the Out and Out Series; Discovering the Countryside on Foot. Pictures courtesy of Wikipedia.