Photography of South Downs National Park, England

The South Downs National Park covers a huge area from the white cliffs of the Seven Sisters and Beachy Head and onwards northwest and inland towards Winchester. This area is a heavily wooded area with many hills and vales. Photography of South Downs National Park is a joy, as there is so much to capture. You can photograph everything from architecture of ancient churches to amazing wildlife.

The South Downs National Park covers over 1,600 km2 of amazingly beautiful breath-taking views. What I liked about it was the many  ‘picture perfect’ villages and towns along the way. I especially liked the traditional country pubs, one of which we found in Buriton called the Five Bells, it served a particularly good Ploughman’s Lunch.

In this blog post I have uploaded some of my Photography of South Downs National Park. These photos include a few photos from a route which brings you from a village called Steep to the small town of Buriton. The route was very picturesque from Steep to Petersfield, however you do need to have some urban interaction in Petersfield before continuing on through the countryside. Each photo from the South Downs National Park will be outlined with the details. An overview map will then be shown at the foot of the blog post to show where each photo was taken – I Hope you enjoy and please feel free to leave your comments.

This is All Saints Church in the village of Steep in the South Downs National Park. This church was built in 1140 and legend has it that the bricks were moved from the original church location in a nearby village to this location. The unusual wooden spire was added in 1875. If you are like poetry, you might be interested to know that the poet Edward Thomas lived along Church Road in Steep.

You come across all sorts of wildlife in the South Downs, this Squirrel was only interested in one thing, nuts! He was taking advantage of the amazing heatwave and taking any chance to harvest food for the colder days ahead.

While walking through a field in Petersfield, heading towards Buriton but still in the urban area, a Red Kite was spotted. This bird was gliding slowly above a field of sheep. Red Kites are quite large birds and the key is their distinctive forked tail. With a wingspan which can get to up to 5 feet these are incredible to watch in the air. The female Red Kite is slightly larger than male and an average size bird would be around 2lb in weight. You can identify an adult Red Kite by the silver plumage on the head and a reddish-brown colour which appears on the upper tail. Beautiful birds I think you will agree.

This is the Buriton Church of St Mary the Virgin. Buriton lies 3.3km south of Petersfield and the village has two pubs, The Five Bells and The Village Inn, a village hall, a large village pond with ducks and fish, a car park and this beautiful church, the Church of St Mary the Virgin. This church dates back to the 12th century and the beautiful stained glass windows within are one of it’s features.

This mother duck had a few chicks to deal with, many of which were just getting used to the local pond in Buriton.

The whole route from Steep to Buriton took about 3 hours taking it at an easy pace. Buriton is well worth seeing and a stop at the Five Bells is recommended, as the staff and the meals are excellent. I have included 2 bonus photos below, not on this route, but in the nearby Queen Elizabeth Park and Butler Hill Nature Reserve.

Don’t forget to consult the photo map below showing the locations of all of these images. If you have liked the post on my Photography of South Downs National Park please leave a comment.

Grasshopper on Butser Hill National Nature Reserve

A photo of the amazing View from Butser Hill National Nature Reserve near Queen Elizabeth Park

Photography of South Downs National Park – Photo Locations