Happy Valley and Chaldon's Lucky Escape

The aptly-named Happy Valley leads you through heavenly countryside - to a vision of hell!

Distance 3.1 miles (5km)

Minimum time 1hr 30min

Ascent/gradient 246ft (75m)

Level of difficulty Medium

Paths Well maintained and signposted paths, 7 stiles

Landscape Downland and flower-rich grassland on Greater London's doorstep, some sections of woodland and working farmland

Suggested map aqua3 OS Explorer 146 Dorking, Box Hill & Reigate

Start/finish TQ 301571

Dog friendliness Some short sections where dogs must be on lead, there may be grazing animals at times

Parking Car park on Farthing Downs, open dawn till dusk

Public toilets Godstone

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Directions
Background
Information

1 Cross Downs Road from the car park, turn right at the information pagoda, and follow the waymarked London Loop down through Devilsden Wood. Beyond the woods, the Happy Valley opens up in front of you. Follow the woodland edge on your right until the path bears slightly left and begins to lose height. Now dodge briefly into the woods, and follow the signposted path towards Chaldon Church. Soon you'll be back in the open, and you follow the woodland edge as far as a wooden footpath sign. Turn right here, and walk through the thin finger of Figgs Wood before crossing a large open field.

2 At the far side of the field, turn left onto Ditches Lane; then, after 40yds (37m), fork right at the triangle to visit Chaldon Church. Return via the triangle to Ditches Lane, and continue for a few more paces in the direction you were going earlier. Now, you need to turn left onto the public footpath to Piles Wood. Cross the open field, and keep straight on when you come to the corner of Piles Wood. At the far side of the woods you'll come to a gravelled bridleway, where you turn left.

3 Follow the waymarked route of the Downlands Circular Walk as it drops down through Piles Wood to a footpath cross roads. Turn left, towards Farthing Downs, and continue for 700yds (640m) along the bottom of the Happy Valley. Should you feel thirsty, you can take the signposted route to The Fox that crosses the valley at this point. Turn right, and follow the London Loop waymarks to Coulsdon Common. The round trip to the pub will add a mile (1.6km) to your walk. Otherwise, continue for a further 70yds (64m), then fork left and climb gently up the side of the valley to rejoin your outward route at the corner of Devilsden Wood.

Nearly everything about this walk is surprising. The map shows a small triangle of countryside, gripped between the fingers of London's suburban sprawl and cut short by the M25 motorway. Yet, as you leave the wide horizons of Farthing Downs and amble through the peaceful hay meadows of the Happy Valley towards Chaldon, you could be a hundred miles from the capital.

If the countryside was lucky to escape development, your destination is even more remarkable. Inside Chaldon Church, the earliest known English wall painting was rediscovered under a layer of whitewash some seven centuries after it was created. Your walk begins in a stunning area of chalk downland, right on the Surrey border. Ironically, it was the Corporation of London that saved Farthing Downs from the expansion of London itself. Long before the Green Belt, the Corporation began protecting open spaces around the capital, and has owned and managed Farthing Downs since 1883.

The Celts were growing crops on these downs by the time of Christ, but they quickly exhausted the thin soil and, by Saxon times, the area was being used for burials. When the winter sun shines low over the short grass, you should be able to make out some of the low banks marking the Celtic field boundaries, as well as the circular mounds covering the Saxon graves.

The graves in Chaldon churchyard are more recent, but the building itself also dates from Saxon times and was mentioned in the Charter of Frithwald in the year 727. So the church was already old by the close of the 12th century, when a travelling artist monk created its greatest treasure - the terracotta and cream mural of the Last Judgement that covers most of the west wall. Heaven and hell are divided by a horizontal layer of cloud. A ladder links the two scenes, and fortunate souls climb towards eternal bliss, whilst the damned tumble off into the flames below. You can read the full story of this grotesque and complex vision in a leaflet in the church, but the wonder is that the painting survives at all.

Sometime around the 17th century the mural was whitewashed over, and it was only rediscovered during the redecoration in 1869 thanks to a sharp-eyed parish priest. When the Revd Henry Shepherd spotted some traces of colour on the wall he stopped the work, and arranged for the painting to be cleaned and preserved by the Surrey Archaeological Society. The mural has recently been cleaned again, following a thorough overhaul of the church itself. Look closely, and you should be able to spot the tiny corner that was left untouched, just to show the improvement.

What to look for

You'll hear the continuous, liquid song of the skylark, long before you spot the scarcely visible speck that betrays its presence hundreds of feet above the grasslands of Farthing Down. But it's worth scanning the skies for this classic 'small brown job' because, after several minutes, you'll see it plummet to earth in a death-defying dive. Skylarks are ground nesting birds, and the female lays three or four eggs in a cup shaped grass nest that's often barely concealed. In winter, the resident population is boosted by large numbers of migrants from continental Europe.

While you're there

There's always something new to see at Caterham's lively little East Surrey Museum, which regularly changes its displays of bygones from this corner of the county. Be prepared to encounter anything from local fossils and prehistoric flint tools to medieval pottery and Victoriana. There's also a room with special displays for children, with lots of things for them to see and touch. The museum is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays as well as Sunday afternoons, and has a gift shop, refreshments and toilets.

Where to eat and drink

The Fox is a large London 'country pub', with stone flagged floors and log fires in winter. It gets very busy but serves pretty good food from a menu of hot and cold bar fare. Families are welcome but dogs only in the garden. The tea room which used to be at the start of this walk, and is still shown on some maps, has now closed, but there is a small refreshment caravan selling tea, coffee snacks and ice creams most weekends and all week during the school summer holidays.