Places to see in Steep
Our information kiosk outside the Village Hall, contains lots of leaflets and other useful information about Steep and local places of interest.
Steep is an ideal base for exploring not just East Hampshire but further afield. With good train links to Portsmouth and London from Petersfield, day trips are easily taken. Occasional buses link Steep to Petersfield and from there regular services can be taken to Winchester, Alton and Midhurst. If you have your own transport then Southampton, Brighton, Chichester, are easy to get to.
There are lots of things to do in and around Steep too, and some are detailed below.
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The Poet’s Stone
A memorial to Edward Thomas set high in the hangers with breathtaking views of the South Downs. Accessible from above or below via footpaths, some of which are steep.
Cycling
The old East Hampshire Cycle route runs along Church Road from The Harrow Inn crossroads and down the full length of Mill Lane.
The tourism page on the East Hampshire website provides further information and links to many cycle routes in the area.
Walking
Steep is an ideal base for walkers. The Hangers Way and the new Shipwrights Way (see below) both run through Steep, and the South Downs Way (another long distance footpath), is only a few miles to the south. In addition The Edward Thomas Walk is exclusively within the parish of Steep. A leaflet with a map and detailed directions and points of interest can be downloaded from the walking section of the East Hampshire tourism webpage. There is also a new site called Walk 4 Life which enables you to find local walks.
Hampshire County Council has a page on walking routes here.
Nick Denton has created a website/blog to explore the poems of Edward Thomas in the context of the locations that inspired him and also suggests ways of getting to know these places better through walks. Some but not all are in and around Steep.
We are also trying to provide local walks suggested by parishioners. The first is the 14 stile walk, which takes in footpaths to the south west side of the parish and should take between 45 and 60 minutes. A downloadable map is available here.
Finally, click here for a map showing the numbers of the footpaths within the Parish of Steep. This map dates from the early 1990’s so may not be completely up to date. For example, footpath 29 in Steep Marsh in now part of the Shipwrights Way (see below).
Horse riding
There are many bridleways which run through Steep (see HCC link above) allowing access to the Hangers as well as to the South Downs.
The Shipwrights Way
The ‘Shipwrights Way’ is a 50 mile long distance route from Alice Holt near Farnham to Portsmouth, which opened in 2014. A short section of it runs through Steep and this is described in a parish newsletter article which can be accessed here. Full details of the route can be found on the Hampshire County Council website: here.
Stroud walks booklets available.
These great little booklets were written by Stroud residents Mr and Mrs Wright and Mr and Mrs Woodburn. They are clearly written straight-forward guides to six local walks in and around Stroud. Copies are a snip at £2 each and are available from Ony Rogers – 01730-266929 or Judith Wright – 01730-264879 (monies in aid of Stroud Parish Council).