Stanmer Park
With its beautiful woodland walks and extensive open lands, Stanmer Park is just as perfect for a family picnic as it is for a kick about with your friends or those looking for a bracing walk over the Downs.
Stanmer Park's Green Flag Award
Stanmer Park has been awarded its first prestigious Green Flag, meaning it’s officially recognised as one of the country’s best parks.
You can find out more about the celebrations as Stanmer Park receives its first Green Flag!
To help us manage Stanmer Park please complete the Stanmer Park visitor questionnaire.
About Stanmer Park
We introduced car parking charges at Stanmer Park on 1 April 2021. There is more information in the updates below.
This page gives general information about Stanmer Park, its attractions and facilities.
Find information about the Stanmer Park Restoration project, which covers 20 hectares of this historically- and environmentally-important 485 hectare countryside park.
Welcome to Stanmer Park
Stanmer Park is in the South Downs National Park.
Stanmer Park and Estate is an excellent example of the vast open countryside available in Brighton & Hove - and remains one of our most visited parks. It is also the city's largest park, and is a unique example of an 18th Century designed landscape.
The park is next to Sussex University.
You can find out more about Stanmer Park here, including:
- watching the Living Coast video
- downloading the visitor leaflet
Interested in holding an event at Stanmer Park? Please contact our Events team, eventsinfo@brighton-hove.gov.uk first, for advice and information.
Opening Times
The park is always open.
Walking dogs in Stanmer Park
Well-behaved dogs are welcome at Stanmer Park.
Owners should keep their dogs under control at all times.
Aggressive dogs should be muzzled and kept on a lead.
Please keep dogs on leads in areas where there may be grazing cattle or sheep. You should also do this in busier areas where dogs might cause concern to children or other park visitors.
You can put dog waste in one of the dog bins provided, or use one of the park litter bins. Please do not use bins that are already full, or throw waste into trees or undergrowth.
Dogs are welcome at One Garden Brighton, but please keep your dog on a short lead at all times while within the Walled Garden area. You can read more about One Garden Brighton on their website.
Stanmer Village
One of the park’s most unique features is Stanmer Village, a great example of an 18th Century working village, with Stanmer House as its main focal point.
Stanmer's farmland, the Tea Rooms and the church and pond create a village that is one of the many reasons Stanmer remains one of Brighton’s most visited parks.
Refreshment and relaxation
Stanmer Tea Rooms
The Stanmer Tea Rooms are open daily.
Phone 01273 680 400.
Information and welcome kiosk
Circa in the Park is now open at the new Information and welcome kiosk at the Lower Lodges. It has snacks and refreshments, and there are public toilets there.
One Garden Brighton at the Walled Garden
The restored Walled Garden at Stanmer Park, 'One Garden Brighton', opened in April 2021, as part of the Stanmer Park Restoration Project. More information on One Garden Brighton is available in the Facilities section below.
Getting there
Stanmer Park can be reached from Ditchling Road, and Stony Mere Way, off Lewes Road. There are also footpaths connecting to the South Downs and University of Sussex.
Public transport links
Throughout the year, our ‘Breeze’ buses link the city with some of the most popular countryside destinations within the South Downs National Park. This includes Stanmer Park.
The 78 service goes into the heart of Stanmer Park to and from the city centre
The 79 service to Ditchling Beacon enables you to access Stanmer Park from Ditchling Road and the Upper Lodges car park. There is a bus stop on Ditchling Road directly outside this car park.
The services run every Saturday, Sunday and bank holiday (except Christmas Day.)
In addition, the 25 bus provides a frequent 7-days-a-week service linking the city centre and Lewes Road with the Stanmer Park entrance – and the 23 service offers links to the park entrance from Eastern Road and Queens Park.
Find out about Brighton & Hove buses
‘Breeze’ bus timetables
Timetables for the 78 and 79 services which serve Stanmer Park:
- Route 79 to Ditchling Beacon - from 4 September 2021 until Easter 2022.
View the Summer 2021 issue of ‘Breeze up to the Downs and Beyond’, which features a number of local countryside destinations which you can reach by public transport, and also includes a section on Stanmer Park.
Find out more about Breeze buses.
Cycling
Cycle parking stands are provided in the west Lower Lodges car park, the new Patchway car park, and by the Palm House outside the entrance to the restored Walled Garden.
We will be installing further cycle parking in the Lower Lodges west car park, and at the Walled Garden and the church car park, by spring 2023.
There are cycle lanes leading to the park from the city centre and the Lewes direction.
- Visit our Stanmer Park Restoration Project webpages to find out more about how we will be improving access for all.
The Living Coast has been working with So Sussex to help people explore The Living Coast by bike. There are ten new routes. Why not explore the circular ‘Granny’s Belt’ ride that takes you directly through Stanmer Park.
Find out more about the Stanmer Park Restoration Project.
By train
Falmer Station provides an easy, direct route to access Stanmer Park. as well as to the University of Sussex and Brighton University’s Falmer campus.
A pathway leads to Stanmer Park from the station’s main entrance (the entrance by the ticket office). This pathway goes via an underpass under the main A23 and the connects through to Stanmer Park’s Lower Lodges entranceway.
Volunteering and getting involved at Stanmer Park
There are a number of opportunities at Stanmer Park. The number and scope of these is increasing due to the Stanmer Park Restoration Project.
Explore the restoration project’s ‘get involved’ page.
Existing opportunities include:
- Healthwalks - currently every Thursday 11am, meeting at Lower Lodges. Also every fourth Sunday, 10.45am, meeting at Stanmer Tea Rooms
- Brighton Permaculture Trust
- Stanmer Organics and Earthship Brighton
- Centre for Ecotherapy
- Special Branch Tree Nursery volunteering
- The Tidy-Up Team (TUT) (volunteer litter pickers)
- find out about other parks and open space volunteeering with the city council's Ranger service
Points of Interest
Special trees of Stanmer Park
View and download our leaflet which gives you details of the special trees at Stanmer Park. Use the accompanying tree trail app to go on a kind of treasure hunt, seeking out these special trees and their exact locations.
The app also provides web links to help you find out more about each of the trees. They trees are the city’s heritage and deserve to be better known so that they can be celebrated, enjoyed and admired.
Other points of interest:
- Stanmer Organics/Earthship
- Stanmer Church is usually open Sunday afternoons from 2pm to 5pm in the summer and 2pm to 4pm in winter. It has displays on local heritage. The church can be opened at other times through prior arrangement with the Stanmer Preservation Society
- Find out about the Stanmer Conservation Area
- Find out more about Stanmer Park's history and heritage on the Stanmer Park Restoration Project webpage
- Permanent outdoor activity trails are being developed in Stanmer Park. The Brighton & Hove Healthwalks Scheme and local group Nordic Walking for Health offer regular opportunities to join in walks at the park. It is hoped trails for cross-country running and off-road family cycling will be offered in due course through the Stanmer Experience Project (SEP). The trail leaflets below were produced through the SEP, and funded by the South Downs National Park Authority.
Walks
- Stanmer Easy Access Route
- Stanmer Healthwalks
- Stanmer & Ditchling Beacon leaflet (PDF 852KB)
Facilities
A new playground with a range of exciting equipment, including a large main unit designed to reflect Stanmer House, was opened in August 2020 at the park’s Lower Lodges entrance.
You can find out more in the latest press release.
One Garden Brighton at the Walled Garden
Stanmer Park's historic restored Walled Garden opened to the public in 2021. This exciting attraction is part of the Stanmer Park Restoration Project. It is managed and operated by Plumpton College as OneGardenBrighton.
Sports Facilities
Two football pitches are available.
Services
There are public toilets and disabled toilet facilities at Circa in the Park kiosk at the Lower Lodges entrance, and at the Walled Garden/One Garden Brighton as well.
Get involved and find out more
- Stanmer is one of our Easily Accessible parks
- Benches and commemorative trees: we have paused new requests to dedicate or adopt benches. More information about this, and commemorative tree planting, is available on our Dedicate a Bench page.
- There is a project under development to restore the park's Traditional Agricultural Buildings within the Stanmer village area. Watch the information video and find out more
- Visit the Stanmer Park Restoration Project webpage
Stanmer Park Woodland Management Plan
The Stanmer Woodland Management Plan (WMP) was approved by the Forestry Commission (the government department responsible for protecting, expanding and promoting the sustainable management of woodlands and increasing their value to society and the environment) in September 2018. WMP operations are already bringing the woodland into active management and providing more learning space and resources.
Stanmer Woods ecological survey and assessment - your help welcome
Cityparks and local ecologist Kate Ryland have been reviewing ecological records for Stanmer Great Wood, Pudding Bag Wood, Upper Lodges Wood and High Park Wood to make sure our information is as accurate as possible when we are planning our future woodland management plan activities.
If you know of plant or animal species, flora or fauna, in these areas and want to check they are recorded and correctly located, send an email to cityparks@brighton-hove.gov.uk, and view the maps below:
Contacting us and reporting park problems
- City Parks problem report form.
- Cityparks - generic enquiry email: cityparks@brighton-hove.gov.uk
- Contact the Travellers Team
- Animal wardens - animalwardens@brighton-hove.gov.uk
- Sports booking main page
Information updates
Car parking at Stanmer Park - charges, availability and arrangements
Charging for car parking began at Stanmer Park on 1 April 2021.
There are 6 designated car parks at the park:
- Lower Lodges east
- Lower Lodges west
- The Patchway
- Church car park
- Upper Lodges
- Chalkhill
Please make sure you use the correct, signed parking areas only.
You are not allowed to park your car on the grass, park roadways, verges or pavements.
The charges vary depending on time and location, and range from £1 for an hour to £8.40 for 11 hours. A full listing of the charges appears below.
All locations are PaybyPhone, using the app, or by phoning 01273 458 458.
You could get a parking ticket if you do not follow the rules.
Parking at Stanmer Village is only allowed for Stanmer residents and deliveries with authorised parking permits, and for Blue Badge holders. Any unauthorised vehicles in this area will be at risk of parking enforcement.
Income from car parking is ringfenced for the management and maintenance of Stanmer Park.
Car park charges
Stanmer Park (Chalk Hill, Church Car Park, Lower Lodges, Upper Lodges)
Monday to Sunday 9am to 8pm (upper Lodges 9am to 5pm)
| Parking period | Charge |
|---|---|
| up to 1 hour | £1.10 |
| up to 2 hours | £1.70 |
| up to 4 hours | £2.80 |
| up to 6 hours | £5.50 |
Stanmer Park (Patchway)
Moday to Sunday 9am to 8pm
| Parking period | Charge |
|---|---|
| up to 1 hour | £1.50 |
| up to 2 hours | £3.10 |
| up to 4 hours | £6.10 |
| up to 11 hours (maximum) | £8.40 |
Car parking places away from designed heritage features have been increased and the provision of overflow parking exists for peak periods.