Pulborough Brooks

Address: RSPB Pulborough Brooks, Wiggonholt, Pulborough RH20 2EL

Grid ref: TQ058164

What3Words: vital.rider.soaps

Located within the Arun Valley in West Sussex, Pulborough Brooks has beautiful views across to the South Downs and is set in one of the richest areas for nature in the country. The nature reserve has a great variety of habitats and is home to some wonderful wildlife.

Plan your visit

Nature reserve: open daily, dawn-dusk.
Car park: open daily, dawn-dusk.
Visitor Centre: outdoor welcome point open daily, 10am-4pm.
Shop: open daily, 10am-4pm.
Café: open daily, 10am-4pm.
Toilets: open daily, 10am-4pm.

Festive opening times

23 December: car park and nature reserve open, dawn-4pm. Visitor centre, shop, café and toilets open, 10am-4pm
Christmas Eve: car park, nature reserve, visitor centre, shop, café and toilets closed.
Christmas Day: car park, nature reserve, visitor centre, shop, café and toilets closed.
Boxing Day: car park and nature reserve open, 10am-dusk. Visitor centre, shop, café and toilets closed.
New Year’s Eve: car park and nature reserve open, dawn-dusk. Visitor centre, shop, café and toilets open, 10am-4pm.
New Year’s Day: car park and nature reserve open, dawn-dusk. Visitor centre, shop, café and toilets open, 10am-4pm
All other days in the festive period are open our usual opening hours as above.

Free entrance to RSPB members: Yes

Adults: £4

Children: £2
Free entrance for first child
Free entrance for under 5s

Student: £2.50

Free entrance for carers: Yes

Car park cost

The above entry fees apply for entrance to the Wetland nature trail and all hides.

The following parking charges also apply:

RSPB members: FREE
(please show your membership card at the Welcome Hut).
Non-members: £3 per vehicle.
Blue-badge holders: FREE
(please display your badge in your windscreen).

Parking charges cover:

Parking for one vehicle.
Access to the Wooded Heathland trail, play and picnic areas.
Use of the visitor centre facilities including café, shop and toilets.

If you are just stopping briefly to shop with us, you will find our designated ‘short stay retail’ parking in the closest section of the car park, where you can park for free for up to 20 minutes.

Payment for parking is via the Pay By Phone app, to download the app ahead of your visit, see details below.

Alternatively, our team are available at the Welcome Hut during opening hours to assist, take payment and give you the latest wildlife updates.

Other discounts

Facilities

Visitor centre
Car park
Toilets
Accessible toilets
Baby changing
Café
Picnic area
Binocular hire
Guided walks
Viewing point
Nature trails
Shop
Educational facilities
Play area

Accessibility

Full accessibility information (external website)

How to get here

By train

The nearest station is Pulborough 2 miles (4 km) from the reserve. Taxi's are available.

By bus

Compass Bus 100, from Burgess Hill to Horsham, stops at Pulborough train station and serves the stop immediately outside the reserve. It is a request stop, so you will need to ask the driver to drop you outside the reserve when you board.

By road

Located approximately 2 miles/3.2 km from Pulborough village. Follow the A283 towards Storrington. The reserve is located on the right-hand side.

Sat nav POI file: If you have a satellite navigation system that can accept POI files, please see our POI page for a download link and instructions.

Other ways to get there

The reserve is 2.5 miles/4km via road and public footpath from Pulborough railway station. The public footpath that crosses the nature reserve can be very wet and muddy following rain and can be impassable if the river has flooded.

Get directions from Google Maps

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RSPB reserves on Google Earth

The Wetland trail is not a public footpath, so sorry, no dogs are permitted on here other than assistance dogs. They are also not permitted in the play area or in the cafe other than assistance dogs.

Dogs are welcome, on a lead, on parts of the Wooded Heathland Trail and on the public footpaths and bridleways around the nature reserve. Dogs walkers are also very welcome to bring their dogs onto the tea terrace adjacent to the café.

Please keep to the designated rights of way only and keep your dog on a lead and under close, effective control at all times, due to the sensitive wildlife, habitats and livestock here.

We know that the countryside is a dog walking paradise. It’s important to remember the special surroundings here are wonderful havens for rare wildlife. Even if dogs are very well behaved, wildlife and livestock can easily become startled by a loose dog they perceive as a predator.

Disturbing wildlife does more than simply causing it to move away; it uses up their energy, decreasing their chance of survival regardless of season.

Thank you for protecting the special wildlife here by keeping your dog on a lead and under close, effective control.

Dog water bowls are available in the Visitor Centre courtyard.
There are dog waste bins on the edge of the car park, alternatively, we ask that you take their waste home with you to dispose of.
Dogs die in hot cars, please do not leave your dog in the car when visiting us.

Groups are very welcome to visit the nature reserve and coach parking is available. Groups of 10 or more must book in advance by email to pulborough.brooks@rspb.org.uk or by phone 01798 875851 so we can help ensure that you get the most out of your visit. Youth groups are also welcome and we can offer a variety of hands on activities - please contact us to discuss arrangements.

Occasionally, if there are already several visiting groups, or we're running a special event, we might suggest that you choose an alternative day, rather than find your favourite spots on the reserve busy (or encounter long queues in the cafe). We may also be able to offer guided walks.

For details on our exciting programme of curriculum-linked, outdoor education sessions, visit our school trip information.

School visits to Pulborough Brooks are curriculum-linked, hands-on and fun, with a wide range of habitats to explore all year round. We can accommodate up to three large classes of children per day.

We provide all equipment - children only need to bring suitable clothing, drinks and packed lunches.

Also, check out our fantastic range of resources for teachers, or take on the Schools’ Wild Challenge.

Downloads

Helping you find your way around

Contact Pulborough Brooks

RSPB Pulborough Brooks, Wiggonholt, Pulborough RH20 2EL
pulborough.brooks@rspb.org.uk
01798 875851
@RSPBPulborough
Find us on facebook

What will you see?

Our star species

Peregrine falcon

The fastest falcon is a regular during winter, causing panic amongst the many ducks and waders as it hunts.

Barn owl

Linger until dusk to watch the ghostly form of barn owls hunting over the grassland.

Lapwing

Watch their acrobatic displays in spring and marvel at the huge flocks that gather on the brooks in winter.

Nightingale

Nightingales breed in the hedgerows and scrub. Listen for their song in late April and May.

Wigeon

Large 'herds' of these colourful ducks can be seen grazing and heard whistling from October through to March.

Nature spectacles

Every season at Pulborough Brooks has its highlights but if you're looking for something truly magical here are our suggestions...

Experience the magic of a springtime walk where you'll be serenaded by a choir of warblers and our virtuoso performer the nightingale. Meanwhile on the wetlands our lovely lapwings will be displaying acrobatically before nesting and raising their precious and beautiful chicks.
Head to the ponds and ditches in search of dragons and damsels - we're one of the top sites for dragonflies and you can hear the clash of wings as these fearsome predators do battle over the prime perches. Visit at dusk in June and July for one of our night-time safaris where mysterious nightjars chur on the heath, bats zoom above your head and you can spot twinkling glow worms in the undergrowth.
The woodlands turn golden in autumn and you can discover a rainbow of fungi, including the amethyst deceiver and green elf cup, by following our trail around the wooded heath.
Head down to Hanger View in winter - one minute all seems calm with the wigeon gently whistling as they graze and then chaos ensues as thousands of birds take to the air in panic - it must be the peregrine falcon out hunting.

Experience a stunning dawn chorus as our resident birds - the blackbirds, song thrushes and wrens - are joined by a host of warblers and the nightingale. The nightingales serenade visitors both all day and all of the night from mid April and through May - despite their reputation for being elusive, the Pulborough Brooks nightingales don't skulk but sing proudly whilst out in the open.

Watch the acrobatic aerial displays of the lapwing and listen to their 'peewit' calls as they tumble and loop over the wetlands. Spot your first cuckoo or swallow for the year - spring has arrived! Wander through a woodland carpeted with bluebells, accented with the white of greater stitchwort and the pink of campions. Scan the wetland pools carefully for wading birds like greenshank using us as a service station to rest and refuel on their northward migration.

Take a walk along the sandy paths on the heath to find some of our heathland superheroes - fast and fierce green tiger beetles, minotaur beetles and pantaloon bees. Admire a kaleidoscope of butterflies feasting on the nectar of yellow fleabane and purple knapweed on the zig-zag path. Look around the ponds and ditches for darting dragonflies with jewel-like colours and you might just see a hobby swooping in to catch one. Join a night-time safari and experience the magic of the reserve 'after hours' - hunting barn owl, churring nightjar, flitting bats and magnificent moths.

Migrating spotted flycatchers, redstarts and whinchats perch on hedgerows and fencelines, filling up on insects before heading further south. Mud glorious mud - passage waders including green and wood sandpipers, greenshank and ruff can be found probing in the soft mud on the pool edges. Explore the woodland and find fascinating fungi including the red and white spotted fairy-tale fly agaric. Sample one or two juicy blackberries but make sure to leave plenty for the comma butterflies, common lizards, wood mice and voles who enjoy them too.

In winter, wrap up warm and head to the wetland hides and viewpoints to see both predators and prey - this is the best time to see short-eared owls, barn owls, hen & marsh harriers, peregrines and merlins hunting over the reserve.

Thousands of wintering ducks, geese and waders use the flooded brooks - look for colourful wigeon, dainty teal and elegant pintail amongst the ducks. Noisy flocks of redwing and fieldfare roam the reserve, finishing off any last berries in the hedgerows before plundering the fields for food. Get up early and you could see families of Bewick's swans waking up and leaving their night-time roost. Challenge yourself by searching for a sneaky snipe - these beautiful but well camouflaged birds are tricky to spot unless they come out to ice skate on cold winter days.

About Pulborough Brooks

Habitat

Step out into a landscape of grasslands, pools, wildflower meadows and newly restored heathland in this special part of the South Downs.

The grasslands are part of the Arun Valley floodplain and are criss-crossed by ditches which are home to some of our rarest creatures and plants. This includes the threatened little whirlpool ramshorn snail. These grasslands are also a great place to see wildfowl in winter and nesting wading birds in summer.

The reserve’s higher ground is where you can wander through wildflower meadows, arable fields, scrub and areas of woodland, home to songbirds, small mammals and bats.

An area of lowland heath is being restored and it is here, along with the acid grassland, bare ground and wooded edges, where the reserve’s nightjar, green tiger beetles and small red damselfly are most often seen.

Conservation

To remain in perfect condition for wildlife, these landscapes our managed by our team.

A combination of controlled flooding, grazing and hay cutting are used to manage the wet grasslands to create a healthy mosaic of grassland habitats. These are ideal for our wintering wildfowl such as wigeon, teal, pintail and black-tailed godwits and breeding waders such as lapwings, redshank and occasionally snipe.

The ditches which cross the wet grasslands need clearing out so we can move water around the site. But we do this on rotation, so we always keep some of the vegetation which lives there and gives a home to rare wildlife.

In 2017 the ditches were the focus of a Heritage Lottery funded project “Back from the Brink” which helped create ideal conditions for the rare whirlpool ramshorn snail and other aquatic species.

Our woodlands, scrub and hedgerows are managed for breeding songbirds such as nightingales, blackcaps and whitethroat. Most of the work is carried out in autumn when we cutback and lay new hedges to make sure there are both established trees and new growth.

Our blackthorn hedgerows are managed with one species in mind - the brown hairstreak butterfly. This rare butterfly lays its eggs in the fork between new and old blackthorn growth, so we work hard to make sure there are plenty of spots for it to lay.

Our small arable plot is managed to provide seed for winter flocks of finches, nectar for bees and butterflies and nesting space for harvest mice. This involves planting special seed mixes, ploughing some areas, while leaving others fallow.

Our latest project is restoring 25 hectares of lowland heath, bare ground and acid grassland to give a home to nightjar and specialist insects including digger wasps and mining beetles. Our first job was to fell the modern conifer plantations on the areas of former heathland, which allowed the heather to grow back. We then created a series of pools which are brilliant for spotting dragonflies and damselflies.

The heathland needs constant attention to keep on top of bracken and scrub growth as scrapes of bare ground are important to some of the specialist insects found here.
This work is Heritage Lottery funded as part of the Heathlands Reunited project – a partnership led by the South Downs National Park Authority which aims to create bigger, better and more joined up heathlands across the South Downs.

Partners

The new play area has been part-funded under the “Pulborough Brooks – improving the family offer” project by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development through the RDPE LEADER funding programme, via the Central Sussex Local Action Group.

The play area has also been supported by the Postcode Local Trust, a grant-giving charity funded entirely by players of People’s Postcode Lottery.

Site information

Pulborough Brooks makes up 256ha of the South Downs National Park. It is protected in a number of other ways too, with the wet grasslands recognised as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Ramsar listed site. The rest of the reserve is part of the Arun Valley Special Protected Area (SPA) and Special Area for Conservation (SAC). Find out more about Nature Designations.

Latest blog posts

read our blog

What people are saying about Pulborough Brooks

Our first visit to an RSPB reserve, and it was a fantastic day. Our six year old loved sitting in the hides watching the birds and cows! We saw many new bird species as we only really see common garden birds. Cafe is very nice - hot chocolate lovely on a chilly day. The staff were all very friendly, cheerful and helpful. On the back of this visit we have joined, as a family, to the RSPB.

The Shadbolt Family

Thank you for a really lovely, interesting day. I really loved looking for all the mini-beasts in the woods. Pond-dipping was great fun and we found a lot of fantastic species. Lorna our guide was brilliant - she really taught me a lot. Thank you so much, I definitely want to come back again with my family. Brilliant school trip.

Lily Mansfield

We visit this reserve almost every week and it never ceases to delight and surprise us. The view from the Hanger is fantastic and is where we saw our first ever peregrine falcon. That was a day we will never forget. The staff are fantastic, always friendly and helpful. The cafe provides excellent food and a great breakfast if you've had an early morning start during the week!

Debbie and Malcolm Wiltshire

Activities and events

Activities for children and families

Whatever day you choose to come as a family there will be nature-themed activities for you to try as you explore the wetland trail, and our Wildlife Explorer Meadow is a great place to picnic and play.

You can get involved with the Wild Challenge, hire a bug hunting kit or join one of our special 'Wild Families' events over the holidays. In summer you could try pond dipping, or join us on a snake hunt, whilst in autumn you can go Wild in the Woods, build a den and hunt for bugs.

If you have pre-school age children we run a fortnightly Little Wild Things group.

For more information on events and to book tickets, please visit events.rspb.org.uk/pulboroughbrooks

Leisure activities

Getting closer to nature: We run a busy programme of events with introductory walks, birdsong masterclasses and night-time safaris and there are always nature-themed activities for families to take part in.
Photography: The reserve is good for photography - especially for dragonflies and butterflies in the summer - and we run photography workshops at the reserve if you're keen to improve your skills.
Archaeology and history: The views across the Arun Valley and up to the South Downs are stunning from the Bronze Age tumuli on the heathland. Many of the lumps and bumps in this area result from more recent activities - the site was used for training by Canadian troops during the Second World War.

Pulborough Brooks