Black Down
3 classifications here — Current County/UA Top, Marilyn and HuMP — belong to lists OpenFell holds only part of, so they have no list page. See how far the coverage goes.
- Height
- 280.8 m · 921 ft
- Prominence
- 192.3 m
- Grid reference
- SU 91946 29634
- Coordinates
- 51.05863, -0.68939
- County / area
- West Sussex
- County top
- Highest point of West Sussex
- Region
- South East England
- OS Landranger
- 186 197
- OS Explorer
- OL33 133
- Summit feature
- knoll
- Key col
- SU 7826 3155 (88.6 m)
About Black Down
Blackdown, or Black Down, is the highest point in Sussex, its summit reaching just under 280 m. Among the high points of south-east England it is exceeded by Walbury Hill, Leith Hill and Pilot Hill.
The hill lies within the South Downs National Park, which affords it protection.
Background written from facts in the Wikipedia article on Blackdown, West Sussex (CC BY-SA 4.0). Heights, prominence and grid references come from the Database of British & Irish Hills, not from Wikipedia.
Access rights here
Conditional Right to roam: Right to roam only on mapped CRoW open access land.
Permission needed Wild camping: Needs the landowner's permission — the Dartmoor commons are the only exception in England.
General position for England — local byelaws, seasonal restrictions and closures can override it. Full details: access rights in England ·check another location.
Daylight at this summit today
- Sunrise
- —
- Sunset
- —
- Daylight
- —
- Civil twilight ends
- —
Computed astronomically for 51.059, -0.689. Plan your finish with the daylight safety planner.
Summit weather live
Loading forecast for the summit (281 m)…
Forecast adjusted to summit altitude. Weather data from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0).
Finding the summit
knoll is in trees and is 20m NNE of trig point (SU 91935 29612) and 0.7m higher.
The recorded summit point is knoll. That distinction matters on broad or flat tops, where the obvious cairn is not always the true high point.
- Survey method
- Abney level
- Record revised
- 21-Jul-24
- Drop measured from
- SU 7826 3155 · 88.6 m
Survey notes are field observations recorded in the Database of British & Irish Hills (v18.3, CC BY 4.0) by the hill-surveying community.
Long-distance paths past this hill
2 waymarked long-distance routes run within 2.5 km of the summit — useful if you are linking this hill into a longer walk, or want a made path for the approach.
| Route | Total length | From summit |
|---|---|---|
| The Serpent Trail | 101 km | over the top |
| Sussex Border Path | 226 km | 0.6 km |
Route lines © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); distance from the summit computed by OpenFell.
Get food nearby
3 places to eat or drink within 10 km of the summit, rated under the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme (Scotland runs its own Food Hygiene Information Scheme, a pass/fail equivalent).
| Place | Type | Rating | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Red Lion | Pub/bar/nightclub | 5 out of 5 | 2.2 km · SW |
| The Clubhouse | Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen | 5 out of 5 | 2.2 km · SW |
| The Fernhurst Hub | Restaurant/Cafe/Canteen | 5 out of 5 | 2.7 km · SW |
Classifications and ratings are the local authority's own and can be coarse — this is a lead, not a guarantee of opening hours or that food is served to non-residents. Follow a name through to the official rating page to check, and confirm before you rely on it.
Food hygiene data from the Food Standards Agency and Food Standards Scotland (Open Government Licence v3.0). Distances and directions computed by OpenFell from the summit.
Nearest listed peaks
| Peak | Height | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Leith Hill | 294 m | 25.8 km |