Worthing's agricultural past explored on heritage trail for Durrington and Salvington

Copies of the trails are free for people to collect from Worthing libraries, Worthing Museum, Durrington Community Centre, Clapham Village Shop and Denyer's in Goring.

Project manager Chris Hare, a well-known local historian, said: "The Durrington & Salvington Trail is a redesign, with amendments of the one first published in 2013, and the West Durrington one is totally new.

"Nowhere in the borough of Worthing has changed so greatly in recent years as the area now known as West Durrington. The West Durrington Trail leaflet is for everyone – visitors and residents – but it is particularly aimed at those who have just moved into the area, who are learning to live in a large and new urban setting."

I started with the Durrington & Salvington Trail and learned a lot about the area's history, with elements of its agricultural past still visible today.

Chris said: "Today it makes perfect sense to link Salvington and Durrington into one Heritage Trail, but historically they were not a single entity.

"As the mass of residential development engulfed both villages during the course of the 20th century, so the cluster of old buildings in both places appeared, incorrectly, as if they were two halves of one ancient village."

The trail has pubs at the start and finish, so it would be a good idea to make an afternoon of it and take refreshment stops at both. This would give you the opportunity to read the interesting section on Old Durrington Remembered, packed with personal memories.

The trail starts at The John Selden, first taking you south to Walnut Tree Cottage and The Old House, which is believed to be the oldest surviving building in the area.

You then work your way back past the pub to head north up Half Moon Lane, where you will find the former Half Moon Inn and an interesting house with a mansarded or hipped roof, a style that was abandoned in the 19th century.

Then it's back past the pub again to head along Salvington Road to see Old Sussex House, a farmhouse dating back to the 17th century with impressive flintwork completed by skilled craftsmen.

Further along is Durrington First School, dating back to 1908, and Durrington Library, which was opened in 1938. At the end of Salvington Road on the left is The Park View, formerly The Lamb, and opposite is The Old Forge and Rose Cottage, occupied by the Overington family for more than 250 years.

Turn right into Durrington Hill to see Greenstede House, dating back to 1600, and the Grade II listed St Symphorian's Church. Opposite are The Manor House and The Dower House, once part of the same property and owned by the Lord of the Manor of Durrington.

Continue up Durrington Hill for an optional detour to see Elmbank Cottages and, across Arundel Road, Swandean, which was built in the 1860s for the Dalbaic family.

Return down Durrington Hill and continue down Durrington Lane to Pond Lane, which still has a lot of water after the recent rains, despite the old pond being drained by the council back in 1985.

There are two historic properties in Pond Lane – Durrington Farmhouse, which was once home to Betty Anderson MP, the first female Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, and The Thatched Cottage, which was sadly severely damaged in a chimney fire last year.

The final stop is another optional detour, a short walk down Durrington Lane to see St Mary's Farmhouse, saved from demolition due to the pressure of local residents.

Whether or not you add this fine 18th century farmhouse to your walk, you are not far from The Park View, a great community pub where you can mull over all the interesting facts in the trail leaflet.