The Racehill Orchard is part of the Brighton Permaculture Trust and is one of our community partners in the Whitehawk Hills project. The Whitehawk Hills Project brings together residents, local organisations, and partners to celebrate, protect, and improve access to Brighton’s neolithic site and the unique chalk grassland habitat it sits on.
Up at the top of Whitehawk, you can find one of Brighton’s best kept secrets – a community orchard spread across three acres with views out to the sea. We speak to Kirsty Sloman, the guardian of the orchard about the seeds which the orchard grew from and how you can make the most of it.
“It all started with a beetle…”
“The orchard used to be allotments after the war until the 2000s when it became disused and was overcome with scrub. A property developer had his eye on the site but before they could build anything a local ecologist found a rare beetle. They sent a man called Max Barclay, a beetle specialist who has loads of beetles named after him. Max found 3 new specimens of what became known as the “Whitehawk Soldier Beetle” – these had never been seen before in the UK.”
“Brighton and Hove Food Partnership asked residents what they wanted to do with the site – the leading ask was for an orchard.”
“Brighton Permaculture Trust bought a lease with funding from the council and to start off with there was a lot of scrub bashing and clearing rubbish before the first trees were planted. It was mostly Sussex heritage fruit trees (this means the tree has been grown in this area for hundreds of years).
Neil Smith, a local resident and long-time volunteer for Brighton Permaculture Trust and other conservation projects, loved this site and managed it for many years.
I started coming to the orchard in 2013, Neil and I worked together for years. I became a session leader and first aider and kept getting more responsibilities. Neil sadly passed away in 2017 and I took over the maintenance of the orchard.
Around the orchard there are memorials to him, whether it’s the throne or the newly planted walnut trees (which was one of his wishes).
“I love coming up here, it feels like there’s magic – and I’m not the only one who thinks so. Other people have felt it too. Some people say that this is where our neolithic ancestors would have lived, when visiting the camp at Whitehawk Hill.”
If you want to visit Racehill Orchard, you can go up there at any time – the orchard is for the local community. You can find free food on the site: cherries, cherry plums, pears, Sussex apples and more.
Kirsty is an extremely talented artist and you can find her paintings on Facebook.
Visit Racehill Community Orchard:
The orchard is accessible from both Swanborough Drive and Wilson Avenue via a small path that runs alongside Racehill Allotments (marked on the map). From either road, follow this path until you see the allotment entrance—directly opposite, you’ll find a narrower path leading into the orchard. Follow this to reach the site.
Getting there by bus
Routes 1, 1A, and 21 stop at Swanborough Drive, which is the last stop on the route.
Routes 2, 2A, and 22 stop along Wilson Avenue, close to the orchard entrance.
Volunteer at the Racehill Orchard
The Racehill Orchard welcomes volunteers on Tuesdays and Sundays. To volunteer please register a spot on the Brighton Permaculture Trust website.
