Buchan Country Park

Buchan Country Park Buchan Country Park is 170 acres of beautiful countryside right on Crawley's doorstep. The entrance to Buchan is off the Horsham Road as you leave Crawley.
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Buchan Country Park is owned and managed by West Sussex County Council. The Park is an excellent place for walking, watching wildlife or enjoying a picnic. Situated within the High Weald National Landscape, Buchan Country Park is 69 hectares of beautiful countryside on Crawley’s doorstep. The parks landscape includes woodland, heathland, grassland, wet woodland and two large ponds. The ponds and w

et woodland comprise part of the Buchan Hill Ponds Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to the breeding dragonfly and damselfly assemblage. Douster Pond the largest pond has a waterfall, turrets, and a boat house dated to the late 19th Century. There are other historical features on site including a mid-19th Century Rifle Butts and an earlier Pillow Mound. Remnants of the Wealdon Iron Industry can also be found in the form of iron ore mine-pits. The Countryside Centre is open during the working hours of Cuppa-Love at Buchan Country Park see: https://www.facebook.com/cuppalovebuchan

The Countryside Centre has displays and information about the park, it’s wildlife and history. There are two surfaced and sign-posted walking trails, and an Orienteering course as well as unsurfaced and informal tracks throughout the park. Access to the park on foot from Broadfield, Bewbush and Kilnwood Vale is by surfaced paths. Parking is free, although donations can be made at the Countryside Centre. This page is moderated and monitored by the WSCC Countryside Team during office hours Monday-Friday 9am-5pm. We do not tolerate comments, posts or messages containing abusive or harmful content, whether in public or private. We reserve the right to block, mute, hide, disable, or otherwise restrict accounts, comments and posts that interact in an unacceptable way either with the county council directly or with other users. See:

https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/terms-and-disclaimer/ -media

05/06/2026

Further to the post below: this is a very short video of the pair of Nightjar displaying yesterday evening over the Plantation.

As the birds disappear from view you can hear calls of "keweep keweep" a flight call generally attributed to the male.

Thanks to Tony (volunteer) for sharing the video.

Yesterday evening as part of the national Volunteers Week, we held the annual Volunteer BBQ – with volunteers from both ...
05/06/2026

Yesterday evening as part of the national Volunteers Week, we held the annual Volunteer BBQ – with volunteers from both our Thursday group and Get Grubby in attendance. Simon and Peter were as usual in charge of burnt offerings of various meat and non-meat produce, Sarah sorted all the sundries, and hot drinks.

At the end of the evening a small group of us went in search of our night-time residents. We heard and saw two species of bat foraging along the paths and over Douster Pond. A family of Tawny Owls were very noisy around Island Pond.

We were also looking for Nightjar, a charismatic bird of heathlands, which Rangers have not recorded here since 2018. We go out annually for them on warm summers evenings, to listen for the male's distinctive “churring”, wing clapping and the “Keweek” “Keweek” call of a pair in flight.

Last night, Simon and Tony were in just the right place to witness a male and female Nightjar displaying!

Tony managed to grab some short video footage. The rest of us were watching another part of the park and did not see any. However, we were all really chuffed for Simon and Tony and really chuffed that this beautiful bird has decided to take up residence and potentially breed again in the park.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/nightjar

Advanced Notice:Surfacing and drainage works will begin on Monday 1st June and are expected to last 4 weeks.The path aff...
29/05/2026

Advanced Notice:
Surfacing and drainage works will begin on Monday 1st June and are expected to last 4 weeks.
The path affected will be the main path through middle covert between Douster Pond and the Golf course. A path closure will be in place whilst works are being carried out so please find alternate routes though the park.
Please obey all signs and keep dogs in sight and under close control. If your dog will not return quickly to heel when called they must be kept on a lead.
We apologise for any inconvenience whilst these essential works are carried out.

This spell of hot weather has prompted some of our resident Dragonflies and Damselflies to emerge, jostle to hold a terr...
28/05/2026

This spell of hot weather has prompted some of our resident Dragonflies and Damselflies to emerge, jostle to hold a territory, and start their breeding cycles.

Two of our notable dragonfly species are on the wing with Downy Emerald (Cordulia aenea) flying at Douster Pond (up to five yesterday), Island Pond (two yesterday), and at Boundary Pond on the western edge of the park. Hairy Dragonfly (Brachytron pratense), also our earliest emerging dragonfly, has been seen on Boundary Pond.

A brief survey earlier in the week of both Douster and Island Ponds, also produced dragonfly sightings of Four-spotted Chaser (Libellula quadirmaculata); several Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum) incl. a mating pair on the Dam Crest.

Damselflies seen include Blue-Tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans), Azure Damselfly (Coenagrin puella), and Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula). All of which can be easily seen from the Dam Crest by standing on the north-western corner overlooking the emergent aquatic plants.

White-legged Damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes) has been noted on both ponds and further afield on the Picnic Meadow, and one of our woodland rides.

The Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas) is best looked for by watching the Lily-pads, as this species likes to sit on top of floating vegetation.

More species will be emerging as the season continues. So, it is a suitable time to start “getting your eye in” and building up recognition of these early species, who will still be on the wing when later ones emerge.

In all up to 27 species of dragonflies and damselflies have been recorded at Buchan Country Park, and together they form one of the key features of our designation as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

28/05/2026

Still time to enter the spring photography competition!

There has been a lot of work "front of house" this week. The big news is, of course, the pot hole repair to our entrance...
20/05/2026

There has been a lot of work "front of house" this week. The big news is, of course, the pot hole repair to our entrance drive. Contractors completed the work over night, resurfacing the entire problem length, which should solve the problem for many years to come, staff and visitors alike are delighted!
The Thursday gang were also busy last week, laying new shingle in the middle car park bay, replacing "dragons teeth" the wooden logs that prevent cars parking inappropriately. They also carried out repairs to the picnic bench so it is usable again.
Lastly contractors replaced the unsightly cladding on the old boiler house, smartening up the entrance to the park. All in all a busy week!

Over this last fortnight, our volunteers have been carrying out maintenance and conservation works.Bankside repairs at f...
07/05/2026

Over this last fortnight, our volunteers have been carrying out maintenance and conservation works.

Bankside repairs at fishing swims were continued, with the undercut bank at Swim 4 being infilled with large Fittleworth Stone boulders.

The fascia board on the culvert which was installed last year in the north-east corner of Douster, was replaced and the delaminated marine ply board disposed of. Fence repairs have been completed on the corner by the A264 bridge and Target Hill path.

Half the benches on the picnic meadow have now been given a fresh coat of wood preservative, as did a single bench on the east of Douster (the rest will follow). The A frame used for visitor information at the entrance has been built from scratch.

To protect a small colony of Broad-leaved Helleborine (Epipactis helleborine) - one of our scarcer wildflowers - from deer-browsing, a temporary exclusion has been built.

This small colony had been hit hard by deer browsing going from double figures of flowering plants to only three browsed flowerheads in the space of three years. The day the fence was constructed we found four of this year’s plants already growing. We are hopeful they and others will now be able to flower and seed away from the unwanted attention of our resident deer.

Pothole announcement!I am very pleased to say that a contract has now been secured to resurface the entrance drive and s...
05/05/2026

Pothole announcement!

I am very pleased to say that a contract has now been secured to resurface the entrance drive and solve the problem of the potholes.
The work will be carried out overnight on the 19th May, and to allow for the works the car park will be closing early on that date. Please make sure you have vacated the car park by 4pm on the 19th.
The car park will be open again as usual at 7am on the 20th May.
The country park will remain accessible on foot as usual.
We apologise for any inconvenience, but i am sure that if you drive to us this will be welcome news!

Ahead of the bank holiday weekend a reminder that when you BBQ at Buchan you must follow all the rules set out in our BB...
01/05/2026

Ahead of the bank holiday weekend a reminder that when you BBQ at Buchan you must follow all the rules set out in our BBQ policy.
These rules are for the benefit of everyone as well as dogs amd wildlife.
We do appreciate people clearing up their rubbish, but piling bags next to the bins will attract vermin. As will disposing of left over food in the bins.
BBQS must be used on the stands provided. Do not add wood to a BBQ once you have finished cooking, that is a fire!
Please help us keep Buchan safe and beautiful by following these simple rules.

Bird Feeders Update:Following the latest guidance on bird feeding provided by the Royal Society for the Protection of Bi...
28/04/2026

Bird Feeders Update:

Following the latest guidance on bird feeding provided by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and British Trust for Ornithology (BTO):

“Feed Seasonally, Feed Safely”

To reduce the risk of disease transmission between our wild birds, the bird feeders in the Countryside Centre will now be taken down between 1st May and 31st October.

During this warmer period, there are plentiful supplies of wild food (invertebrates) and seeds.

https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/news/how-to-help-garden-birds

https://www.bto.org/learn/helping-birds/feeding

Address

Buchan Country Park, Horsham Road
Crawley
RH119HQ

Opening Hours

Monday 7am - 9pm
Tuesday 7am - 9pm
Wednesday 7am - 9pm
Thursday 7am - 9pm
Friday 7am - 9pm
Saturday 7am - 9pm
Sunday 7am - 9pm

Telephone

+441293542088

Website

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