If you’ve been captivated by Ivon Hitchens’ paintings in our British Landscapes: A Sense of Place exhibition, why not experience the scenery that inspired them for yourself? 

Created in partnership with the South Downs National Park, In the Footsteps of Ivon Hitchens is a beautiful circular walk through the landscapes around Lavington Common and Duncton Mill, where Hitchens lived, worked and found inspiration for almost four decades. 

Download the walking route here. 

Stretching across 1,600km² of rolling hills, ancient woodlands, bustling market towns and spectacular coastline, the South Downs National Park is home to some of England’s most cherished landscapes. Rich in wildlife, history and creativity, it is a place where nature, culture and people are deeply connected, and where artists such as Ivon Hitchens found endless inspiration. 

Modern British landscape painter Ivon Hitchens (1893–1979) lived and worked at Lavington Common from 1940 until his death in 1979. Painting in the open air around his Sussex home, Hitchens sought to capture the essence of the place and the resulting paintings, featuring swathes of bright colour, brought him international acclaim and a place in museums and collections around the world. 

Hitchens’ career in painting began in the innovative art world of the 1920s, alongside Ben and Winifred Nicholson, Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. He also drew inspiration from artists on the continent including Cezanne and Matisse and his work was always international in its outlook. 

In 1940 Hitchens’ London studio was damaged in the Blitz and so, having recently bought six acres of Sussex countryside and a gypsy caravan for £20, he moved his family to the verdant hills south of Petworth. The effect of the move on his work was profound. Rarely has an artist so immersed himself in the scenery around his home. 

He dedicated the rest of his life to capturing the Sussex landscape, creating paintings that have captivated audiences ever since. To start with, life in Sussex was basic, without electricity or running water. The family lived in the caravan whilst his studio and later a house were completed. 

Hitchens absorbed himself in the landscape, steering his wheelbarrow loaded with paints, brushes and canvases out into the countryside every day, ‘going humbly to nature to “see” what I could later paint’. Evolving his distinctive abstract style over decades, Hitchens could capture a sandy stretch of heathland with a sweep of oil paint or the plunge and froth of a millrace in a stroke of white. 

In the 1960s Hitchens bought a converted railway carriage on the beach in Selsey and began to paint the light and space of the coastline. Yet he would always return to the Downs where he died in 1979, barely a month after completing his last painting. 

Rather than the dramatic backdrop of the Downs, it was the woods and heathland around his house that enthralled Hitchens. Turning his back on the majestic line of hills he would direct his canvas instead to the changing light in a forest clearing or the reflections on a millpond, always exploring nature’s shifting perspectives.

Today, you can follow in Hitchens’ footsteps and discover many of the places that shaped his remarkable vision. The circular walk takes you through the tranquil heathland, woodland and waterways that appear throughout his paintings, offering an opportunity to experience the changing light, colours and atmosphere that inspired one of Britain’s most distinctive landscape artists. 

After your walk, continue your journey at Pallant House Gallery, where British Landscapes: A Sense of Place explores how artists including Ivon Hitchens reimagined the British landscape through bold, expressive and deeply personal works. Seeing the paintings after visiting the places that inspired them offers a fresh perspective on Hitchens’ extraordinary connection with the Sussex countryside. 

Download the walking route here and begin your own journey through the landscapes that inspired Ivon Hitchens.