Welcome to Fittleworth Stores, our community owned and run shop, café and post office in the beautiful South Downs National Park.
Villagers, visitors, cyclists and walkers are all invited to come and experience our warm and friendly atmosphere. Dogs are welcome too, but not inside please.
Cool down with our delicious cold drinks from Hartridge’s
Our shop carries a wide range of local produce and reasonably priced general groceries (including household items and over the counter medicines), together with newspapers. We are keen to support local farms and businesses so we are proud to stock produce from over 30 local suppliers. We also stock a range of local pottery, art and jewellery.
Our Post Office counter provides a comprehensive range of services. In addition to buying stamps and posting parcels, you can withdraw cash, pay cheques into your bank account, pay bills, top up your mobile phone and buy holiday currency! The Post Office closes at 5pm on weekdays and 1pm on Saturday, and is closed all day Sunday.
Need something delivered or need a lift? If you are struggling to get to us, we will do our best to help. Call 01798 865907 and we will see if we can deliver to you or provide you with a lift to the shop.
Our café offers cooked breakfasts, lunches, sandwiches, snacks and hot and cold drinks. We have inside seating for 30 and plenty of outside tables and picnic benches. Please find a table and then place your order at the till. If you don’t have time to stop and enjoy your food and drink in our café, many of the items can be taken away too.
We offer homemade cakes and traybakes and we have a range of buns and doughnuts from Jengers Craft Bakery. We have plenty of more substantial snacks too, including sausage rolls and bacon baps.
Now served every morning, our full English breakfast features toast, bacon, sausages, tomatoes, mushrooms, beans and fried eggs and is available in large and small versions.
All our coffee is made using our special Fittleworth Stores Blend of coffee from Edge Tea & Coffee at Ford near Arundel (you can also buy our coffee blend from the shop too).
Fittleworth Stores is positioned between Hesworth Common and Fittleworth Common with easy access to the wonderful countryside of The South Downs National Park.
We are immediately adjacent to our fantastic village children’s playground with its wooden play equipment featuring pigs, a horse and cart, tractor and plenty more! The outdoor seating on our café terraces overlooks the playground and recreation ground.
There is also a special section of youth equipment in the recreation ground with an outside table tennis table (bats and balls available for use from the shop), ball wall and climbing frame.
The Woodland Playground
The Ambling Path
The Ambling Path recently featured a lovely walk centred on Fittleworth Stores. They said: “Fittleworth is between Petworth and Pulborough in the heart of the South Downs and it has an award winning, community run village stores and cafe. Directly beside this is an enclosed children’s play area, meaning the kids can play while you enjoy your coffee and cake. Fittleworth is surrounded by pockets of woodland, common land and South Downs views – all of which our walk makes the most of. And if this wasn’t enough, the route also passes the historically significant building of The Swan Inn.”
Award winning marmalade from Lucy Deedes in Petworth.
For those of you beginning to make marmalade, don’t despair if it doesn’t set straight away. It can be infuriating – partly why it I find it interesting to make. Recently I made a mixed-fruit marmalade that looked a bit runny for five whole days; I almost threw it out but by day 5 it was perfectly set. That said, there are things that will contribute to a disappointing set: not enough lemon juice, cutting off too much pith from your fruit rinds or not extracting all the pectin-loaded juice from the muslin bag of pips. You can even squeeze the bag with your hands, though there is a suggestion that it makes the finished product cloudy.
People sometimes ask if I have made sugar-free marmalade; well yes (with honey) but it’s more of a compote, not a set preserve. And whilst it’s perfectly possible to reduce the sugar and still get an excellent set, there’s no doubt that sugar adds not just sweetness but enhanced flavour, so it’s a fine line and worth experimenting until you find the perfect compromise. I find that the ratio of 4:3 pulp:sugar works well.
For the avoidance of confusion, when I write about the pulp: sugar ratio – by ‘pulp’ I am referring to the cooked peel/water mixture, NOT the contents of the muslin bag! And make sure to remove the muslin bag before measuring the pulp.
I currently make four flavours (and Strawberry Jam in season), and they sell at Elliotts’ Coffee Shop in Chiddingfold, Chalk Restaurant at Wiston and in the Fittleworth Community Shop.
I freeze Seville Oranges when they are in the shops from November – February and make marmalade throughout the year. If you decide to do this, it’s important to add some fresh fruit – a couple of lemons, limes or grapefruit, or fresh oranges, to top up the pectin which is very slightly reduced by freezing.
Specialists in supplying quality cheeses from Great Britain and the continent.
At The Cheese Man we are passionate about cheese and fine foods, and as a local family run company are proud to promote local cheeses.
We are ever mindful of how important food miles and environmental issues are to our customers, and working closely with local cheese makers we have produced a guide to develop local awareness of quality cheeses from the surrounding areas.
Wonderful local shop and cafe. Staff are always friendly and helpful, and the cakes are lovely. Perfect to nip in and grab a few bits from the shop, or sit for a while and catch up with a coffee. Small playground right next door, so brilliant for younger children.
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Google Review
Delicious coffee
Love this local village shoe and cafe, coffee is delicious and their food is great with awesome portions
On a very busy Friday lunchtime, I enjoyed a prawn with marie sauce sandwich served with a side salad and crisps and my friend had a very tasty quiche lorraine, with side salad. The quality of the food in this little store is superb and I can well recommend it.
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Tripadvisor Review
Amazing place!
What an amazing place! A treasure trove full of household basics, treats and gifts with a post office and café. It is right next to the playing fields with a great children’s play area next door. All the staff are really friendly and welcoming and they were very helpful and knowledgeable with my post office inquiries.
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Google Review
A triumph!
Much more than a store, this is a community hub at its best. I can find local trades people, buy my weekly food shop and stop for a chat over a fresh cooked lunch. Great parking and children’s play area. Seating is comfortable inside and out. Well done to all those involved. A triumph!
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Google Review
Really welcoming
My son and I popped in here to fill in half an hour one morning and were delighted to find such a lovely spot. Really welcoming and the brownie and tea and cold drink went down a treat. Lovely comfy chairs overlooking the playing field.
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Tripadvisor Review
Hats off to you
Fittleworth Stores what a fantastic gem of a place. Post Office, village store, café all rolled into one amazing place. Toni hats off to you and your team, each and every one of you make a visit worthwhile with your relaxed friendly approach.
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Smashing lunch spot for gourmet sandwiches
The perfect stopping off spot for a lovely coffee, quick bite to eat and a slice of homemade cake. Delicious. Quick service, lovely staff and a buzzy atmosphere.
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Tripadvisor Review
Spectacular food
Spectacular food, excellent coffee, efficient and polite service in the cafe and a most comprehensive local shop.
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Gem of a café
I’ve been visiting Fittleworth Stores for years as a venue for something to eat, drink and relax whether out walking or cycling and feel it’s high time to give it the credit it deserves.
Without doubt this is one of the best cafés in Sussex situated on the lovely village green with loads of space for children to play or for smaller ones a safe play area very close by.
Run by volunteers I’ve always found the staff friendly and polite providing terrific quality sandwiches, savouries and cakes as well as tasty hot drinks. My recent breakfast bacon & sausage bap was off the chart in terms of quantity and quality using ingredients from my favourite local butcher.
Lots of outside seating plus a number of tables inside where there is also a good selection of typical items you would find in many convenience stores. All in all an absolutely great place to visit.
