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
Open sandwiches
Why not come and try one of our delicious sourdough open sandwiches on our summer menu?
Available all through the summer with choices of topping:
Cream cheese rocket and beef.
Tomato mozzarella pesto with Balsamic drizzle.
Cream cheese rocket smoked salmon with a lemon wedge.
Burton Mill flour is milled in a traditional way using heritage machinery and only water power. It can only be bought in local shops including Fittleworth Stores.
The present Mill building dates from around 1780, although mills and forges have exploited the spring water from the Downs for at least 800 years.
The mill’s heritage water-powered milling machinery has been restored to working order.
Burton Mill is open to visitors on the Sunday of National Mills Weekend in May and the National Heritage Weekend in September. See the Burton Mill website for more information.
Silly Moo is an unusually civilised farmhouse cider, made on the farm by Rachel and Andrew. It is a marriage of East coast and West Country cider styles with fully fermented cider blended with more apple juice to balance it.
Our orchard has over nineteen varieties of traditional cider apple trees – bittersweet, sharp and bittersharp apples, which we planted in 2012. These are blended with apples we source from English orchards and the gardens of Sussex, which are brought to our farm in the Autumn to be swapped for cider.
Made once a year in the autumn means that every year the cider is slightly different, reflecting the terroir – its soils, the year’s weather and the amazing variety of apples our swappers bring in.
At the Weald Smokery we produce traditionally smoked foods created with passion, pride and care. We choose everything, from our raw ingredients to the oak we burn in our kilns, for the authentic flavour it imparts to our smoked fish, meats and cheeses.
What started as a general interest in gardening has turned into a bit of a chilli growing obsession! Joe started growing chillies as a wind-down hobby over 20 years ago and after a career change Joe’s Chilli Sauce Co was launched in 2018.
Joe’s Chilli Sauce Co are small scale chilli farmers and grow almost all of the chillies which are needed to make the current range of 11 Artisan Sauces, Jams and Oils as well as the recently launched – and highly acclaimed – Hot Honey!
The business is based just outside Lewes in East Sussex and prides itself in Championing UK grown chillies and where possible uses UK sourced ingredients.
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.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Tripadvisor 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!
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.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 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
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.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Google Review
Spectacular food
Spectacular food, excellent coffee, efficient and polite service in the cafe and a most comprehensive local shop.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Google Review
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.
