Downland

A downland is an area of open chalk upland. This term is especially used to describe the chalk countryside in southern England. Often referred to as downs.

The downland consists of two ranges of chalk hills of limestone deposits formed by sometimes microscopic shells of marine organisms, in southern England.

The North Downs, stretch about 100 miles from the Kent Downs stretching inland from Dover and Folkestone through Surrey as far as Hampshire. Towns in the North downs are Maidstone, Sevenoaks, Westerham in Kent, Purley in Greater London, Epsom, Caterham, Redhill and Reigate, Dorking, Guildford, Godalming and Farnham in Surrey, and Basingstoke in Hampshire. The North Downs consist of gentle heights in some parts and of chalky scars, steep hillsides and deep valleys in others.

Horticulture is especially difficult on the steepest parts of the Downs, which are particularly alkaline, and it is therefore almost impossible to grow lime-hating ericaceous plants unless the soil has been reconstituted.

The area between the North and South Downs is called the Weald, an area of rolling countryside that stretches over the counties of Kent, Surrey, and East and West Sussex. Its name derives from the Old High German wald, a wooded area.

The South Downs extend about 70 miles across West Sussex and East Sussex. Towns and villages are Eastbourne with its 575 feet-high headland Beachy Head, Lewes, Brighton and Hove, Shoreham-by-Sea, the village of Washington, Arundel and Midhurst.

The most famous cliffs of the South Downs, apart from Beachy Head, are the Seven Sisters, between Eastbourne and Seaford.

External links: Seven Sisters cliffs [1]