South Downs: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Near Beachy Head

The South Downs is one of the two areas of chalk downland in southern England. The North & South Downs run parallel to each other, and would once have formed part of the same dome-shaped chalk outcrop. Erosion, however, has removed the chalk between the two ridges, forming an area called the Weald.

The South Downs extend about 70 miles through East Sussex, West Sussex and part of Hampshire. 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. The highest point on the South Downs is Butser Hill, just south of Petersfield, Hampshire.

See also: North Downs.