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The term 'downs' is from Old English dūn, meaning 'hill'.The word acquired the sense of 'elevated rolling grassland' around the 14th century. [7] These hills are prefixed 'south' to distinguish them from another chalk escarpment, the North Downs, which runs roughly parallel to them about 30 mi (48 km) away on the northern edge of the Weald.
The North Downs cuesta has a steep south-facing scarp slope and a more gentle north-facing dip slope. Its southern boundary is defined by the low-lying Vale of Holmesdale at the foot of the escarpment, in which the underlying stratum is primarily gault clay .
To the east downlands are found north of the Weald in Surrey, Kent and part of Greater London, forming the North Downs. To the southeast the downlands continue into West Sussex and East Sussex as the South Downs. [1] Similar chalk hills are also found further north in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire where they are known as the Wolds.
The South Downs are the eroded remnant of the southern limb of this regional-scale fold, paired with the North Downs which represent the opposing limb of this 'unroofed' elongate dome. The southerly dipping chalk beds of the South Downs present one of the major escarpments to be found in Britain. [7]
The South Downs National Park is England's newest national park, designated on 31 March 2010. [1] The park, covering an area of 1,627 square kilometres (628 sq mi) in southern England, stretches for 140 kilometres (87 mi) from Winchester in the west to Eastbourne in the east, through the counties of Hampshire, West Sussex and East Sussex.
The most-visited national park is the Lake District, with 15.8 million visitors in 2009, although by visitor days the South Downs at 39 million compares to 23.1 million for the Lake District. [ 15 ] List of national parks
View south across the Weald of Kent as seen from the North Downs Way near Detling. The Weald (/ ˈ w iː l d /) is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex, and Kent.
Heads from the North Downs Way onto the South Downs Way at Steyning. East Devon Way: 38 61: South West England: Exmouth, East Devon: Lyme Regis, West Dorset: Runs inland but links with the South West Coast Path at both ends. Essex Way: 81 130: Essex: Epping: Harwich: Crosses Dedham Vale and Constable country to finish at the Stour estuary. Exe ...