The Weald is an area between the chalky slopes of the North Downs and the South Downs. Although it stretches across East Sussex and West Sussex, it also covers parts of Kent, Surrey and Hampshire. It is about 37 km from west to east, and about 48 km from north to south. The Sussex Weald is an area known from Saxon times and is considered to be a Medieval landscape.
The western part of the Weald (in Hampshire and West Sussex) is known as the Western Weald and is also within the South Downs National Park. To the east, is the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (also known as High Weald National Landscape). Other protected parts of the Weald are the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Sussex Weald once was once an impenetrable area between the North and South Downs covered with forest.
The Weald has three main areas:
The High Weald (Sussex and West Kent)
The High Weald covers about 1,450 square km and is the fourth largest Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) in England and Wales. It is the heart of the Weald area and is predominantly sandstone and clay. It is distinctive for its valleys, ridges, ancient woodlands, heathlands, rolling hills and fields. The ridges include Ashdown Forest, St Leonards Forest, Worth Forest and Dallington Forest and the High Weald is crossed by a network of drove ways and footpaths.
The Low Weald (around the High Weald)
The Low Weald is predominantly clay and wraps around the northern, western and southern edges of the High Weald in what is often described as a horseshoe shape. It is low lying and gently undulating. Predominantly clay with soft sandstone ridges, it is characterised by fields, hedgerows, ponds, ancient woodlands, meandering streams and rivers.
The Greensand Ridge (north and west of the Weald)
Most of the Greensand landscape is within the boundaries of the South Downs National Park and the Greensand is a combination of clay, sand and sandstone. It is made up of slopes, ancient woodland, steep hangers, open heathland, fields, hedgerows, narrow vales, streams and rivers.
Places within the Sussex Weald
Towns within the Weald include Crawley, Horsham, Burgess Hill, East Grinstead, Haywards Heath, Crowborough, Hastings, Bexhill-on-Sea and Rye.
Sussex Weald the consistency
The area of the Weald that is within Sussex is different to the constituency called Sussex Weald which includes Crowborough, Rotherfield, Wadhurst, Mayfield, Horam and Hailsham.
If you like this post about the Sussex Weald, you may also like:
