South Downs National Park

Uniquely combining a biodiverse landscape with bustling towns and villages, the South Downs National Park covers an area of over 1,600 km2 and is home to more than 110,400 people. Recognised as an area of outstanding beauty, the South Downs is also home to a multitude of vibrant working communities steeped in history and traditional English culture, from the ancient cathedral city of Winchester in the west to the bustling market town of Lewes in the east. We all have a shared responsibility to care for the National Park and the South Downs. Fantastic opportunities exist for you to enjoy the areas special qualities through the rights of way network and areas of open access land, but please remember there is no ‘right to roam’ in the rest of the National Park as most of this area is private land, managed by farmers and foresters. Enjoy walking in the countryside and treat it with respect: Find out more about how you can care for the National Park while enjoying all it has to offer. Whatever you are looking to do, for residents and visitors alike, the South Downs National Park offers a multitude of things to see and enjoy.

The South Downs National Park is England’s newest National Park, having become fully operational on 1 April 2011. 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 national park covers not only the chalk ridge of the South Downs, with its celebrated chalk downland landscape that culminates in the iconic chalky white cliffs of Beachy Head, but also a substantial part of a separate physiographic region, the western Weald, with its heavily wooded sandstone and clay hills and vales. The South Downs Way spans the entire length of the park and is the only National Trail that lies wholly within a national park.

This lovely card sent to me by Sue shows the River Cuckmere, Halnaker Mill Near Uppark, The Seven Sisters and the Long Man of Wilmington.