Flora and Fauna
A wide variety of plants can be found on Ditchling Beacon, especially during the summer. Flowers and herbs suited to chalk grassland, such as marjoram, thyme and certain types of orchid (notably the common spotted orchid), are often reported. (Some parts of the surrounding land are merely scrubland, however.) Butterflies are common; a notable example is the Chalkhill Blue, which is particularly well suited to uncultivated chalk downland areas. Some parts of the hill and the surrounding fields (particularly Ditchling Down, a large open area near the base of the northern face, close to the Beacon Road car park) are used for the grazing of sheep.
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Louis Aragon (1897–1982)