South Downs - History

History

Archaeological evidence has revealed that the Downs have been inhabited and utilised for thousands of years. Neolithic flint mines such as Cissbury, burial mounds such as the Devil's Jumps and Devil's Humps, and hill forts like Chanctonbury Ring are strong features in the landscape.

It has been estimated that the tree cover of the downs was cleared over 3000 years ago, and the present closely grazed turf is the result of continual grazing by sheep.

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