Downs

Downs (Fr. dunes, from the root dun, 'a hill,' common to the Teutonic and Celtic languages), a term applied, like denes in Norfolk, to hillocks of sand thrown up by the sea or the wind along the sea-coast (see DUNES, DRIFT). It is also a general name for any undulating tract of upland too light for cultivation, and covered with short grass. It is specially applied to two broad ridges of undulating hills south of the Thames, beginning in the middle of Hampshire, and running eastward, the one (the North Downs) through the middle of Surrey and Kent to Dover (about 120 miles), and the other (the South Downs) through the south-east of Hampshire and near the Sussex coast to Beachy Head (about 80 miles). Between the two ranges lies the valley of the Weald, from which the chalk strata have been removed by denudation. Towards the Weald, the descent from both Downs is rapid, and presents cliffs as of a sea-margin; while the opposite slopes are gradual. The highest point of the North Downs is Inkpen Hill (1011 feet); and of the South Downs, Butser Hill (889 feet). These uplands are covered with fine short pasture, which, from its aromatic quality, forms excellent feeding-ground for the famous Southdown sheep.