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DOWNS

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Originally appearing in Volume V08, Page 460 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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DOWNS , the name of a See also:

system of See also:chalk hills in the See also:south-See also:east of See also:England. For the See also:etymology of the word and its meaning see DowN. It is most See also:familiar in its application to the two ranges of the See also:North and South Downs. Of these the North Downs are confined chiefly to the counties of See also:Surrey and See also:Kent, and the South to See also:Sussex. Each forms a well-defined See also:long range springing from the chalk See also:area of See also:Dorsetshire and See also:Hampshire, to which, though broken up into a See also:great number of See also:short ranges and See also:groups of hills, the See also:general name of the Western Downs is given. The Downs enclose the See also:rich See also:district of the See also:Weald (q.v.). The North Downs, extending from a point near See also:Farnham to the See also:English Channel between See also:Dover and See also:Folkestone, have a length along the See also:crest See also:line, measured directly, of 95 m. The crest, however, is not continuous, as the hills are breached by a See also:succession. of valleys, forming gaps through which high-roads and See also:railways converge upon See also:London. The See also:rivers flowing through these gaps run northward, and, except in the extreme east, are members of the See also:Thames See also:basin. These breaching valleys, which are characteristic of the South Downs also, " carry us back to a See also:time when the See also:greensand and chalk were continued across, or almost across, the Weald in a great See also:dome." The rivers " then ran down the slopes of the dome, and as the chalk and greensand gradually weathered back . . . deepened and deepened their valleys, and thus were enabled to keep their See also:original course." 1 The western termination of the North Downs is the Hog's Back, a narrow See also:ridge, little more than a See also:quarter of a mile broad at the See also:summit, sloping sharply north and south, and reaching 489 ft. in height. At the See also:west end a depression occurs where the rivers Wey and See also:Blackwater closely approach each other; and it is thought that the Wey has beheaded the Blackwater, which formerly 1 See also:Avebury, The Scenery of England, ch. xi.

first of a See also:

series of towns which have grown up at these natural gateways through the hills. The Wey, flowing south of the Hog's Back, breaches the Downs at its eastern extremity, the See also:town of See also:Guildford See also:standing at this point. The next See also:gap is that of the See also:Mole, in which See also:Dorking lies. Between Guildford and Dorking the See also:main line of the Downs reaches a height of 712 ft., but a lateral depression, followed by the railway between these towns, marks off on the south a loftier range of See also:lower greensand, in which See also:Leith See also:Hill, famous as a view-point, is 965 ft. in height. East of the Mole the northward slope of the Downs is deeply cut by narrow valleys, and the depression above Redhill may have been traversed by a stream subsequently beheaded by the Mole. A height of 868 ft. is attained east of See also:Caterham. The next See also:river to break through the main line is the Darent, but here another lateral depression, watered by the headstreams of that river, marks off the Ragstone Ridge, south of See also:Sevenoaks, reaching 800 ft. The lateral depression is continued along the valleys of streams tributary to the See also:Medway, so that nearly as far as See also:Ashford the Downs consist of two parallel ranges; but the Medway itself breaches both, See also:Maidstone lying in the gap. The See also:elevation now begins to decrease, and 682 ft. is the extreme height east of the Medway. The direction, hitherto E. by N., trends E.S.E. The final See also:complete See also:breach is made by the Great See also:Stour, between Ashford and See also:Canterbury, east of which a height of 600 ft. is rarely reached. The valley of the Little Stour, however, offers a well-marked pass followed by the Folkestone-Canterbury railway, and the North Downs finally fall to the See also:sea in the See also:grand See also:white cliffs between Dover and Folkestone.

The South Downs See also:

present similar characteristics on a See also:minor See also:scale. Springing from the main See also:mass of the chalk to the south of See also:Petersfield they have their greatest elevation (889 ft. in Butser Hill) at that point, and extend E. by S. for 65 m. to the English Channel at the cliffs of Beachy See also:Head. As in the See also:case of the North Downs a succession of rivers breach the hills, and a succession of towns See also:mark the gaps. These are, from east to west, the Arun, with the town of See also:Arundel, the Adur, with See also:Shoreham, the See also:Ouse, with See also:Lewes and See also:Newhaven, and the Cuckmere, with no considerable town. The steep slope of the South Downs is north-See also:ward towards the Weald. The See also:southern slopes reach the See also:coast east of See also:Brighton, but west of this town a See also:flat coastal See also:belt intervenes, widening westward. Apart from the complete breaches mentioned, the South Downs, scored on the south with many deep vales, are generally more easily penetrable than the North Downs, and the coast is less continuous. Smooth See also:convex curves are characteristic of the Downs; their graceful and striking outline gives them an importance in the landscape in excess of their actual height; their flanks are well wooded, their summits covered with See also:close springy See also:turf. " THE Downs " is also the name of a roadstead in the English Channel off See also:Deal between the North and the South See also:Foreland. It forms a favourite anchorage during heavy See also:weather, protected on the east by the See also:Goodwin Sands and on the north and west by the coast. It has depths down to 12 fathoms. Even during southerly See also:gales some shelter is afforded, though under this See also:condition wrecks are not infrequent.

End of Article: DOWNS

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