Weald
The Weald (/ˈwiːld/) is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex, and Kent. It has three parts, the sandstone "High Weald" in the centre, the clay "Low Weald" periphery and the Greensand Ridge, which stretches around the north and west of the Weald and includes its highest points. The Weald once was covered with forest and its name, Old English in origin, signifies "woodland". The term is still used, as scattered farms and villages sometimes refer to the Weald in their names.
Etymology
The name "Weald" is derived from the
In early medieval Britain, the area had the name Andredes weald, meaning "the forest of Andred", the latter derived from Anderida, the Roman name of present-day Pevensey. The area is also referred to in early English texts as Andredesleage, where the second element, leage, is another Old English word for "woodland", represented by the modern leigh.[3] The adjective for "Weald" is "wealden".
Geology
The Weald is the eroded remains of a geological structure, an
The rocks of the central part of the anticline include hard sandstones, and these form hills now called the High Weald. The peripheral areas are mostly of softer sandstones and clays and form a gentler rolling landscape, the Low Weald. The
Many important fossils have been found in the sandstones and clays of the Weald, including, for example, Baryonyx. The famous scientific hoax of Piltdown Man was claimed to have come from a gravel pit at Piltdown near Uckfield. The first Iguanodon was identified after the fossil collector and illustrator Mary Ann Mantell supposedly unearthed some fossilised teeth by a road in Sussex in 1822. Her husband, the geologist Gideon Mantell sent them to various experts and this important find led to the discovery of dinosaurs.[5] The area contains significant reserves of shale oil, totalling 4.4 billion
History
Prehistoric evidence suggests that, following the Mesolithic hunter-gatherers, the Neolithic inhabitants had turned to farming, with the resultant clearance of the forest. With the Iron Age came the first use of the Weald as an industrial area. Wealden sandstones contain ironstone, and with the additional presence of large amounts of timber for making charcoal for fuel, the area was the centre of the Wealden iron industry from then, through the Roman times, until the last forge was closed in 1813.[7][8] The index to the Ordnance Survey Map of Roman Britain lists 33 iron mines, and 67% of these are in the Weald.
The entire Weald was originally heavily forested. According to the 9th-century
While most of the Weald was used for transhumance by communities at the edge of the Weald, several parts of the forest on the higher ridges in the interior seem to have been used for hunting by the kings of Sussex. The pattern of droveways which occurs across the rest of the Weald is absent from these areas.[9] These areas include St Leonard's Forest, Worth Forest, Ashdown Forest and Dallington Forest.
The forests of the Weald were often used as a place of refuge and sanctuary. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle relates events during the
A.D. 477. This year came Ælle to Britain, with his three sons, Cymen, and Wlenking, and Cissa, in three ships; landing at a place that is called Cymenshore. There they slew many of the Welsh; and some in flight they drove into the wood that is called Andred'sley.[10]
Until the Late Middle Ages the forest was a notorious hiding place for criminals.[11]
Settlements on the Weald are widely scattered. Villages evolved from small settlements in the woods, typically four to five miles (six to eight kilometres) apart; close enough to be an easy walk but not so close as to encourage unnecessary intrusion. Few of the settlements are mentioned in the Domesday Book; however Goudhurst's church dates from the early 12th century or before and Wadhurst was big enough by the mid-13th century to be granted a royal charter permitting a market to be held. Before then, the Weald was used as summer grazing land, particularly for pannage by inhabitants of the surrounding areas. Many places within the Weald have retained names from this time, linking them to the original communities by the addition of the suffix "-den": for example, Tenterden was the area used by the people of Thanet. Permanent settlements in much of the Weald developed much later than in other parts of lowland Britain, although there were as many as one hundred furnaces and forges operating by the later 16th century, employing large numbers of people.[7]
In the 12th century, the Weald still extended so far that citizens of London could hunt wild bull and the boar in Hampstead.
In 1216 during the First Barons' War, a guerilla force of archers from the Weald, led by William of Cassingham (nicknamed Willikin of the Weald), ambushed the French occupying army led by Prince Louis near Lewes and drove them to the coast at Winchelsea. The timely arrival of a French fleet allowed the French forces to narrowly escape starvation. William was later granted a pension from the crown and made warden of the Weald in reward for his services.
The inhabitants of the Weald remained largely independent and hostile to outsiders during the next decades.[12] In 1264 during the Second Barons' War, the royalist army of King Henry III of England marched through the Weald in order to force the submission of the Cinque Ports. Even though they were not aligned with the rebellious barons, the Weald's natives – mostly operating as archers – opposed the royalist advance, using guerrilla warfare. Even though they were unable to stop the army, their attacks inflicted substantial losses on the royalists. In retribution, King Henry ordered the execution of any Weald archers who were captured alive, for instance beheading 300 after a local shot his cook. The king also fined the Battle Abbey for the disloyalty of its tenants.[13]
In the first edition of
Modern chronostratigraphy shows that the Weald Clays were laid down around 130 million years ago in the Early Cretaceous.[15]
Geography
The Weald begins north-east of
Much of the High Weald, the central part, is designated as the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Its landscape is described as one of
rolling hills, studded with sandstone outcrops and cut by streams to form steep-sided ravines (called gills); small irregular-shaped fields and patches of heathland, abundant woodlands; scattered farmsteads and sunken lanes and paths.[16]
Ashdown Forest, an extensive area of heathland and woodland occupying the highest sandy ridge-top at the centre of the High Weald, is a former royal deer-hunting forest created by the Normans and said to be the largest remaining part of Andredesweald.[17]
There are centres of settlement, the largest of which are Horsham, Burgess Hill, East Grinstead, Haywards Heath, Tonbridge, Tunbridge Wells, Crowborough; and the area along the coast from Hastings and Bexhill-on-Sea to Rye and Hythe.
The geological map shows the High Weald in lime green (9a).
The Low Weald,[18] the periphery of the Weald, is shown as darker green on the map (9),[19] and has an entirely different character. It is in effect the eroded outer edges of the High Weald, revealing a mixture of sandstone outcrops within the underlying clay. As a result, the landscape is of wide and low-lying clay vales with small woodlands ("shaws") and fields. There is a great deal of surface water: ponds and many meandering streams.
Some areas, such as the flat plain around
The Weald is drained by the many streams radiating from it, the majority being tributaries of the surrounding major rivers: particularly the
Transport infrastructure
The M25, M26 and M20 motorways all use the Vale of Holmesdale to the north, and therefore run along or near the northern edge of the Weald. The M23/A23 road to Brighton, uses the western, narrower, part of the Weald where there are stream headwaters, crossing it from north to south. Other roads take similar routes, although they often have long hills and many bends: the more sedate, but busy A21 trunk road to Hastings is still beset with traffic delays, despite having had some new sections.
Five railways once crossed the Weald, now reduced to three. Building them provided the engineers with difficulties in crossing the terrain, with the hard sandstone adding to their problems. The
Several long-distance footpaths criss-cross the Weald, and it is well-mapped recreationally, covered by routes from:
- The Ramblers' Associationsand most District Councils for walkers
- cyclists
Farming
This section needs additional citations for verification. (February 2018) |
Neither the thin infertile sands of the High Weald or the wet sticky clays of the Low Weald are suited to intensive arable farming and the
About 60% of the High Weald farmed land is grassland, with about 20% being arable.[21]
The Weald has its own breed of cattle, called the
Viticulture has expanded quite rapidly across the Weald, where the climate and soil is well suited to the growing of grapes, with over 20 vineyards now in the Wealden district alone [22][23]
Wildlife
The Weald has largely maintained its wooded character, with woodland still covering 23% of the overall area (one of the highest levels in England) and the proportion is considerably higher in some central parts. The sandstones of the Wealden rocks are usually acidic, often leading to the development of acidic habitats such as
Although common in
Culture
The Weald has been associated with many writers, particularly in the 19th and early 20th centuries. These include
In the early 21st century, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council promoted "Seven Wonders of the Weald":
- Bayham Old Abbey
- Bedgebury Pinetum
- Bewl Water
- Finchcocks
- Lamberhurst Vineyard
- Marle Place
- Scotney Castle
Sport
The game of cricket may have originated prior to the 13th century in the Weald .[29] The related game of stoolball is still popular in the Weald, it was originally played mainly by women's teams, but since the formation of the Sussex league at the beginning of the 20th century it has been played by both men and women.[30]
Other English wealds and wolds
Several other areas in southern England have the name "Weald", including
"Wold" is used as the name for various open rolling upland areas in the North of England, including the Yorkshire Wolds and the Lincolnshire Wolds, although these are, by contrast, chalk uplands.
The Cotswolds are a major geographical feature of central England, forming a south-west to north-east line across the country.
See also
- Weald and Downland Open Air Museum
- Recreational walks in Kent
- History of Sussex
Notes
- ^ Lord Moran, Churchill's physician from 1940 until the latter's death, recorded Chartwell's pull upon his patient, "He loves Chartwell, although there is nothing there except a rather ordinary house - and the Weald."[27]
References
- ^ Hoad 1996.
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, Second edition, 1989
- ^ Ekwall 1991, p.10, p.502.
- ^ a b Gallois 1965, pp. 1–5.
- ^ National History Museum 2015.
- London Evening Standard. p. 8. Archivedfrom the original on 27 November 2018. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
- ^ "High Weald Timeline". Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2019.
- ^ ISBN 1-86077-241-2
- ^ "Medieval and Classical Literature Library, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Part 1". Archived from the original on 5 May 2018. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
- ^ "Heathfield.net". Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
- ISBN 978-1-4728-1150-9.
- ISBN 978-1-4728-1150-9.
- ISBN 978-1-84773-717-5
- ^ "BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units - Weald Clay Formation". www.bgs.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 10 July 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
- ^ "The High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty Management Plan 2014-2019". Sussex: The High Weald Joint Advisory Committee. 2014. p. 5. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ^ Brandon (2003), p.23.
- ^ "Natural England: Notes on the Low Weald". Archived from the original on 21 August 2008. Retrieved 3 March 2008.
- ^ The additional green section on the map, outside the other two, is not part of The Weald: to the north it is the Vale of Holmesdale; to the south the Vale of Sussex
- ^ Notes on the Low Weald[dead link]
- ^ "Types of crops grown on the Weald". High Weald website.
- ^ "Explore Wealden vineyards". Explore Wealden.
- ^ "Sussex wineries dominate list". Sussex Live - Wineries.
- ^ M.J. Goulding B.Sc. M.Sc.; G. Smith B.Sc. Ph.D. (March 1998). "Current Status and Potential Impact of Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) in the English Countryside: A Risk Assessment. Report to Conservation Management Division C, MAFF" (PDF). UK Government, Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA). Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2007.
- ^ "Guide to boar in Britain". Countryfile website.
- ^ "About Pooh". The Ashdown Forest Centre. Archived from the original on 23 May 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
- ^ Moran 2006, p. 154.
- ^ Moran 2006, p. 379.
- ISBN 978-0713-99330-1.
- ISBN 978-1841-62343-6.
Sources
- Ekwall, Eilert (1991). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names (4 ed.). OUP. ISBN 0-19-869103-3.
- Gallois, R. W. (1965). British Regional Geology: The Wealden District. London: H.M. Stationery Office. OCLC 655080512.
- Hoad, T, ed. (1996). "Weald". The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
- Moran, Lord (2006). Churchill:The Struggle for Survival 1945-60. New York: Caroll & Graf. ISBN 978-0-78671-706-4.
- National History Museum (2015). "Igauanodon Teeth". London: Natural History Museum. Archived from the original on 9 September 2015.
Further reading
- Anderson, Frederick William; Bazley, R. A. B. (1971). The Purbeck Beds of the Weald (England). Institute of Geological Sciences. ISBN 978-0-11-880140-9.