The South Downs National Park is the newest of the UK’s 15 national parks having only received full protected status in 2011. Its most obvious feature is the South Downs range of chalk hills running from Winchester in the west, across the counties of Hampshire, West Sussex and East Sussex, terminating where it meets the English Channel in the form of the spectacular white cliffs including Beachy Head and the Seven Sisters near Eastbourne but the South Downs National Park also includes the western Weald area which offers a complete contrast from the grassy Downs.
The name Downs is derived from the Old English word dun meaning hill.
The highest point along the chalk hills of the South Downs is Butser Hill at an altitude of 271 metres (889 feet) but the South Downs National Park reaches a height of 280 metres (919 feet) in the western Weald area at Blackdown on Greensand Ridge.39 different types of butterflies can be found including the threatened Duke of Burgundy species.
