The
South Downs are a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the
Itchen Valley of Hampshire in the west to
Beachy Head, near
Eastbourne, East Sussex, in the east. It is bounded on its northern side by a steep escarpment, from whose crest there are extensive views northwards across the
Weald. The
South Downs National Park forms a much larger area than the chalk range of the South Downs and includes large parts of the Weald.