Blackcap, East Sussex
Encyclopedia
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
owned area of countryside on the peak of the South Downs
South Downs
The South Downs is 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...
, just south east of the village of Plumpton
Plumpton, East Sussex
Plumpton is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. The village is located five miles north-west of Lewes. The parish includes the small village of Plumpton and the larger village of Plumpton Green to the north where most of the community and services are based...
in East Sussex
East Sussex
East Sussex is a county in South East England. It is bordered by the counties of Kent, Surrey and West Sussex, and to the south by the English Channel.-History:...
. It is also mainly part of the Clayton to Offham Escarpment
Clayton To Offham Escarpment
The Clayton to Offham Escarpment is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in East Sussex, but extends in to West Sussex and thus can be found on the List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in West Sussex as well as the List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in East Sussex...
SSSI. The reserve contains the hills of Blackcap 206 metres (675.9 ft) in the parish of East Chiltington
East Chiltington
East Chiltington is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. It is located four miles south-east of Burgess Hill and five miles north-west of Lewes. It is a narrow-shaped parish of some on the northern slope of the South Downs. The village church is 13th century...
, Mount Harry 196 metres (643 ft) in the parish of Hamsey
Hamsey
Hamsey is a civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. It is located three miles north of Lewes on the Prime Meridian...
and the wooded area of Ashcombe Bottom in the parish of St John Without
St John Without
St John Without is a small civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England, covering an area to the north-west of the town of Lewes....
.
Walks can be taken starting low down by the road at the north, and then climbing steadily south up to the ridge, where there are spectacular view southwards. The flatter landscape is made up of scrubby open ground with chalk paths, surrounded by thicket
Thicket
A thicket is a very dense stand of trees or tall shrubs, often dominated by only one or a few species, to the exclusion of all others. They may be formed by species that shed large amounts of highly viable seeds that are able to germinate in the shelter of the maternal plants.In some conditions the...
s (home to many songbirds especially blue tit
Blue Tit
The Blue Tit is a 10.5 to 12 cm long passerine bird in the tit family Paridae. It is a widespread and common resident breeder throughout temperate and subarctic Europe and western Asia in deciduous or mixed woodlands...
s and chaffinch
Chaffinch
The Chaffinch , also called by a wide variety of other names, is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae.- Description :...
es). The steeper ground leading up to the ridge is low-density woodland
Woodland
Ecologically, a woodland is a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade. Woodlands may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of...
. The top is very open, with patches of pine woodland and gorse
Gorse
Gorse, furze, furse or whin is a genus of about 20 plant species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae, native to western Europe and northwest Africa, with the majority of species in Iberia.Gorse is closely related to the brooms, and like them, has green...
bushes, and there is a triangulation point here.
The flat surrounding fields are grazed by sheep, and the surrounding hillsides are so stubbly and coarse that Exmoor ponies
Exmoor pony
The Exmoor pony is a horse breed native to the British Isles, where some still roam as semi-feral livestock on Exmoor, a large area of moorland in Devon and Somerset in southwest England. The Exmoor is one of the British Isles mountain and moorland pony breeds, having conformation similar to that...
are brought in to graze them. Carrion crow
Carrion Crow
The Carrion Crow is a member of the passerine order of birds and the crow family which is native to western Europe and eastern Asia.-Taxonomy:...
s often fly overhead, and the scrub is densely populated by rabbit
European Rabbit
The European Rabbit or Common Rabbit is a species of rabbit native to south west Europe and north west Africa . It has been widely introduced elsewhere often with devastating effects on local biodiversity...
s. Roe deer
Roe Deer
The European Roe Deer , also known as the Western Roe Deer, chevreuil or just Roe Deer, is a Eurasian species of deer. It is relatively small, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapted to cold environments. Roe Deer are widespread in Western Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, and from...
come out when it is quiet to graze, hidden and protected by the surrounding thickets.