High Weald National Landscape
At the centre, the sandstones and clays formed geologically of the Hastings Beds of the early Cretaceous period rise up to give the characteristic forested ridges of the High Weald.This geology and the subsequent dissection of the sandstone core by rivers such as the Ouse, Medway and Rother are fundamental to its underlying landscape character.The entire Weald was once heavily wooded and, even though the vast woodland that lay between the North Downs and South Downs, which was known to the Celtic Britons as Coit Andred, to the Romans as Silva Anderida, and to the Saxons first as Andredesleage and later Andredesweald, has been much reduced and fragmented as the result of human activity over the last 1,500 years, woodland remains at a much higher density in the High Weald than elsewhere.Employment in the traditional rural industries of the High Weald, agriculture, forestry and mineral working (gypsum, notably, is mined from the Purbeck Beds near Battle), declined rapidly during the late 20th century to a point where less than 10% of employees are now engaged in these activities.The resources brought into the area by wealthy incomers created and maintained the many parks and gardens that are now characteristic of the High Weald landscape.Today the High Weald is still economically dependent, not so much on wealthy landowners but on large numbers of commuters living there who travel outside the area to work, mainly to the Crawley/Gatwick conurbation, the coastal towns and London.Ashdown Forest is an internationally important area of lowland heathland occupying the highest sandstone ridge-top of the High Weald.