The Weald

The Weald, low-lying, formerly densely forested area of south-east England, extending about 130 km (80 mi) from east to west and 30 km (19 mi) from north to south, and composed of clays and sandstone with some coastal alluvial silt. The Weald covers parts of the counties of Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex, and Kent. It is part of the remains of a larger structure called the Wealden anticlinorium—a dome of chalk and flints underlain by clay. The softer strata have been worn away in the centre of the formation by an uplift of the anticline, leaving chalk uplands only on the northern and southern margins (the North Downs and South Downs respectively), plus a few central ridges in the Weald. The forests used to support a considerable iron industry from prehistoric times onwards, based on iron ore which was mined locally. Most of the forest has now been cleared, and the region is used as grazing land and for production of fruit and hops.