| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
As a geographical term, the Weald is a particular area in the South of England that is situated between the chalk hills of the North Downs and South Downs, and that extends across the counties of Kent, East Sussex, West SussexWest Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex (with Brighton and Hove), Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex was divided into eastern and western administrative regions, with separate county councils in 1888 but it rema and SurreyThis is about Surrey, England. There are also articles about other uses of the name Surrey. Surrey is a county in southern England, one of the Home Counties'. It is divided into a number of districts Elmbridge, Epsom and Ewell, Guildford, Mole Valley, Rei.
The High Weald of higher hills, ridges and valleyThis article is about the physical-geographic term. For places named "Valley" see Valley (disambiguation). Fljotsdalur in East- Iceland A valley is a landform, typically at least a few square miles (kilometers) but often hundreds or even thousands of squas is part of the Wealden anticline, once layered rockRock is a substance composed of minerals and classified according to mineral composition. Rocks are generally clasified by the processes that formed them, and are thus separated into igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic rocks. Igneous rocks are formed fr that later rose up and folded upward into an arched incline, as well as steep slopes falling away in certain parts of the area. It covers an area of 500 mile² (1,300 km²) and has been declared an Area of Outstanding Natural BeautyArea of Outstanding Natural Beauty is a conservation designation in the United Kingdom. Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty are areas of England and Wales so designated under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act (1949). There are 41 AONBs.
Lower parts of the Weald form a gentler rolling countryside which is especially popular with ramblerRambler was a United States based automobile company. Rambler was founded in the 1890s by Thomas B. Jeffery, a wagon maker of Kenosha, Wisconsin, originally as the name of a line of bicycles. In 1900 Jeffery decided to go into the new business of automobis. The Weald has kept its wooded character to this very day, the forest still covering 23% of the area, one of the highest levels in England. Despite the population pressure in the South of England, it has not resulted in any major urban environment! Small towns such as Tunbridge WellsTunbridge Wells (officially Royal Tunbridge Wells is a Wealden town in west Kent in England, just north of the border with East Sussex. It has a population of about 100,000 (2001 ), and is the administrative centre of the Tunbridge Wells Borough. History, TonbridgeTonbridge is a market town in the English county of Kent, with a population of 31,600 in 2001. It belongs to the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Malling (population 107,560 in 2001). The town stands on the River Medway, at a point where the Saxons, Crawley, Sevenoaks, etc., are local centres which have attracted a certain number of commuters into London without having lost their character of old.
The area was the centre of the Wealden iron industry from Roman times until the last forge closed in 1820. The use of its timber for the furnaces, but also for the medieval cloth industry and for the use by the shipbuilders on the Thames and Medway, might well have denuded its landscape, but now that all three industries use other raw materials, the Weald remains one of the most heavily wooded areas of England. It is also one of the most important regions whence many English yeomen came to settle the lands across the sea which have since become the United States.