and South Downs on the horizon.

Ashdown Forest originated as a medieval hunting forest created soon after the Norman Conquest of England. By 1283 the forest was fenced in by a 23 mi pale enclosing an area of 20 sqmi. Thirty-four gates and hatches in the pale, still remembered in place names such as Chuck Hatch and Chelwood Gate, allowed local people to enter to graze their livestock, collect firewood, and cut heather and