Devil's Dyke is a 100-metre (330 ft) deep V-shaped dry valley on the South Downs in Sussex in southern England, 5 miles (8.0 km) north-west of Brighton. It is managed by the National Trust, and is also part of the Beeding Hill to Newtimber Hill Site of Special Scientific Interest. Devil's Dyke was a major local tourist attraction in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It is now a popular viewpoint and site for walking, model aircraft flying and hang gliding. The South Downs Way passes the site.
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In this Dossier
Devil's Dyke, Sussex in the context of Dry valley
A dry valley may develop on many kinds of permeable rock, such as limestone, chalk, sand stone and sandy terrains that do not regularly sustain surface water flow. Such valleys do not hold surface water because it sinks into the permeable bedrock.
There are many examples of chalk dry valleys along the North and South Downs in Southern England. Notably the National Trust-owned Devil's Dyke near Brighton covers some 200 acres (0.81 km) of downland scarp, and includes the deepest dry valley in the world – created when melting water eroded the chalk downland to the permafrost layer after the last ice age. The three-quarter mile long curved dry valley is around 700 feet (210 m) in height and attracts tourists with its views of Sussex, Hampshire and Kent.
Devil's Dyke, Sussex in the context of Downland
Downland, chalkland, chalk downs, or just downs are areas of open chalk hills, largely turfed with grass, such as the Chiltern Hills and North Downs.