Devil's Dyke is a deep, V-shaped river valley along the South Downs Way in Sussex. Part of these chalk-based hillsides are designated as SSSIs (Sites of Special Scientific Interest). From the top of the hills you can see as far as the Isle of Wight on a clear day.

The name can be attributed to local folklore, as an ancient attempt to explain the formation of the steep valley. Supposedly the devil dug the valley as a trench to allow the sea to flood churches, but was disturbed in the process and never finished digging!

Read more about what's on in the area at nationaltrust.org.uk/devils-dyke

So Sussex

July 19, 2021

A very popular spot on the South Downs near Brighton, Devil's Dyke is Britain's deepest dry valley and its an impressive geomorphological feature. It's accessible by road and via the South Downs Way, which runs along the southern rim of the bowl.
Apparently... it was excavated by the notorious Devil in an attempt to dig a ditch between the Low Weald and the English Channel, to flood the churches of Sussex and drown the churchgoers. While furiously digging, the Devil through clods of earth all around the surrounding countryside, creating hills including Chanctonbury Ring, Cissbury Ring, Mount Caburn and other well known downland locations. However, the Devil never got to complete the ditch and Christianity became the dominant religion in Sussex, the last English county to abandon its pagan beliefs. Personally, I find all this quite hard to believe, so prefer the evidence based geological evolution of the landform.

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Elevation 230 m

Weather

Today

Monday 10 November

13°C

11°C

100 %

If you start your activity now...

Max wind speed: 28.0 km/h

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Location: Poynings, Mid Sussex, West Sussex, South East England, England, United Kingdom

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