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The South Downs Way is a long distance footpath and bridleway running along the South Downs in southern England. It is one of 15 National Trails in England and Wales. The trail runs for from Winchester in Hampshire to Eastbourne in East Sussex, with about of ascent and descent.〔The bridleway route is shorter. (National Trails website. )〕 ==History== People have been using the paths and tracks that have been linked to form the South Downs Way for approximately 8000 years. They were a safer and dryer alternative to those in the wetter lowlands throughout the mesolithic era. Early occupation in the area began 2000 years after that in the neolithic era.〔(National Trail - History of the Trail. )〕 Early inhabitants built tumuli in places on the hills and hill forts later, once tribal fighting became more common. Old Winchester Hill is an example of one of these hill forts along the path.〔(Ibid. )〕 The trail was probably used by the Romans, despite the fact that they built one of their roads across the path at Stane Street (Chichester), this use possibly evidenced by the existence of Bignor Roman Villa〔(Website for Bignor Roman Villa. )〕 near Bury, nearby the path. Of medieval historical interest, the village of Lomer, now only visible as a few small bumps in the ground,〔Picture of the site of the abandoned village at Lomer.〕 was most likely abandoned during the plague in the 14th century.〔(Op Cit, National Trail. )〕 The flat plain to the north of the South Downs Way, where it passes Lewes, is the site of the famous Battle of Lewes fought by Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester and Henry III during the Second Barons' War. During the Tudor era the downs were also in use and in particular Ditchling Beacon, which had been used as a beacon to warn of invasion in preceding centuries, was used again to warn Queen Elizabeth I of the Spanish Armada lumbering east along the English Channel. One particular oddity, The Long Man of Wilmington, can be found only a few metres off the path and down the hill as the path nears one end in Eastbourne. Recent study has shown that it was most likely created in the sixteenth or seventeenth century AD possibly posing more questions than it answers regarding its meaning.〔(Article by Martin Bell, "Not so long ago", British Archaeology, Issue 77, July 2004. )〕 Yet still it attracts its fair share of Neo-Druidism and other pagan interest with rituals and festival held there commonly.〔A Neo-Druid group, the Anderida Gorsedd, have been holding rituals at the Long Man regularly since 2000.()〕 During the Second World War much of the south coast of England was fortified with pillboxes, tank obstacles and machine gun posts in anticipation of a Nazi invasion, the plan for which was known to the Nazis as Operation Sealion. These objects can be seen closer to the sea and require a diversion. The closest and probably best site is Newhaven Fort, a 5 mile diversion from the path, which is an attraction that houses many World War II artefacts and documents with impressive examples of the huge cannons used in coastal defence.〔(Newhaven Fort Website. )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「South Downs Way」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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