Blackdown, or Black Down, summit elevation AMSL, is the highest point in both the historic county of Sussex and the South Downs National Park. It is one of the highest points in the south east of England, exceeded by Walbury Hill, Leith Hill and Pilot Hill. Blackdown is protected as part of the South Downs National Park. Location Blackdown is located in the far northwest of West Sussex. The hill presents as a dark-sided mass that towers over the western parts of the Low Weald and south-west Surrey. There is no village or hamlet on Blackdown although it lies approximately equidistant from the railway town of Haslemere 2 miles to the northwest; Fernhurst to the southwest, and Lurgashall to the southeast. There are three National Trust car parks on Tennyson's Lane, which runs up Haste Hill from Haslemere. There are numerous footpaths from the surrounding villages including a steep walk up the southern escarpment from Lurgashall. Blackdown is crossed by the Sussex Border Path and the Serpent Trail. Tennyson's Lane is named in memory of the poet who lived here. The lane is a sunken, tree-tunnel lane that runs from Haslemere, past Aldworth House (today a couple of dwellings) to near the summit. The lane keeps to Arthur Paterson's description in 1905: Trees meet overhead, copsewood surrounds it, and later, it is hedged by high sandy banks thickly overgrown with plant and scrub; squirrels and rabbits, and all other small woodland creatures, disport themselves over it. It twists and turns, and to the stranger appears to lead nowhere in particular. Natural history Geologically Blackdown is part of the Greensand Ridge. The acid sandstone of Blackdown limits the range of plants. Until the beginning of the 20th century, Blackdown was a grazed common where trees were kept down by sheep, and heather dominated. After the end of regular grazing Scots Pine became the dominant species. The National Trust now carries out a programme of tree-felling and controlled burning to maintain and regenerate areas of open heath. The reserve has been fenced so that conservation grazing with cattle can be used as a management tool. Blackdown is an important habitat for insects and birds. The pine- and heather-covered slopes are owned by the National Trust and have many paths and organised walks supported by volunteers, the local authorities, charities and guidebooks. The north of the long hilltop is pitted with very small