The Seven Sisters are located in the English county of East Sussex, on the coast of the English Channel. Along Eastbourne Download form the eastern end of the famous South Downs Way. These series of chalk cliffs are within the Seven Sisters Country Park and between Seaford and Eastbourne towns, in southern England.
The remnants of dry valleys in the chalk South Downs were gradually eroded by the sea. This area of outstanding natural beauty are characterized by white chalk rendzina soil and covered by short grassland.
Also the cliffs are occasionally used in film and television, thus they also feature at the beginning of the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. The sequence starts just east of Cuckmere Haven, from west to east. The cliff peaks and the dips between them are individually named. Listed below, the peaks are in bold.
These gleaming white cliffs, terminate in a series of gently undulating chalk Downs, and they are visible from miles at sea.
The Seven Sisters constitute one of the most challenging stretches of The South Downs Way, the hills behind the cliffs may seem to roll softly, but don’t be fooled.
The area is popular for walking, hiking, picnicking, swimming, canoeing and mountain biking. By the Roman period, most of the woodlands of the Downs had been cleared for cultivation, and settlements such as Friston, Exceat, East Dean and West Dean had been established in the inland valleys.
Due to repeated French raids, Black Death and opportunities in lands further north, these settlements never developed substantially beyond being small towns/villages, thus this preservation today adds to their charm.
Seven Sisters is an excellent location for anyone to find fossils. The site offers some of the best scenery along the south coast. The best place to access Seven Sisters is at Birling Gap via the A259; here visitors will find plenty of car parking space, a large cafe and local pub.
Fossils are abundant in this area and include a variety of brachiopods, bivalves and echinoids. The best place to look for fossils is within the shingle and within the chalk on the foreshore.
When looking within the shingle keep a close look out for echinoids preserved in flint. These are the fossilised remains of sea creatures better known as Sea Urchins which are still common in the seas today.