Beech "Hangers" 165 



The chalk beechwood association occurs typically on 

 the steep slopes of the escarpments and 



Ha.bita.1j r r ... 



valleys of the downs — a characteristic posi- 

 tion that doubtless gave rise to the local name " hanger " 

 for this type of wood. Sometimes beechwood is found on 

 the more level ground of the chalk plateaux, but in these 

 situations the chalk is generally covered by superficial 

 non-calcareous deposits, and where such is the case the 

 oak (Q. Robur) alwaj-s occurs, either mixed with beech, 

 or forming pure oakwoods of the damp or dry type 

 according to the nature of the soil overlying the chalk. 

 The summits of the downs, where they are bare of super- 

 ficial deposits, are largely covered with calcareous pasture \ 

 which has from time immemorial been used as " sheep- 

 walk"; from the constant occurrence of neolithic barrows 

 and ancient camps and track- ways on the down summits 

 it is very doubtful indeed if much of this grassland was 

 ever covered with wood. It has been suggested that the 

 groujid water level is too far below the surface for the 

 beech to flourish on these chalk summits and plateaux, 

 and the general restriction of the beechwoods to the 

 steeper slopes may be due to this cause. This restriction 

 may also be partly due to the tendency to clear the 

 gentler slopes first for agricultural or pastoral purposes. 



The typical beech hangers are developed on very 

 shallow soil, the rock being generally covered only by a 

 few inches of mild humus ; the roots of the trees are 

 largely embedded in the chalk itself. 



The beech is not only the dominant tree in the beech- 

 wood association ; it typically forms a 

 practically pure high forest in close canopy, 

 and is very rarely coppiced (Plates XVI, XYII) . Occasion- 

 ally an ash is met with, occasionally a whitebeam (Pyrus 

 Aria), but these trees cannot compete successfully with 



' This is especially the case on the South Downs of Sussex and 

 Hampshire, and on Salisbury Plain. 



