Iconic Seven Sisters formally declared England’s new National Nature Reserve - Natural England

Seven Sisters is one of the country’s most treasured landscapes

The iconic Seven Sisters have been formally declared England’s newest National Nature Reserve today (Thursday 19th March), acknowledging the unique value of one of the nation’s most loved landscapes.

The 1,500 hectare new National Nature Reserve is home to globally rare habitats, including chalk grasslands, heath and floodplain meadows, and wildlife such as the chalkhill blue butterfly, yellow hammer, skylark, and bee orchid. The area will now be better protected and restored for nature and people.

The landscape’s extraordinary chalk geology - formed from the remains of tiny sea creatures compacted over millennia - forms a huge chalk dome that contains one of Britain’s largest aquifers providing drinking water for nearby towns and invaluable clean freshwater for wildlife.

The Seven Sisters cliffs, sitting within the South Downs National Park, have long inspired both locals and visitors to our shores for centuries. The towering chalky cliffs and the Cuckmere – the river which cuts through the cliffs as it meanders down to the English Channel - have been immortalised in popular culture influencing poets, artists and Hollywood directors.

Rudyard Kipling wrote about the ‘half-wild and wholly tame’ landscape in his poem Sussex, while the cliffs more recently provided a backdrop to films including Atonement, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and Wicked.

The Seven Sisters cliffs and coast attract up to a million visitors per year to Sussex. A key role of the National Nature Reserve partnership will be to promote access to the landscape, while managing visitor pressures so that it can continue to welcome and inspire visitors for many years to come.