Editing Beachy Head (section)

==History==
The name Beachy Head appears as 'Beauchef' in 1274, becoming 'Beaucheif' by 1317, and it has nothing to do with the word "beach". Instead, it is a corruption of the original French words meaning "beautiful headland" (''{{lang|fr|beau chef}}''). It was regularly called Beachy Head by 1724.<ref name="SURTEES">{{cite book |last= Surtees|first =Dr John| title = Beachy Head| year= 1997| publisher= SB Publications| location = Seaford|isbn= 978-1-85770-118-0 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Ekwall|first=Eilert|title=The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|year=1960|edition=4th|isbn=978-0-19-869103-7}}<!--|access-date=7 March 2013--></ref>

In 1929, [[Eastbourne Borough Council]] bought {{convert|4000|acre|abbr=off|lk=on}} of land surrounding Beachy Head to save it from development at a cost of about £100,000 ({{Inflation|UK|100000|1929|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}).<ref>''Times'', 30 October 1929. P. 11</ref> This land became known as the [[Eastbourne Downland Estate]].{{citation needed|date=August 2020}}

The prominence of Beachy Head has made it a landmark for sailors in the [[English Channel]]. It is noted as such in the [[sea shanty]] ''[[Spanish Ladies]]'':<ref>{{cite book |last=Palmer |first=Roy |title=The Oxford Book of Sea Songs |year=1986 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=978-0-19-214159-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/oxfordbookofseas00palm }}</ref>
{{Blockquote|<poem>
The first land we sighted was called the [[Dodman Point|Dodman]],
Next [[Rame Head]] off [[Plymouth]], off [[Portsmouth]] the [[Isle of Wight|Wight]];
We sailed by Beachy, by [[Fairlight Glen|Fairlight]] and [[White Cliffs of Dover|Dover]],
And then we bore up for the [[South Foreland]] light.
</poem>}}

The ashes of German social scientist and philosopher [[Friedrich Engels]], one of the fathers of communism, were scattered off the cliffs at Beachy Head into the [[English Channel|Channel]], as he had requested.<ref name=SURTEES/>

Human remains discovered in the [[1950s]] were subjected to [[Forensic facial reconstruction|forensic reconstruction]], [[carbon dating]], and [[Radiometric dating|radioisotype analysis]], and it was concluded that they were those of a [[Roman people|Roman]] [[woman]] of [[Sub-Saharan Africa]]n origin who grew up in the Eastbourne area in about 200–250 [[Common Era|CE]]. She became known as [[Beachy Head Lady]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art474162-beachy-head-lady-was-young-sub-saharan-roman-with-good-teeth-say-archaeologists|title=Beachy Head Lady was young sub-Saharan Roman with good teeth, say archaeologists – Culture24|last=Miller|first=Ben|date=28 March 2014|access-date=21 February 2017|archive-date=30 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130032513/http://www.culture24.org.uk/history-and-heritage/archaeology/art474162-beachy-head-lady-was-young-sub-saharan-roman-with-good-teeth-say-archaeologists|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-25962183|title=Centuries-old Beachy Head Lady's face revealed – BBC News|date=1 February 2014|work=[[BBC Online]]|access-date=21 February 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/face-beachy-head-lady-revealed-roman-era-woman-fantastic-discovery-photo-1553166|title=Face Of 'Beachy Head Lady' Revealed, Roman Era Woman Is A 'Fantastic Discovery'|last=Mintz|first=Zoe|work=[[International Business Times]]|date=4 February 2014|access-date=21 February 2017}}</ref> However, in 2021, DNA testing indicated she was of "southern European lineage, most likely from Cyprus";<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eastbourneherald.co.uk/business/story-eastbourne-celebrates-first-year-23000-visitors-2002212|title=Story of Eastbourne celebrates first year with 23,000 visitors|date=27 February 2020|access-date=12 November 2020}}</ref> the parish later ordered the removal of a plaque erected by the [[BBC]] "to commemorate the first black Briton."<ref>{{cite news |author1=Jack Blackburn |title=Plaque for first black Briton is shelved (she was from Cyprus) |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/plaque-for-first-black-briton-is-shelved-she-was-from-cyprus-g3dplp9hq |access-date=26 October 2023 |work=[[The Times]] |date=26 October 2023 |quote=Parish councillors in the village of East Dean in East Sussex voted to remove the plaque}}</ref>