Editing Hove (section)

==Geography and topography==
[[File:Hove Lawns - geograph.org.uk - 1326650.jpg|thumb|Hove Lawns is a large sea front garden situated to the west of the main Hove Esplanade]]
[[File:Hovebeach.jpg|thumb|right|Hove [[Esplanade|promenade]] facing towards [[Brighton]]]]
Northern parts of Hove are built on [[chalk]] beds, part of the [[Chalk Group#White Chalk Subgroup|White Chalk Subgroup]] found across southeast England. There are also extensive areas of clay and sandy soil: areas of [[Woolwich Formation]] and [[Reading Formation]] clay, pockets of clay embedded with [[flint]], and a large deposit of [[brickearth]] in the Aldrington area.<ref name="EncH&Pv7p89"/>  Hove's beaches have the characteristics of a [[storm beach]],<ref name="EncH&Pv7p90">{{Harvnb|Middleton|2002|loc=Vol. 7, p. 90.}}</ref> and at high tide are entirely [[Shingle beach|shingle]], although low tide exposes sand between the sea-defence groynes, varying in extent from beach to beach. The water is then very shallow and suitable for paddling. On spring tides a greater expanse of sand is exposed beyond the end of the sea defences. The [[Metres above sea level|mean height above sea level]] of land in the old parish of Hove varied between {{convert|22|and|190|ft|m}}. After Hove became a borough and expanded to incorporate land from neighbouring parishes, the highest point was approximately {{convert|590|ft|m}} above sea level.<ref name="EncH&Pv7p90"/>  There are no rivers in Hove, but Westbourne Gardens at the western boundary of the old parish is named after the "West [[Bourne (stream)|Bourne]]", which was still visible in the 19th century but which now runs underground, and a map of 1588 shows another stream called East Brook.<ref name="ASON1">{{Harvnb|s.n.|1998|p=1.}}</ref>

Until the 19th century the {{convert|778|acre|ha|adj=on}} parish was mostly agricultural. Three farms—Wick, Goldstone and Long Barn—dominated the area and owned most of the land, which was of good quality: agricultural writer [[Arthur Young (agriculturist)|Arthur Young]] described it as "uncommonly rich". Crops including oats, barley, corn and various vegetables were grown. Only in the 1870s were the last of the [[market garden]]s near Hove Street built over, and barley was grown near Eaton Road until the [[County Cricket Ground, Hove|county cricket ground]] was built. Water was provided by wells west of Hove Street and between the coast road and the sea (the latter was destroyed in the [[Great Storm of 1703]]). The [[chalybeate]] spring on the Wick Farm estate{{#tag:ref|Now the site of [[St. Ann's Well Gardens, Hove|St Ann's Well Gardens]].|group=note}} was also used, especially by shepherds who drove their sheep between Hove, the [[South Downs]] and nearby villages along ancient [[Drovers' road|drove roads]].<ref name="Middleton1–2">{{Harvnb|Middleton|1979|pp=1–2.}}</ref>  Some local shepherds supplemented their income by catching [[lark]]s and [[northern wheatear]]s and selling them for their meat; the latter were popular among fashionable visitors to Brighton. The birds were common on the hills and valleys around Hove, such as Goldstone Bottom. The practice died out when wheatears became a protected species in the late 18th century.<ref name="Middleton10–11">{{Harvnb|Middleton|1979|pp=10–11.}}</ref>  The urban growth of Hove has shifted sheep-farming to more isolated parts of the South Downs, but several drove roads survive today as roads or footpaths. Hove Street and its northward continuation Sackville Road were originally known as ''Hove Drove'' and led on to the Downs. A long west–east route which crossed [[West Blatchington]], Hove and Preston parishes on its way to [[Lewes]] now bears the names The Droveway, The Drove and Preston Drove. The section called The Droveway, on which the [[British Engineerium|Goldstone Waterworks]] was built in the 1860s, had to be maintained as a right of way when [[Hove Park]] was built. A long diagonal footpath once known as Dyer's Drove runs for several miles from Portslade-by-Sea on to the Downs, and Drove Road in Portslade village may have been used since Roman times.<ref name="EncH&Pv4p34–36">{{Harvnb|Middleton|2002|loc=Vol. 4, pp. 34–36.}}</ref>

A large [[Sarsen]] stone called the Goldstone stood on farmland northwest of the village, now part of [[Hove Park]]. Links with druids were claimed; and some 19th-century sources stated it was part of a ring of stones similar to [[Stonehenge]], and that the others were buried in a pond at Goldstone Bottom, one of the [[Combe|coombes]] (small dry valleys) between the Downs and the sea.<ref name="VCH-Hove"/><ref name="Middleton28">{{Harvnb|Middleton|1979|p=28.}}</ref>  The Goldstone was dug up and buried by a farmer, but was unearthed and re-erected in a new position in the park{{#tag:ref|At {{coord|50.839433|-0.173735}}|group=note}} in 1906.<ref name="Middleton29">{{Harvnb|Middleton|1979|p=29.}}</ref>

Hove has little ancient woodland. Only two small areas survive: one in [[St. Ann's Well Gardens, Hove|St Ann's Well Gardens]], and The Three Cornered Copse in the Tongdean area. The latter covers {{convert|11|acre|ha}} and belonged to the [[Marquess of Abergavenny]] until Hove Borough Council bought it in January 1935. Trees in the copse include ash, beech, elm and sycamore, although more than 120 mature beech trees were blown down in the [[Great storm of 1987]].<ref name="EncH&Pv14p23">{{Harvnb|Middleton|2002|loc=Vol. 14, p. 23.}}</ref>

Much of Hove is urbanised, but in 1994 there were {{convert|896|ha|acre}} of downland—about 37.5% of the total acreage of the then borough.<ref name="EncH&Pv7p80–81">{{Harvnb|Middleton|2002|loc=Vol. 7, pp. 80–81.}}</ref>  In common with other parts of the South Downs, much of land has been used as sheep pasture, but crop farming also takes place and large areas of land were claimed for military training during [[World War II]].<ref name="EncH&Pv13p82">{{Harvnb|Middleton|2002|loc=Vol. 13, p. 82.}}</ref>  Toads Hole Valley, a {{convert|92|acre|ha|adj=on}} triangular site south of the Brighton Bypass,<ref name="EncH&Pv14p28">{{Harvnb|Middleton|2002|loc=Vol. 14, p. 28.}}</ref> is "the last piece of unspoiled downland in Hove".<ref name="EncH&Pv8p35">{{Harvnb|Middleton|2002|loc=Vol. 8, p. 35.}}</ref>  It has been privately owned since 1937 and has been proposed for urban development for many years:<ref name="EncH&Pv14p28"/> in 2002 it was stated that "controversy rages over the future use of this land".<ref name="EncH&Pv8p35"/>

===Acreage===
{| class="wikitable" align=center
|-
! Date
! Parish area
! Notes
! Refs
|-
|To 19th century
|{{convert|778|acre|ha}}
|Extent of original parish
|<ref name="VCH-Hove"/><ref name="EncH&Pv7p80">{{Harvnb|Middleton|2002|loc=Vol. 7, p. 80.}}</ref>
|-
|1874
|{{convert|785.5|acre|ha}}
|[[Ordnance Survey]] map of 1874
|<ref name="EncH&Pv7p80"/>
|-
|1894
|{{convert|1594|acre|ha}}
|Aldrington parish added
|<ref name="EncH&Pv7p80"/>
|-
|1 April 1928
|{{convert|4010|acre|ha}}
|Preston Rural, West Blatchington and Patcham (part) parishes added
|<ref name="EncH&Pv7p80"/>
|-
|1940
|{{convert|3953|acre|ha}}
|Reported in ''[[Victoria County History]] of Sussex''
|<ref name="VCH-Hove"/>
|-
|1994
|{{convert|5896|acre|ha}}
|
|<ref name="EncH&Pv7p80"/>
|}

===Climate===
Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year-round. The [[Köppen Climate Classification]] subtype for this climate is "[[Köppen climate classification#Group C: Temperate/mesothermal climates|Cfb]]" (Marine West Coast Climate/[[Oceanic climate]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather-summary.php3?s=591135&cityname=Hove,+England,+United+Kingdom&units=|title=Travel Weather Averages (Weatherbase)|website=Weatherbase|access-date=2 May 2018|archive-date=23 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123082907/https://www.weatherbase.com/|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{Weather box
|location = Hove, UK
|single line = Yes
|metric first = Yes
|Jan high F = 46
|Feb high F = 46
|Mar high F = 50
|Apr high F = 55
|May high F = 61
|Jun high F = 64
|Jul high F = 68
|Aug high F = 70
|Sep high F = 66
|Oct high F = 59
|Nov high F = 52
|Dec high F = 46
|year high F = 
|Jan low F = 37
|Feb low F = 37
|Mar low F = 41
|Apr low F = 43
|May low F = 50
|Jun low F = 54
|Jul low F = 57
|Aug low F = 57
|Sep low F = 54
|Oct low F = 48
|Nov low F = 43
|Dec low F = 39
|year low F = 
|Jan precipitation days = 14
|Feb precipitation days = 10
|Mar precipitation days = 12
|Apr precipitation days = 12
|May precipitation days = 10
|Jun precipitation days = 9
|Jul precipitation days= 10
|Aug precipitation days = 10
|Sep precipitation days = 11
|Oct precipitation days = 12
|Nov precipitation days = 13
|Dec precipitation days = 12
|year precipitation days =
|source 1 = Weatherbase<ref name=Weatherbase>{{cite web
|url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=591135&cityname=Hove-England-United-Kingdom
|publisher=Weatherbase
|title=Weatherbase.com
|year=2013
|access-date=9 July 2013
|archive-date=23 January 2021
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210123082909/http://www.weatherbase.com/
|url-status=live
}}
Retrieved on 9 July 2013.</ref>
|date=July 2013
}}