The Folkestone Downs are an area of

chalk downland Downland, chalkland, chalk downs or just downs are areas of open chalk hills, such as the North Downs. This term is used to describe the characteristic landscape in southern England where chalk is exposed at the surface. The name "downs" is deriv ...

above

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...

, where the eastern end of the

North Downs The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Areas of Outstanding Natural Be ...

escarpment meets the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

. Part of the Downs is the Folkestone to Etchinghill Escarpment

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

, designated for its geological and biological interest.

Topography

Folkestone Downs stretch for 5 kilometres from

East Cliff and Warren Country Park East Cliff and Warren Country Park is in Folkestone, in Kent, England. This country park is formed of the East Cliffs of Folkestone, the sandy beaches of East Wear Bay and the land-slipped nature reserve land between the cliffs and the sea. Hi ...

in the east to Peene Quarry in the west. The downs rise steeply above the town of Folkestone to heights in excess of 150 metres. The highest point is Dover Hill at 170 metres. The Channel Tunnel Terminal lies at the foot of the downs and the British portal is directly below the slopes of Castle Hill. The downland is classified as CG4 ''Brachypodium pinnatum'' and CG5 ''Bromus erectus - Brachypodium pinnatum'' calcareous grassland with smaller areas of CG2 ''Festuca ovina - Avenula pratensis'' grassland. There are also areas of scrubland and woodland.

Ecology

Flora

Folkestone Downs is one of the largest areas of unimproved chalk downland in Kent. The extensive flora includes many typical species found in chalk grassland including

horseshoe vetch ''Hippocrepis comosa'', the horseshoe vetch, is a species of perennial flowering plant belonging to the genus '' Hippocrepis'' in the family Fabaceae. Description The overall appearance depends on its habitat: sometimes it forms upright clump ...

(''Hippocrepis comosa''),

squinancywort ''Cynanchica pyrenaica'', commonly known as squinancywort or squincywort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. Its common name is derived from its former use as a medicinal herb to cure quinsy. It is native to much of souther ...

(''Asperula cynanchica'') and

small scabious ''Scabiosa columbaria'', called the small scabious or dwarf pincushion flower, is a widespread species of flowering plant in the genus ''Scabiosa'', native to Europe, Africa, and western Asia, from Sweden to Angola. In the garden it is a short-li ...

, as well as scarce species such as bedstraw broomrape ('' Orobanche caryophyllacea''). Many species of orchid grow on the downs notably the nationally rare late spider orchid (''Ophrys fuciflora''), as well as the nationally scarce

early spider orchid ''Ophrys sphegodes'', commonly known as the early spider-orchid, is a species of sexually-deceptive orchid native to Europe and the Middle East. It is a highly varied species with many subspecies recognised. Description Plant height varies wit ...

(''Ophrys sphegodes'') and

man orchid ''Orchis anthropophora'' (formerly ''Aceras anthropophorum''), the man orchid, is a European species of orchid whose flowers resemble a human figure. The head is formed by the petals and sepals, and the suspended torso and limbs by the lobes of t ...

(''Aceras anthropophorum''). The nationally scarce burnt orchid (''Neotinea ustulata'') has also been recorded in the past. Folkestone Downs is also notable for its extensive

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

flora.

Fauna

The scrub and woodland provide breeding habitats for many species of birds. Folkestone Downs is particularly notable for its insect fauna. Up to 32 species of butterfly have been recorded on the downs including the

Adonis blue The Adonis blue (''Lysandra bellargus'', also known as ''Polyommatus bellargus'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It inhabits the Palearctic realm (Western Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Southern Russia, Iraq, Iran, Caucasus, ...

(''Lysandra bellargus''),

chalkhill blue The chalkhill blue (''Lysandra coridon'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is a small butterfly that can be found throughout the Palearctic realm, where it occurs primarily in grasslands rich in chalk. Males have a pale blue colour, wh ...

(''Polyommatus coridon'') and

small blue The small blue (''Cupido minimus'') is a Palearctic butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. Despite its common name, it is not particularly blue. The male has some bluish suffusion at the base of its upper wings but is mostly dark brown like the fem ...

(''Cupido minimus''). Several rare species of moth have been recorded including the

straw belle ''Aspitates gilvaria'', the straw belle, is a moth of the family Geometridae. The species was first described by Michael Denis and Ignaz Schiffermüller in 1775. It is found from Europe to the eastern part of the Palearctic realm. The main habit ...

(''Aspitates gilvaria'') and the annulet moth (''Charissa obscurata'').

Ownership, management and access

Much of Folkestone Downs is owned by

Eurotunnel Getlink, formerly Groupe Eurotunnel, is a European public company based in Paris that manages and operates the infrastructure of the Channel Tunnel between France and the United Kingdom, operates the LeShuttle railway service, and earns reven ...

and managed by the White Cliffs Countryside Project. Grazing was abandoned after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

resulting in an invasion of coarse grasses and scrub. This resulted in a reduction of the grassland flora, particularly after the rabbit population was reduced by

myxamatosis Myxomatosis is a disease caused by ''Myxoma virus'', a poxvirus in the genus ''Leporipoxvirus''. The natural hosts are tapeti (''Sylvilagus brasiliensis'') in South and Central America, and brush rabbits (''Sylvilagus bachmani'') in North Amer ...

in the 1950s. Cattle grazing was resumed in 1990. Much of the downland is designated as

open access Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which nominally copyrightable publications are delivered to readers free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 de ...

land following the

Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (c. 37), also known as the CRoW Act and "Right to Roam" Act, is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament affecting England and Wales which came into force on 30 November 2000. Right to roam The Act impleme ...

References

External links

White Cliffs Countryside Project

Folkestone to Etchinghill Escarpment SSSI on Natural England website
{{coord , 51, 6, N, 1, 9, E, display=title Hills of Kent Folkestone