St Boniface Down is a

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. C ...

down near

Ventnor Ventnor () is a seaside resort and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the southeast coast of the Isle of Wight, England, from Newport. It is situated south of St Boniface Down, and built on steep slopes leading down to the sea. ...

, on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...

, England. Its summit, , is the highest point on the island, with views stretching from Beachy Head to the east,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

to the north and the

Isle of Portland An isle is an island, land surrounded by water. The term is very common in British English. However, there is no clear agreement on what makes an island an isle or its difference, so they are considered synonyms. Isle may refer to: Geography * Is ...

to the west. It is north of the town. There is reputed to be a wishing well on its southern slope, which requires the wisher to climb up from the south without looking back. In 1545, a French invasion force attempted this against a force of the Isle of Wight Militia commanded by Sir John Fyssher – which allegedly included several women archers- and were routed. In 1940, the radar station was bombed by Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers, which is reconstructed in the film " The Battle of Britain". The top is surmounted by a round barrow. At the eastern foot of the down, on the

A3055 road The A3055 is an A-Class Road on the Isle of Wight in Southern England. It forms the Southern portion of the ''circular'' around-the-Island A-class loop, the northern section being the A3054. The stretch along the south-west coast of the Isla ...

between Bonchurch and Luccombe, a path descends into

Bonchurch Landslips Bonchurch Landslips is a site of special scientific interest which is located north-east of Ventnor, Isle of Wight. A wooded coastal landslip zone, the site was notified in 1977 for both its biological and geological features. Part of the Is ...

via a scenic rock cleft, the Devil's Chimney.

Wildlife

St Boniface Down is home to the largest

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

species within the British Isles, the

great green bush cricket ''Tettigonia viridissima'', the great green bush-cricket, is a large species of bush-cricket belonging to the subfamily Tettigoniinae. Distribution and habitat This species can be encountered in most of Europe, in the eastern Palearctic realm, ...

. The area includes some unusual plant communities including acid grassland and

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler a ...

land, resulting in parts of the Down being designated as a

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 ...

. The gravel capping supports extensive tracts of gorse ''

Ulex europaeus ''Ulex europaeus'', the gorse, common gorse, furze or whin, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to the British Isles and Western Europe. Description Growing to tall, it is an evergreen shrub. The young stems are g ...

'' with intervening areas of heathland and acid grassland dominated by heather ''

Calluna vulgaris ''Calluna vulgaris'', common heather, ling, or simply heather, is the sole species in the genus ''Calluna'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing evergreen shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found wid ...

'', bell heather '' Erica cinerea'', purple moor-grass ''

Molinia caerulea ''Molinia caerulea'', known by the common name purple moor-grass, is a species of grass that is native to Europe, west Asia, and north Africa. It grows in locations from the lowlands up to in the Alps. Like most grasses, it grows best in acid so ...

'', bristle bent '' Agrostis curtisii'' and locally bilberry ''

Vaccinium myrtillus ''Vaccinium myrtillus'' or European blueberry is a holarctic species of shrub with edible fruit of blue color, known by the common names bilberry, blaeberry, wimberry, and whortleberry. It is more precisely called common bilberry or blue whortle ...

''. The occurrence of heathland on deep gravel overlying chalk, the naturalised holm oak woodland and the juxtaposition of heath and chalkland vegetation are all unusual biological features in Britain.Natural England citation sheet for Ventnor Downs SSSI
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Cultural references

''St Boniface Down'' is also the name and was the inspiration of a 1956 work by the English composer,

Trevor Duncan Trevor Duncan (27 February 1924 – 17 December 2005) was an English composer, particularly noted for his light music compositions. Born in London, and largely self-taught, he originally composed as a sideline while working for the BBC. In th ...

References

Hills of the Isle of Wight Marilyns of England Ventnor Downs Highest points of English counties {{IsleofWight-geo-stub