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 port 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 and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

, 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 Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs): the Surrey Hills ...

escarpment meets the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Ka ...

. 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 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 clumps ...

(''Hippocrepis comosa''),

squinancywort ''Asperula cynanchica'', the 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 southern and centra ...

(''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-l ...

, 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 very varied species with many subspecies recognised. Description Plant height varies with l ...

(''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 o ...

(''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 composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.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 habi ...

(''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 England and France, operates the Eurotunnel Shuttle train service, and earns revenue ...

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

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

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 Ame ...

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 research outputs are distributed online, free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 definition), or libre op ...

land following the

Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (c. 37), known informally as the CRoW Act or "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 imp ...

References

External links

White Cliffs Countryside Project

Folkestone to Etchinghill Escarpment SSSI on Natural England website
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