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. Cha ...

down Down most often refers to: * Down, the relative direction opposed to up * Down (gridiron football), in American/Canadian football, a period when one play takes place * Down feather, a soft bird feather used in bedding and clothing * Downland, a ty ...

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 Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

, England. Its summit, , is the highest point on the island, with views stretching from

Beachy Head Beachy Head is a chalk headland in East Sussex, England. It is situated close to Eastbourne, immediately east of the Seven Sisters. Beachy Head is located within the administrative area of Eastbourne Borough Council which owns the land, for ...

to the east,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

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 * ...

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 The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from ''Sturzkampfflugzeug'', "dive bomber") was a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Cond ...

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 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, i ...

. The area includes some unusual plant communities including

acid grassland Acid grassland is a nutrient-poor habitat characterised by grassy tussocks and bare ground. Habitat The vegetation is dominated by grasses and herbaceous plants, growing on soils deficient in lime (calcium). These may be found on acid sedimentar ...

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 ...

land, resulting in parts of the Down being designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The gravel capping supports extensive tracts of gorse '' Ulex europaeus'' with intervening areas of heathland and acid grassland dominated by heather '' Calluna vulgaris'', 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 ...

'', 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 whor ...

''. The occurrence of heathland on deep gravel overlying chalk, the naturalised

holm oak Holm oak may refer to: * '' Quercus ilex'', tree native to South and Southeast Europe and parts of France * '' Quercus rotundifolia'', tree native to the Iberian Peninsula and Northwest Africa * ''Quercus agrifolia ''Quercus agrifolia'', the Cal ...

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