Portsdown Hill:
its wildlife and conservation
Portsdown Hill is a ridge of chalk that lies to the north of Portsmouth Harbour on the South Coast of England. The north face of the hill is farmland, while much of the south is a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) due to its remaining chalk grassland habitat. This website describes the SSSI and other open space that is managed by the staff and volunteers of the Portsdown Hill Countryside Service. The fantastic array of wildlife and the efforts to bring Portsdown back into a favourable condition are related with the hope it encourages everyone to appreciate the Hill for the fantastic resource it is.
There are other areas on nature conservation interest on the Hill, including SINCs (Sites of Interest for Nature Conservation). A variety of landowners and agencies own and manage the rest of the hill including; the MoD, other local authorities and utility companies. Within these ownerships, fragments of the once widespread chalk downland habitat remain.
Until the 1950's, the south face of hill was regularly grazed, producing a grassland dominated landscape in which patches of scrub would have expanded and contracted as grazing pressure increased and decreased over the decades. Since this agricultural grazing stopped, minimal management was practised and the scrub rapidly took over. The south face of the hill is now a patchwork of chalk-quarries, woodland, scrub, and grassland.
Since 1994, a concerted effort has been made to expand the grassland to its earlier dominance. A grazing program was initiated which has necessitated much fence-building, as well as scrub clearance, by both hand and machinery.
Last chance to pick blackberries
Legend has it that the devil spits or pisses on blackberries on 29th September or maybe 11th October. After this time they are often thought to be watery and past their best. Portsdown Hill isn't renowned for its blackberries though, probably because of the chalk.
About this website
The following presentational conventions peculiar to this site have been used:
- Thumbnail images with a thick green border, like that on the first page, can be expanded to full size by clicking the image
- Images with a black border do not expand, however much you click them
- Some of the images, especially those of flora and fauna, have the photographer's name embedded such that when you hover the mouse pointer over the image, their name will appear. Other images were taken by Hilma Miles.
- Text that appears like this may be have a definition or acronym expansion 'behind', or be a question. The additional information appears when you hover your mouse pointer over the text.
This website was created and maintained by Hilma Miles, who died
while on holiday in 2007. It will now be maintained by the
Friends of Portsdown Hill, with assistance from Portsmouth City
Council's Portsdown Hill Countryside Officer, who manages the
part of the hill within the city boundary.
For comments or contributions to this web site, e-mail: Alan Thurbon (mail@portsdown.org)
For matters relating to management of the hill, e-mail:
Richard Jones,
telephone 023 9238 9623 or write to :
Richard Jones MIEEM, Portsdown Hill Countryside Officer,
Portsdown Hill Countryside Service, Fort Widley, Portsdown Hill
Road, Portsmouth, PO6 3LS
See Hilma's web-site for a wide variety of topics.
RIP Hilma Miles 1961-2007