Custom
The down's wishing well
Don't look back, and the water grants the wish.
Stand where it happened
- What's there
- High chalk down above Ventnor
- Legend from
- Folk belief (19th c.)
- Tone
- Light-hearted
Climb to the well without once looking back, drink, and make your wish.
St Boniface Down, above Ventnor, is the highest point on the island at 241 metres. The folk archive notes describe a wishing well on the down. Reach it without once looking back, and any wish made while drinking its water will come true. Young people of the district, the notes say, decked the well with flowers, and passing ships lowered their topmasts in respect. Wikipedia does not mention the well, only the down, and notes that the Devil's Chimney path was closed after a landslip in December 2023.