{{Short description|Part of the Chiltern Hills, Bedfordshire}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox SSSI |image=Blow's Downs (May 2017).jpg |caption=Northwest-facing view from the viewpoint at Blow's Downs SSSI. |name=Blow's Down |aos=[[Bedfordshire]] |interest=Biological |gridref={{gbmappingsmall|TL033214}} |area=33.1 hectares |notifydate=1989 |map=[http://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%271005495%27 ''Magic Map''] }} '''Blow's Down''' (or Blow's Downs) is a {{convert|33.1|hectare|acre|adj=on}} biological [[Site of Special Scientific Interest]] in [[Dunstable]] in [[Bedfordshire]]. It was notified in 1989 under Section 28 of the [[Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981]], and the local planning authority is [[Central Bedfordshire Council]].<ref name=citation>{{cite web|url= http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1005495.pdf|title= Blow's Down citation|series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest|publisher= Natural England|access-date= 24 August 2015|url-status= dead|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304000359/http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1005495.pdf|archive-date= 4 March 2016}}</ref><ref name=map>{{cite web|url=http://magic.defra.gov.uk/MagicMap.aspx?startTopic=Designations&activelayer=sssiIndex&query=HYPERLINK%3D%271005495%27 |title=Map of Blow's Down|series= Sites of Special Scientific Interest|publisher=Natural England|access-date= 24 August 2015}}</ref> The site forms around half of the {{convert|62.3|hectare|acre|adj=on}} Blow's Downs nature reserve, which is managed by the [[Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire]].<ref name=WT>{{cite web|url=http://www.wildlifebcn.org/reserves/blows-downs|title=Blow's Downs|publisher=Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire|access-date= 24 August 2015}}</ref> It has a maximum elevation of 212 m.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ltd |first=Copyright The mountain Guide-A.-Connect |title=Blow's Down {{!}} England |url=https://www.themountainguide.co.uk/england/blow-s-down.htm |access-date=2023-08-03 |website=UK mountain Guide |language=en}}</ref>
The site has varied habitats with a large area of unimproved grassland, a scarce survival of this important habitat. Cattle help to maintain the pasture. Features include a disused quarry and medieval cultivation terraces. A rare plant, [[Bunium bulbocastanum]], and beetle ''Odontaeus armiger''<ref name=citation/> can be found at the site.
Dunstable is built around Blow's Down, from the south around clockwise to the east. The [[A5 road (Great Britain)|A5]] road follows a valley between the Blow's Down and the neighbouring [[Dunstable Downs]], which together make up part of the [[Chiltern Hills]] range.
There is access from Jeans Way in the north, from Jardine Way and Half Moon Lane in the west, and from Skimpot Road in the east.<ref name="map" /> [[File:Blow's Downs at Sunset.jpg|thumb|Northwest-facing view of Dunstable from the viewpoint of Blow's Downs at sunset (August 2016).|none]]
== History == [[File:Neolithic Huts on Blow's Down Sketch.jpg|thumb|A sketch of the sites of the remains of Neolithic huts found on Blow's Down, from Worthington G. Smith's ''Man, the Primeval Savage.'']] === Neolothic era === Blow's Down has a lengthy history, with evidence of human habitation dating back around 4000 years.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Turner |first=David |date=February 2015 |title=Blow's Downs |pages=320–321 |work=Dunstable District Local History History Newsletter No. 43 |url=https://dunstablehistory.co.uk/Newsletters/Newsletter43.pdf}}</ref> The archeologist [[Worthington George Smith|Worthington G. Smith]] identified several remains of [[Neolithic]] huts, finding among other things a horse's bone and, in 1888, part of a human skeleton.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Worthington George |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fGMFAAAAMAAJ |title=Man, The Primeval Savage |year=1894 |pages=323–325}}</ref>
=== Medieval period === Following the establishment of the town of Dunstable by [[Henry I of England|Henry I]], the land would likely have been rented by the king, with the slopes of the downs being mainly used for grazing as they were too steep to plough.<ref name=":0" /> There is however, some evidence of crops being grown, namely the existence of [[Lynchet|strip lynchets]], quite visible in the area now known as Cottage Bottom fields. Blow's Down was one of relatively few places in England permitted to hold [[Tournament (medieval)|tournaments]] during times of calm, with a tournament being held in 1214.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Osborne |first=Mike |title=Defending Bedfordshire |publisher=Fonthill Media |year=2021}}</ref> The fields at the foot of Blow's Down would likely have made ideal locations for such mock battles of the time. [[File:Jefferys' 1765 map of Beds Dunstable.jpg|thumb|Thomas Jefferys' 1765 map of Bedfordshire, showing Dunstable as "Dunstaple" and the area now known as Blow's Down as "Souches Downs"]] At the top of the downs lies [[Zouches Farm transmitting station|Zouche's farm]], which is likely to have been the site of Zouche's manor, an important estate of the family of the name la Zouche of Harringworth, who leased the land in the mid 14th century. For a while, among other names, Blow's down was eponymously referred to as Zouche's (or Souches) Downs, as seen in [[Thomas Jefferys|Jefferys']] 1765 map of Bedfordshire.
=== 1800s and onwards === Throughout the 1800s and later, the Downs underwent several changes from human activity. The parliamentary [[Enclosure|enclosures]] of the early 1800s would likely have drastically changed the appearance of Blow's Downs, due to hedges planted to separate fields. Around this time is when the Downs became known by the name they are known today, probably named after tenant farmers at Zouche's farm with the surname "Blow".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Turner |first=David |date=2016 |title=Blow's Downs Update |pages=335 |work=Dunstable & District Local History Society Newsletter No. 46 |url=http://dunstablehistory.co.uk/Newsletters/Newsletter45.pdf}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
In the early 20th century, commercial [[Chalk mining|chalk extraction]] brought further, large changes to Blow's Downs. There is evidence of a limeworks on the Downs by 1901.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bedfordshire Sheet XXXII.NE |url=https://maps.nls.uk/view/101568620 |access-date=4 August 2023 |website=National Library of Scotland}}</ref> The [[Hertford, Luton and Dunstable Railway|Luton-Dunstable rail link]], which opened in 1858, provided transportation of lime away from Blow's Down. The British Portland Cement Manufacturing Company acquired the lease to the site, and were still running the works during the 1920s. Production ceased some time before the [[World War II|Second World War]], with the chalk pit being used by the [[Home Guard (United Kingdom)|Home Guard]] as a training area.
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{SSSIs Bedfordshire}} {{Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire}} {{Authority control}} {{Coord|51.883| -0.502|type:landmark_region:GB-BNE|display=title}}
[[Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Bedfordshire]] [[Category:Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire reserves]]