Most Ventnor residents know of the WWII radar station on top of St Boniface Down. This station anchored the western end of the original Chain Home early warning system, and was the reason why many parts of Ventnor were damaged during German bombing raids.
But few people realise that Ventnor was home to part of another, even more secret system that was critical to the Allied victory. Ventnor was the site - the only one on the Island - of one of the twenty or so Royal Navy ‘Y stations’ (from ‘WI’ for Wireless Interception). These intercepted and located enemy transmissions and passed the information on to Portsmouth HQ and Bletchley Park (‘Station X’) for decoding.
If the radar stations were the ‘eyes’ of the war effort, the Y stations were the ‘ears’.
The 'Y' Station in Ventnor closed down in 1944 but the remains of its octagonal structure can still be found on Rew Down. The blast wall and base of the ‘Y’ Station are all that are left, but if you sit beside it and survey the coast, you will understand why it was so strategically important. This is the only remaining 'Y' Station structure in the UK and has been listed at Grade 2 by English Heritage.
Of the tower’s octagonal red brick wall, seven sides contain small openings in the brickwork, and the eighth side provides access to the interior. Inside is a concrete floor pad with a gutter running around the perimeter. The centre of the pad has a recessed octagonal concrete platform, which would have formed the foundation for the wooden tower (long since demolished). The trench that runs across the middle housed cables. On the ground around the outside of the tower are seven concrete pads, which were the bases for wooden struts to support the tower.
You can only explore the 'Y' Station remains on foot. Park in Steephill Down Road, walk to the western end of the road then along the track that leads up to Ventnor Golf Course. Don't go as far as the golf course. Instead, after a few hundred yards of joining the track, take the signposted footpath off to your left. This will take you across Rew Down and the 'Y' Station will be clearly visible in open ground.
Ventnor Y Station sits within Rew Down Nature Reserve, a tranquil area of land with stunning sea views, managed by Gift to nature.
