Blackgang is a village

Village

A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...

 on the south coast of the Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...

. It is best known as the location of the Blackgang Chine

Blackgang Chine

Blackgang Chine is the location of a now-destroyed chine in the soft Cretaceous cliffs about 6 miles from Ventnor at the southern tip of the Isle of Wight just below St Catherine's Down. Since 1843 it has been home to the Blackgang Chine amusement park, run by the Dabell family who also run the...

 amusement park which sits to the south of St Catherine's Down

St Catherine's Down

St. Catherine's Down is a chalk down on the Isle of Wight. It is located close to St Catherine's Point, the southernmost point on the island, and rises to 240 metres at its highest point, between the towns of Niton and Chale....

.

Blackgang forms the west end of the Ventnor Undercliff

The Undercliff

The Undercliff is the name of several areas of landslip on the south coast of England. They include ones on the Isle of Wight; on the Dorset-Devon border near Lyme Regis; on cliffs near Branscombe in East Devon; and at White Nothe, Dorset...

 region, which extends for 12 kilometres from Blackgang to Luccombe

Luccombe

Luccombe is a village on the south coast of the Isle of Wight near Shanklin. There is some indication of Bronze Age settlements on the top of the nearby hill of Luccombe Down.The Luccombe area features some spectacular cliffs and scenery...

, also encompassing the town of Ventnor

Ventnor

Ventnor is a seaside resort and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies underneath St Boniface Down , and is built on steep slopes and cliffs leading down to the sea...

 and the villages of Bonchurch

Bonchurch

Bonchurch is a small village to the East of Ventnor, on the southern part of theIsle of Wight, England. It is situated on The Undercliff, which itself is subject to regular landslips. A large section of the settlement is found in Upper Bonchurch, halfway up St Boniface Down on the main A3055 road...

, St Lawrence, and Niton

Niton, Isle of Wight

Niton is a village on the Isle of Wight, near Ventnor with a thriving population of 1142, supporting two pubs, several churches,a pottery workshop/shop, a pharmacy and 3 local shops including a post office...

. It also marks the edge of the Back of the Wight

Back of the Wight

Back of the Wight is an area on the Isle of Wight, England that has a unique history and social background. Part of this stems from the fact that the area was and still is very cut off from the rest of the island and is made up of small villages strung out along the coast, such as Brighstone,...

. There is some concern that the Ventnor Undercliff area is experiencing substantial coastal erosion.

Historically, Blackgang was the location of a major chine

Chine

A chine is a steep-sided river valley where the river flows through coastal cliffs to the sea. Typically these are soft eroding cliffs such as sandstone or clays. The word chine originates from the Saxon "Cinan" meaning a gap or yawn....

, the coastal ravine after which the Blackgang Chine park was named; this was obliterated by landslides and coastal erosion over the 20th century. It is historically known for being a haunt of smugglers. The nearby Sandrock Spring, a Chalybeate

Chalybeate

Chalybeate waters, also known as ferruginous waters, are mineral spring waters containing salts of iron.-Name:The word "chalybeate" is derived from the Latin word for steel, "chalybs", which follows from the Greek word "khalups"...

 spring, was discovered in 1811. This too was destroyed in a landslide in 1978.

Clifftop walks in and around the area give panoramic views of the English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

 and the south-western Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...

 coast (the Back of the Wight

Back of the Wight

Back of the Wight is an area on the Isle of Wight, England that has a unique history and social background. Part of this stems from the fact that the area was and still is very cut off from the rest of the island and is made up of small villages strung out along the coast, such as Brighstone,...

).
Blackgang is also notable for dinosaur

Dinosaur

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

 fossils ( see Dinosaurs of the Isle of Wight

Dinosaurs of the Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is one of the richest dinosaur localities in Europe, with over 20 species of dinosaur having been recognised from the early Cretaceous Period , some of which were first identified on the island, as well as the contemporary non-dinosaurian species of crocodile, turtle and...

) and the nudist Blackgang Beach.

Blackgang was the birthplace of the actress

Acting

Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....

 and comedienne

Comedy

Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

 Sheila Hancock

Sheila Hancock

Sheila Cameron Hancock, CBE is an English actress and author.-Early life:Sheila Hancock was born in Blackgang on the Isle of Wight, the daughter of Ivy Louise and Enrico Cameron Hancock, who was a publican. Her sister Billie is seven years older...

.

Southern Vectis

Southern Vectis

The Southern Vectis Omnibus Company Limited is the dominant bus operator on the Isle of Wight. It was purchased by the Go-Ahead Group in 2005 and is a part of the company's Go South Coast division. The firm employs 299 staff, with 105 single deck, double deck and open-top buses and coaches...

 operates bus route 6

Southern Vectis route 6

Southern Vectis route 6 is a bus service operated on the Isle of Wight by Southern Vectis between Newport, Blackgang and Ventnor. It also runs via Carisbrooke, Chillerton, Chale Green, Chale, Niton, St Lawrence and Whitwell. Five journeys are made in each direction Monday to Saturday, with four on...

 to Newport

Newport, Isle of Wight

Newport is a civil parish and a county town of the Isle of Wight, an island off the south coast of England. Newport has a population of 23,957 according to the 2001 census...

 and Ventnor

Ventnor

Ventnor is a seaside resort and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies underneath St Boniface Down , and is built on steep slopes and cliffs leading down to the sea...

through the village.