Ventnor (/ˈvɛntnər/) is a seaside resort town and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the southeast coast of the Isle of Wight, England, eleven miles (18 km) from Newport.

Its relatively sheltered location beneath the hilly chalk downland and south-facing orientation towards the English Channel produces a microclimate with more sunny days and fewer frosts than the rest of the island.

[11] In 1804, it was described by John Britton as a "hamlet...formed by a range of neat cottages chiefly inhabited by fishermen, open to the sea in front, and backed by woods and the high downs".

[11] This identified the microclimate of Ventnor and the Undercliff as ideal for people with chest complaints ("nothing along the south coast will bear comparison with it", Clark enthused),[12] at a time when consumption (now known as TB) was a common cause of death.

[15][16] In 1869 Dr Arthur Hill Hassall opened the Royal National Hospital for Diseases of the Chest in St Lawrence, and many local buildings date from the 1860s,[17] by when the current commercial centre of the town was already substantially developed.

[22] By the early twentieth century, Ventnor was a flourishing resort town, with several newspapers, a scientific institute, an extensive library, assembly room, pavilion, various sporting clubs, several churches, an annual regatta and carnival, and a new municipal park.

By the 1980s, according to author Michael Freeman: "The town entered the twilight era that characterised so many English seaside places...[with] crumbling public facilities, boarded up shops, faded lodging houses and hotels, not to mention unemployment".

[11] During more recent years, there have been some signs of a renaissance, as its strongly Victorian character came back into fashion, with development of the Haven, re-opening of the Winter Gardens, some new shops and restaurants, a lively cultural scene,[27] and the growth in short break travel.

Its coastline is dominated by cliff scenery, with the town rising up the steep south-facing terraces between Ventnor Bay and St Boniface Down, which, at 241 metres (791 ft), is the highest point on the island.

The town itself extends from the seashore up to the slopes of the downs, with its commercial centre being 45 metres (148 ft) above sea-level;[36] the urban area is contiguous with the neighbouring settlements of St Lawrence to the west and Bonchurch to the east.

The town has no river, although there are tufa-depositing springs along the downs feeding streams that flow the short distance to the sea,[39]: 30  such as one through Cascade Gardens, and another through the park that becomes Flowers Brook.

Many are now protected by rock armour, large grey boulders imported from Somerset, or east of Ventnor by concrete tetrapods, all part of a £1.6 million programme of sea defence work completed in the 1990s.

[42] The coast here is also part of the South Wight Maritime Special Area of Conservation, with subtidal reefs that provide important habitats for marine species.

[44] According to the council's Shoreline Management Plan, the "medium to high sandstone, clay or chalk debris cliffs...are important for their geomorphological, ecological and entomological interest".

[54] The climate and habitats in Ventnor support species that are rare in the UK, including some that are particularly associated with warmer and more southerly locations and are not established in much of the rest of the country.

[57] A wall specially designed as a habitat has been built at the Botanic Garden,[58] and small tunnels for the lizards installed beneath a local road.

[61] Ventnor downs support a small herd of feral goats, introduced in 1993 to control the growth of holm oak trees, and managed by the National Trust.

[64] The only significant remaining UK population of Glanville fritillary butterfly, one of Britain's rarest, is found along the southern coast of the Isle of Wight including Ventnor.

[69] Ventnor's subtidal reefs provide important habitats for marine species, for some of which the Isle of Wight is the eastern limit of distribution, representing the transition zone between the Gulf Stream from the south-west and cooler North Sea waters.

[43] The local coastline attracts bottlenose dolphin, basking shark and other cetaceans, as well as being an important area for fish species, including rays.

[79] In March 2011, Ventnor parish had 2,846 occupied households, each containing an average of 2.1 people, 66% being houses (detached 29%, semi-detached 22%, terraced 15%) and 34% flats (18% purpose built, 14% conversions, 2% in commercial buildings).

[89] Of the population aged 16–74, on census day 2011 24% were working full-time, 14% part-time, 16% self-employed, 5% unemployed, 5% studying, 4% looking after home or family, 6% long-term sick or disabled, and 24% retired.

[95] Between 2005 and 2008, Ventnor hosted the Isle of Wight International Jazz Festival, with headline acts including Maceo Parker, Humphrey Lyttelton and Cleo Laine.

Between 2011 and 2016, Isle of Arts was an annual festival held in the town,[96] with acts including Rich Hall, Sandi Toksvig, Alan Davies and Phill Jupitus.

[98] Ventnor Arts Club occupies a former bank in the town centre, and arranges live broadcasts of opera, ballet and theatre performances as well as music events.

[103] At its eastern end is Ventnor's pumping station, a £14 million project completed in 2002 as part of 'Shifting Sands', a joint initiative between English Heritage and the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment.

[110] It has a bandstand, small aviary and stream, a putting green open seasonally, outdoor gym, and live music on Sunday afternoons during the summer.

[126] Additionally Island Minibus service run the local number 31 route which connects Ventnor to Bonchurch Village, the Botanic Garden and esplanade.

[131] Resident at Osborne House in East Cowes, Queen Victoria visited Ventnor on the recommendation of her physician Sir James Clark.

[157] Other notable 19th-century residents include William Campbell Sleigh, lawyer and politician, and diplomat and MP Edward Eastwick, both of whom retired to and died in Ventnor.