Dungeness

Dungeness in Kent

About Dungeness

Dungeness lies on the edge of Romney Marsh at the Southern-most point in Kent and offers the visitor a world of bleak beauty. Two nuclear power stations dominate the skyline. The area is one of the largest banks of shingle in the world, built up by centuries of longshore drift. It has an air of remoteness and solitude that has attracted people wanting to get away from the hurly burly of modern life. The area is used by Art Directors for fashion shoots and been featured in several films. The windswept landscape also drew Derek Jarman, as Dungeness was the setting for his film ‘The Last of England’.

A beacon or light has been placed on Dungeness Point since the seventeenth century. There have been five lighthouses, two of which survive today. One is in use and the other The Old Lighthouse offers panoramic views of the Dungeness area and the village, which is a cluster of brick houses, huts and black painted wooden buildings. Many of these cottages were adapted from old railway carriages and are scattered over the shingle offering a distinctive feature to the Dungeness area.

Dungeness is the home of a large Royal Society for the Protection of Birds site as well as being designated a Special Protection Area and is of international importance because it is home to many unusual plants, rare invertebrates and birdlife.

The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway (15 inch (380mm) gauge), one of the world’s smallest independent railways runs for most of the year from Hythe to Dungeness Station and still serves the local community.