Dungeness : wild, isolated, unique, historic and ever changing

Posted by admin on September 12, 2010

“the British seaside redesigned by Tim Burton.”

^{Richard Fleury, The Times}

Wild and weird, isolated, unique, historic, ever changing and the end-of-the line. All words aptly used to describe Dungeness headland. Located at the most southerly point in Kent and pointing out in to the channel like a rose-thorn, Dungeness is a special place in every sense with houses encased in rubber, lighthouses miles inland and world-famous unique flora and fauna.

 

Wildlife

For wildlife, Dungeness is recognised world-wide for its importance as a bird reserve and home to numerous rare species of plant, insect and animal and is a Designated Special Area of Conservation. Bird species seen in the area include the Smew, Bittern, Slavonian grebe, Wheatear, Marsh Harrier, Stonechart and Cormorant. Moths include 565 species of macro and 116 Pyralidae with the protected medicinal leech and great crested newt also finding home amongst the lakes and shingle.

Visitors to the area are reminded that although the shingle may not look much, it is in fact, home to many rare and protected species, please tread carefully and stay to the footpaths where provided.

 Dungeness Village and People 

Dungeness Point also attracts a certain kind of human inhabitant. The 80 or so scattered houses, huts and sheds (not quite a village) providing their occupants with isolation and quiet life offered by few other locations in the UK.

Many of the homes are converted rolling stock from the Southern Railway and contribute to the distinct look of the area. Mainly occupied by fishermen, artists, the occasional worker at the Nuclear power station that overshadows much of the area and those looking to escape the pace and stress of modern life, the homes on Dungeness all have a unique, eclectic, character.

Perhaps the most famous is film maker Derek Jarman’s Prospect Cottage, although the Rubber House – a traditional Dungeness Cottage encased entirely in black rubber - and the Mad Max bunker (a boys den built out of drift wood and complete with Union Jack flag) are also well known landmarks on Britain’s only official desert.

 

Attractions in Dungeness

No visit to Dungeness would be complete without a trip on the world’s smallest railway – the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway, which has a station on the headland; a trip to the top of the Old Lighthouse which thanks to the shifting coastline that has created Dungeness is now too far from the shore to be used as a lighthouse or the smokery where freshly caught fish are still preserved in a centuries old traditional manner. A walk around 5000 year old pebble banks, taking in the wooden paths that lead nowhere, isolated crumbling concrete structures and rusting metal fishing equipment that stand like statues to a forgotten pre-industrial age and finishing off with wonderfully fresh fish and chips from the Pilot Inn will finish off a not forgotten visit to the “British seaside redesigned by Tim Burton“.

Extra:  

• Map of Dungeness
• Romney Marsh – special feature
• Battle of Dungeness
• Formation of Dungeness
• Attractions in Kent – Romney Marsh

 

Recommended Books on Dungeness

• Dungeness and Romney Marsh: Barrier Dynamics and Marshland Evolution, landscape change during the late Holocene, from c. 3000 BC onwards, and on identifying the local, regional and global driving mechanisms responsible for the changes observed.

 

References

• http://www.rhdr.org.uk/rhdr/home_flash.html
• http://www.dungenesslighthouse.com/
• http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/d/dungeness/index.asp
• http://www.dungeness-nnr.co.uk
• http://www.thepilot.uk.com/