Dungeness
Encyclopedia
Dungeness is a headland
Headland
A headland is a point of land, usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends out into a body of water.Headland can also refer to:*Headlands and bays*headLand, an Australian television series...

 on the coast of Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, formed largely of a shingle beach
Shingle beach
A shingle beach is a beach which is armoured with pebbles or small- to medium-sized cobbles. Typically, the stone composition may grade from characteristic sizes ranging from two to 200 mm diameter....

 in the form of a cuspate foreland
Cuspate foreland
Cuspate forelands, also known as cuspate barriers or Nesses in Britain, are geographical features found on coastlines and lakeshores that are created primarily by long shore drift. Formed by accretion and progradation of sand and shingle, they extend outwards from the shoreline in a triangular shape...

. It shelters a large area of low-lying land, Romney Marsh
Romney Marsh
Romney Marsh is a sparsely populated wetland area in the counties of Kent and East Sussex in the south-east of England. It covers about 100 mi ² .-Quotations:*“As Egypt was the gift of the Nile, this level tract .....

. Dungeness is also the name given to a "village" situated along the beach, and to an important ecological
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...

 site on the same location.

Etymology

The name Dungeness derives from Old Norse nes: "headland", with the first part probably connected with the nearby Denge Marsh. Popular etymology ascribes a French origin to the toponym, giving an interpretation as "dangerous nose".

Ecology

Dungeness is one of the largest expanses of shingle in the world. It is of international conservation importance for its geomorphology
Geomorphology
Geomorphology is the scientific study of landforms and the processes that shape them...

, plant and invertebrate communities and birdlife. This is recognised and protected mostly through its conservation designations as a National Nature Reserve
National Nature Reserve
For details of National nature reserves in the United Kingdom see:*National Nature Reserves in England*National Nature Reserves in Northern Ireland*National Nature Reserves in Scotland*National Nature Reserves in Wales...

 (NNR), a Special Protection Area
Special Protection Area
A Special Protection Area or SPA is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds.Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certain particularly threatened birds.Together with Special...

 (SPA), a Special Area of Conservation
Special Area of Conservation
A Special Area of Conservation is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive , also known as the Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora...

 (SAC) and part of the Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...

 (SSSI) known as Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay
Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay
Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest that stretches across two counties:Kent and East Sussex. It is of both geological and biological interest....

.

There is a remarkable and unique variety of wildlife living at Dungeness, with over 600 different types of plant (a third of all those found in Britain). It is one of the best places in Britain to find insects such as moths, bees and beetles, and spiders; many of these are very rare, some found nowhere else in Britain.

The short-haired bumblebee, Bombus subterraneus
Bombus subterraneus
The short-haired bumblebee or short-haired humble-bee, Bombus subterraneus, is a species of bumblebee found in Eurasia, Southern Asia and Australia, as well as in New Zealand, where it is an introduced species....

, declared extinct in the UK nearly a decade ago, but which has survived in New Zealand after being shipped there more than 100 years ago, is to be reintroduced at Dungeness. It is planned that the first bees will be introduced in the spring of 2010.

The flooded gravel pits, both brackish and fresh water, provide an important refuge for many migratory and coastal bird species. The RSPB has a bird sanctuary there and every year thousands of bird watchers descend on the peninsula to catch a glimpse of a rare bird from the bird observatory
Bird observatory
A bird observatory is a centre for the study of bird migration and bird populations. They are usually focused on local birds, but may also include interest in far flung areas. Most bird observatories are small operations with a limited staff, many volunteers and a not-for-profit educational status...

.

One of the most remarkable features of the site is an area known as 'the patch' or, by anglers, as 'the boil'. The waste hot water and sewage from the Dungeness nuclear power stations are pumped into the sea through two outfall pipes, enriching the biological productivity of the sea bed and attracting seabirds from miles around.

Lighthouses

There have been five lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....

s at Dungeness.

At first only a beacon was used to give warning to sailors, but this gave way to a proper lighthouse during the reign of James I
James I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...

 in 1615. As the sea retreated, this had to be replaced in 1635 by a new lighthouse nearer to the water’s edge. As more shingle was thrown up, a new and more up-to-date lighthouse was built near the sea in 1792. In 1901 lighthouse number four was commissioned; then in 1961 its modern successor, the black and white lighthouse number five, was commissioned and the Old Lighthouse became a tourist attraction. Its 169 steps give visitors a bird’s eye view of the shingle beach.

Power stations

There are two nuclear power stations at Dungeness, the first built in 1965 and the second in 1983. They are within a wildlife sanctuary deemed a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...

 and birds flourish in the warmer water created by the station's outflow.

The older power station closed on 31 December 2006, while the newer station has had its licence extended to 2018.

Tours of the power station stopped due to security fears after September 11, 2001. The visitors' centre closed in 2003, and the area is now used for offices.

Roads

There are two roads giving access: one from Lydd
Lydd
Lydd is a town in Kent, England, lying on the Romney Marsh. It is one of the larger towns on the Marsh, and the most southerly town in Kent. Actually located on Denge Marsh, Lydd was one of the first sandy islands to form as the bay evolved into what is now called the Romney Marsh...

 in the north-west; and from the north at New Romney
New Romney
New Romney is a small town in Kent, England, on the edge of Romney Marsh, an area of flat, rich agricultural land reclaimed from the sea after the harbour began to be silted up. New Romney was once a sea port, with the harbour adjacent to the church, but is now more than a mile from the sea...

 along the coast.

Railways

A branch from the Marshlink Line
Marshlink Line
The Marshlink Line is the name given to services on the railway line linking Ashford with Hastings in the South East of England. The line was part of an original proposal by a company named the Brighton Lewes and Hastings Railway to extend its coast route to Hastings...

 at Appledore
Appledore, Kent
Appledore is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, England. The village centre is 12 miles south-west of Ashford town, and on the northern edge of the Romney Marsh The northerly part of this village is Appledore Heath....

 to New Romney was opened by the South Eastern Railway
South Eastern Railway (UK)
The South Eastern Railway was a railway company in south-eastern England from 1836 until 1922. The company was formed to construct a route from London to Dover. Branch lines were later opened to Tunbridge Wells, Hastings, Canterbury and other places in Kent...

: it had a short branch to a station at Dungeness, which closed to passengers on 4 July 1937; it was closed completely when the Lydd to New Romney section closed on 6 March 1967. The remaining section to Lydd transports waste from the power stations. The track is shown on Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...

 map sheet 89, and a number of cottages have been constructed from old carriages.

The Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway
Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway
The Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway is a gauge light railway in Kent, England. The line runs from the Cinque Port of Hythe via Dymchurch, St...

, opened to New Romney in 1927, was extended to Dungeness
Dungeness railway station
Dungeness railway station is a station on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway on Romney Marsh in Kent.-History:The line to Dungeness was opened on 24 May 1928, a year after the line reached New Romney...

 a year later, and continues to operate.

Defence uses

The beach and marshes have been used for military training and there are marked Danger areas.

Acoustic mirrors

Denge
Denge
Denge is a former Royal Air Force site near Dungeness, in Kent, England. It is best known for the early experimental acoustic mirrors which remain there....

 is the site of a set of acoustic mirror
Acoustic mirror
An acoustic mirror is a passive device used to reflect and perhaps to focus sound waves.- Overview :Prior to World War II and the invention of radar, acoustic mirrors were built as early warning devices around the coasts of Great Britain, with the aim of detecting airborne invasions...

s, known as the "Listening Ears". Built between 1928 and 1930, the three massive concrete structures formed an experimental early warning system that aimed to detect invading aircraft by focusing sound waves. The site was chosen as being one of the quietest in Britain. Their different forms are evidence of their experimental nature; they were not particularly effective and were abandoned when radar
Radar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

 became available. English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...

 and English Nature
English Nature
English Nature was the United Kingdom government agency that promoted the conservation of wildlife, geology and wild places throughout England between 1990 and 2006...

 have joined forces to provide public access to the site.

Operation Pluto

In 1944 some of the world's first submarine oil pipelines were laid between Dungeness and France in Operation Pluto
Operation Pluto
Operation Pluto was a World War II operation by British scientists, oil companies and armed forces to construct undersea oil pipelines under the English Channel between England and France. The scheme was developed by Arthur Hartley, chief engineer with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company...

. The lines from Dungeness were part of a network called Dumbo and ran to Ambleteuse in France.

The "Village"

Dungeness is not truly a village, more a scattered collection of dwellings. Some of the homes, small wooden houses in the main, many built around old railway coaches, are owned and lived in by fishermen, whose boats lie on the beach; some are occupied by people trying to escape the pressured outside world. The shack-like properties have a high value on the property market.

Perhaps the most famous house is Prospect Cottage
Cottage
__toc__In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cozy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. However there are cottage-style dwellings in cities, and in places such as Canada the term exists with no connotations of size at all...

, formerly owned by the late artist and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 director Derek Jarman
Derek Jarman
Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman was an English film director, stage designer, diarist, artist, gardener and author.-Life:...

. The cottage itself is painted black, with a poem
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

, part of John Donne
John Donne
John Donne 31 March 1631), English poet, satirist, lawyer, and priest, is now considered the preeminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His works are notable for their strong and sensual style and include sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs,...

's "The Sunne Rising", written on one side in black lettering. The garden however is the main attraction. Reflecting the bleak, windswept landscape of the peninsula, Derek Jarman's garden is made of pebbles, driftwood, scrap metal and a few hardy plants. A book, Derek Jarman's Garden, is available, ISBN 0-500-01656-9.

The Village has two Public Houses "The Pilot" and "The Britannia", both serving seafood. There are more solidly-built houses around the site of the power stations. Fresh seafood can be purchased from several outlets across the shingle.

Landscape

The landscape is of relatively recent late mediaeval origin and was further altered when the marsh was drained and replaced by the large arable fields of industrial agriculture
Industrial agriculture
Industrial farming is a form of modern farming that refers to the industrialized production of livestock, poultry, fish, and crops. The methods of industrial agriculture are technoscientific, economic, and political...

.

The Dungeness area will potentially be affected by plans to lengthen the runway of London Ashford Airport
London Ashford Airport
-Accidents and incidents:*On 17 August 1978, Douglas C-47B G-AMSM of Skyways Cargo Airline was damaged beyond economic repair in a take-off accident.-External links:******...

 to accommodate large passenger jets.

Media references

Dungeness has begun to appear regularly in music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

s, album covers and adverts
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...

.

The album/project titled Bass Communion, (one of Porcupine Tree's frontman Steven Wilson's other bands/projects), features the T-shaped Shipping Marker. It is located near the fisherman's huts in Dungeness.

The acoustic mirror
Acoustic mirror
An acoustic mirror is a passive device used to reflect and perhaps to focus sound waves.- Overview :Prior to World War II and the invention of radar, acoustic mirrors were built as early warning devices around the coasts of Great Britain, with the aim of detecting airborne invasions...

 which can be found at Dungeness is featured on the cover of the album Ether Song by the British indie band Turin Brakes
Turin Brakes
Turin Brakes are a modern folk duo, comprising Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian, hailing from Balham, London. They had a UK top 5 hit with their song "Painkiller ".-1999–2003:...

. Dungeness appears on the covers of albums as diverse as So much for the city by The Thrills
The Thrills
The Thrills are an Irish rock band, formed in 2001 in Dublin, Ireland. The band was founded by lead vocalist Conor Deasy and guitarist Daniel Ryan, guitarist and bass player Padraic McMahon, pianist Kevin Horan and drummer Ben Carrigan. Their big break came with their debut album, So Much for the...

 and Aled by Aled Jones
Aled Jones
Aled Jones is a Welsh singer and television/radio personality, broadcaster and television presenter who first came to fame as a treble...

.

Athlete
Athlete (band)
Athlete are a British rock band formed in Deptford, London, comprising Joel Pott , Carey Willetts , Stephen Roberts and Tim Wanstall...

 have a song on the album Vehicles and Animals called "Dungeness" which is about the area. Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly is the stage name of English artist Sam Duckworth and his band. He is sometimes referred to as Get Cape, Cape, GCWCF and Slam Dunkworth . According to Duckworth, his stage name comes from a ZX Spectrum magazine...

 mention Dungeness and the lighthouse in their song "Lighthouse Keeper". The Kent-based hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...

 band November Coming Fire released a 2006 album entitled Dungeness, featuring a track called "Powerstation" which included a recording of waves on the beach. The Prodigy
The Prodigy
The Prodigy are an English electronic dance music group formed by Liam Howlett in 1990 in Braintree, Essex. Along with Fatboy Slim, The Chemical Brothers, and other acts, The Prodigy have been credited as pioneers of the big beat genre, which achieved mainstream popularity in the 1990s and 2000s...

's single "Invaders Must Die
Invaders Must Die (song)
"Invaders Must Die" is the eighteenth single released by the British electronic band The Prodigy. It was released from the band's website as a free digital download on 26 November 2008. It was the first single from the album Invaders Must Die...

" video was filmed here, and shows both the acoustic mirrors and the lighthouse.

In television, the Dungeness landscape, the light house and the power station have been used on digital channel E4 at the beginning and end of advertising breaks. It featured in an episode of the BBC detective serial The Inspector Lynley Mysteries
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries is a series of BBC television programmes about Detective Inspector Thomas "Tommy" Lynley, 8th Earl of Asherton of Scotland Yard and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers...

and in March 2007 was the setting for a major part of an EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...

special. The BBC filmed episodes of Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...

in Dungeness during the 1970s.

The 1981 fantasy film Time Bandits
Time Bandits
Time Bandits is a 1981 British fantasy film produced and directed by Terry Gilliam.Terry Gilliam wrote the screenplay with fellow Monty Python alumnus Michael Palin, who appears with Shelley Duvall in the small, recurring roles of Vincent and Pansy. The film is one of the most famous of more than...

shot its 'Time of Legends' sequence on the beach and much of the 1998 Rachel Weisz
Rachel Weisz
Rachel Hannah Weisz born 7 March 1970)is an English-American film and theatre actress and former fashion model. She started her acting career at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where she co-founded the theatrical group Cambridge Talking Tongues...

 movie I Want You
I Want You (1998 film)
I Want You is an 1998 English crime film directed by Michael Winterbottom.-Plot:Martin is an ex-convict who returns home and finds that Helen , his former girlfriend is involved with someone else...

was set in and around Dungeness, with the lead character's home being one of the wooden beach dwellings.

In the 2010 film Robin Hood
Robin Hood (2010 film)
Robin Hood is a 2010 British/American adventure film based on the Robin Hood legend, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett...

, Dungeness is the landing point for King Phillip of France
Philip II of France
Philip II Augustus was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne...

's siege on England, and the subsequent battle at the climax of the film. As it was not filmed there, the site on screen bears no resemblance to Dungeness at all.

The nuclear powerstation at Dungeness was mentioned in "I'm ebola" by the band The Stripper Project who live in nearby Hastings "...Im like a three-handed child in the shadow of Dungeness...where we can grow our extra toes.."

It was also featured in episode 5 of "Citizen Smith", as the location for an interview with the Rubbish men.

See also

  • Battle of Dungeness
    Battle of Dungeness
    The naval Battle of Dungeness took place on 10 December 1652 during the First Anglo-Dutch War near the cape of Dungeness in Kent.- Background :...

    , a 1652 battle of the First Anglo-Dutch War
    First Anglo-Dutch War
    The First Anglo–Dutch War was the first of the four Anglo–Dutch Wars. It was fought entirely at sea between the navies of the Commonwealth of England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands. Caused by disputes over trade, the war began with English attacks on Dutch merchant shipping, but...

  • Cuspate foreland
    Cuspate foreland
    Cuspate forelands, also known as cuspate barriers or Nesses in Britain, are geographical features found on coastlines and lakeshores that are created primarily by long shore drift. Formed by accretion and progradation of sand and shingle, they extend outwards from the shoreline in a triangular shape...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK