Dungeness Lighthouse

Dungeness Lighthouse stands on the shingle headland at Dungeness, a remote cuspate foreland where the sea has steadily retreated for centuries. The present tower, the fifth on the site, was built in 1961 to replace an earlier light obscured by the nuclear power station. Its distinctive black-and-white bands are cast into the concrete rings of the structure. The old 1904 tower still stands nearby, now decommissioned but preserved. Trinity House in Harwich controls the light remotely from its operations centre. The site has a long history of experimentation. In the 1860s Michael Faraday advised Trinity House to install Britain’s first permanent electric lamp here. Carbon arc lights were tried, but proved unreliable and expensive. Lessons learned at Dungeness led to better systems at Souter Point and South Foreland. The lighthouse also tested early fog horns, including Celadon Daboll’s trumpet, which was first demonstrated here in 1862. Visitors see the tall concrete tower with its bold stripes and the older red-and-white tower beside it. The keepers’ circular cottages, built in 1843, still encircle the base of the 1792 tower. A low wooden building marks the site of the first fog signal. The shingle plain stretches away, showing how the sea has moved eastward over time. The wind carries the sound of waves across the open land.