Dungeness
Dungeness is a village in the south east of Kent, England. The name is from the archaic French for "dangerous nose" — a description of the area's geography. The village stands near the tip of the world's largest shingle peninsula and it perhaps one of the oddest villages in Britain.
Most of the houses in Dungeness are small wooden shacks inhabited by fishermen and people trying to escape the pressured outside world.
The most famous house in Dungeness is the cottage formerly owned by the late artist and film director Derek Jarman. The cottage itself is painted black, with a poem 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 view from Dungeness is dominated by two giant nuclear power stations and a massive expanse of windswept pebbles and brush. Dotted across the peninsular are several small lakes, some natural and some the result of aggregate extraction in this area. This landscape is so very rare in the world that Dungeness has developed its own unique ecosystem, with an array of flora and fauna not found outside the area. This in turn has made the area a haven for aquatic birds. Dungeness is so important for British birdlife that the RSPB have a bird sanctuary there and every year thousands of bird watchers descend on the peninsula to catch a glimpse of rare birds. There is also a bird observatory.
The peninsula is also home to a set of acoustic mirrors, known as the "Listening Ears". Built in the 1920s–1930s, the three massive concrete structures were an early warning system that aimed to detect invading forces by focussing sound waves. Their different forms are evidence of their experimental nature; they were not that effective and were abandoned when radar became available. English Heritage and English Nature have joined forces to provide public access to the site.
Dungeness has begun to appear regularly in music videos, album covers and adverts. You can see Dungeness on the covers of albums as diverse as So much for the city by The Thrills and Aled by Aled Jones.
Dungeness station is the extreme southern end of the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway and provides easy tourist access to the village itself, the old lighthouse (which is open to the public), and Derek Jarman's Garden. The RSPB bird reserve and the visitors' centre for Dungeness Power Station are only really accesible by road.
In 1944 some of the World's first submarine oil pipelines were laid between Dungeness and France in Operation Pluto.
