80-473: Dungeness Lighthouse on the Dungeness Headland started operation on 20 November 1961. Its construction was prompted by the building of Dungeness nuclear power station , which obscured the light of its predecessor (dating from 1904) which, though decommissioned, remains standing. The new lighthouse (the fifth on the site) is constructed of precast concrete rings; its pattern of black and white bands
160-757: A Special Protection Area (SPA), a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and part of the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) of Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay . There is a remarkable variety of wildlife living at Dungeness, with over 600 different types of plants: a third of all those found in Britain. It is one of the best places in Britain to find invertebrates such as moths, bees, beetles, and spiders; many of these are very rare, some found nowhere else in Britain. The flooded gravel pits on Denge Beach, both brackish and fresh water, provide an important refuge for many migratory and coastal bird species. The RSPB has
240-507: A bird reserve there, and every year thousands of bird watchers visit the peninsula and its bird observatory . 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 from the Dungeness nuclear power stations is pumped into the sea through two outfall pipes, enriching the biological productivity of the sea bed and attracting seabirds from miles around. Beach fishing
320-404: A curved stack of precast concrete blocks. The experiment was deemed a success, and tannoy stacks were subsequently installed by Trinity House at around a dozen lighthouse stations. At Dungeness itself, a stack of sixty such emitters was incorporated into the design of the lighthouse tower itself; these remained in use until the year 2000, when they were replaced by an electronic signal installed at
400-399: A flashing xenon arc lamp as its light source (following an experimental period of use in the old lighthouse); however the new technology did not prove effective as an aid to navigation and it was replaced before long with an array of sealed beam units (these were themselves replaced in 2000 with a small rotating fourth-order optic , transferred from Lundy South Lighthouse ). In addition to
480-436: A focal height of 38 ft (12 m); it was painted red, as was the attached fog signal house. The latter had new siren equipment installed, including a roof-mounted pair of bell-mouth trumpets . Both light and fog signal retained the same characteristics as before. They entered service on the same day as the new High Light; the old fog signal house and light tower were then removed. In 1931-32 another new fog signal house
560-401: A further series of fog signal trials were undertaken at Dungeness, comparing a diaphone, siren and supertyfon air horn to a triple-frequency electric signal then under development; a version of the latter was subsequently incorporated into the design of the new Dungeness Lighthouse. The Low Lighthouse and diaphone fog signal both remained in use until 1959, when they were removed to make way for
640-450: A new fog signal was installed at Dungeness: an early American siren (it was almost certainly the one which had been demonstrated by Joseph Henry in the trials at South Foreland Lighthouse two years earlier). It was housed in a new, corrugated iron building, placed as close as possible to the eastern edge of the spit, from the end wall of which protruded a long trumpet supported on a timber framework. It sounded one blast every minute. At
720-406: A new lantern was provided, to accommodate the taller optic. Red shades were placed around the lamps, within the lenses, so that the light now flashed red, once every 5 seconds. The 1914 optic remains in situ in the tower; it weighs 4.5 tonnes and floats on 1.5 tonnes of mercury . A separate lamp was used for the fixed red/white sector light, which continued to shine from its window lower down in
800-425: A new visitor centre in 2013 and resumed tours, albeit with new security procedures which have to be cleared some weeks in advance of visits. In addition to the power station and lighthouse, there is a collection of dwellings. Most are wooden weatherboard beach houses, but there are also around 30 houses converted from old railway coaches in the 1920s. These houses are owned and occupied by fishermen whose boats lie on
880-496: A revolving assembly of eight vertical condensing-prisms which produced one bright flash every thirty seconds. Its 800,000 candle power light could be seen for up to 26 miles. The optics were designed and built by James Chance in 1870. In addition to the main light a red/white sector light shone from a window in the tower below the lantern, to highlight hazards to the south in Sunderland Bay (namely Hendon Rock and
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#1732801060271960-423: A silvered reflector. They were placed above the oil lamps and reflectors, which were retained as an emergency backup. The Holmes magneto-electric machines from South Foreland were installed in a room at the base of the tower, along with their steam engines and other equipment, and the new light came into operation on 1 February 1862. Unfortunately it did not prove as reliable or economical as might have been hoped:
1040-408: Is Prospect Cottage , formerly owned by the late artist and film director Derek Jarman . The cottage is painted black, with a poem, part of John Donne 's " The Sunne Rising ", written on one side in black lettering. The garden, reflecting the bleak, windswept landscape of the peninsula, is made of pebbles, driftwood, scrap metal and a few hardy plants. Dungeness is accessible by two roads, one along
1120-403: Is 10.8 °C (51.4 °F). Precipitation averages 705 millimetres (27.8 in) annually. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is " Cfb " (Marine West Coast Climate/ Oceanic climate ). There have been seven lighthouses at Dungeness, five high and two low, with the fifth high one still fully operational today. At first, only a beacon was used to warn sailors, but this
1200-524: Is approximately three miles south of the mouth of the River Tyne . Some four miles or so to the north of the mouth of the Tyne is a sister Victorian lighthouse, St Mary's Lighthouse , on St Mary's Island . It has also been decommissioned, and is open to visitors. St Mary's Lighthouse can be seen with the naked eye from the top of Souter Lighthouse. The lighthouse was a much-needed aid to navigation due to
1280-580: Is featured on the cover of the album Ether Song by the British indie band Turin Brakes . Dungeness appears on the covers of albums as diverse as So much for the city by The Thrills and Aled by Aled Jones . The Prodigy 's single " Invaders Must Die " video was filmed here and shows both the acoustic mirrors and the lighthouse. In 2011, the music video for the song Walk the River by British band Guillemots
1360-482: Is impregnated into the concrete. It remains in use today, monitored and controlled from the Trinity House Operations and Planning Centre at Harwich , Essex . In all there have been eight lighthouses at Dungeness: five main (or 'high') lights (of which the fifth is still fully operational today), and three subsidiary (or 'low') lights. The addition of a subsidiary light became necessary owing to
1440-495: Is located on Lizard Point, but takes its name from Souter Point, which is located a mile to the south. This was the intended site for the lighthouse, but it was felt that Lizard Point offered better visibility, as the cliffs there are higher, so the lighthouse was built there instead. The Souter Lighthouse name was retained in order to avoid confusion with the then recently built Lizard Lighthouse in Cornwall . Souter Lighthouse
1520-773: Is now managed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds . In 1944, some of the world's first underwater oil pipelines were laid between Dungeness and France in Operation Pluto . The lines from Dungeness were part of a network called "Dumbo" and ran to Ambleteuse in France. In 2022 the well-preserved remains of a 16th-century ship were found in Denge quarry at Dungeness. Dungeness appears quite often in music videos , album covers and adverts. It featured on
1600-599: Is popular at Dungeness, with the area being a nationally recognised cod fishing venue in the winter. It has previously been reported that Dungeness had such low rainfall as to qualify as the only desert in the UK. However, a spokesperson for the Met Office refuted this in 2015. The climate in Dungeness is mild and generally warm and temperate. There is significant rainfall throughout the year. The average annual temperature
1680-468: The Elder Brethren of Trinity House at Dungeness; practical comparison was made with a bell and a 'steam-horn', each being sounded in turn. The initiative was successful and the following year he took out a patent on the use of compressed air horns in Britain (having taken out a similar patent in the U.S.A. three years earlier). The horn installed for the demonstration was subsequently purchased by
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#17328010602711760-471: The patent for the lighthouse whereby and he received the dues and had responsibility for maintaining the light). This lighthouse was about 35 m (115 ft) high and of the same design as the third Eddystone Lighthouse . It was lit using a fixed array of eighteen Argand lamps and parabolic reflectors . In 1837 the Corporation of Trinity House purchased the remaining portion of the lease for
1840-567: The Corporation's lighthouses. The tower still stands today; it is no longer in use as a lighthouse but is open as a visitor attraction. It is a circular brick structure, 41 m (135 ft) high and 11 m (36 ft) in diameter at ground level. It has 169 steps, and gives visitors a good view of the shingle beach. The main PVB lamp, the Fresnel lenses and the clockwork motor which turned
1920-470: The High Light Tower, started. It was first lit on 31 March 1904 and still stands today. It is no longer in use as a lighthouse but is open as a visitor attraction. It is a circular brick structure, 46 m (150 ft) high and 11 m (36 ft) in diameter at ground level. It has 169 steps and gives visitors a good view of the shingle beach. As the sea receded further, and after building
2000-609: The Treasury and retained for use as the fog signal at Dungeness; it sounded, once every 20 seconds, from a horizontal trumpet protruding from a small wooden building close to the shore, which contained a caloric engine and other associated equipment. It remained in use until 1865, when it was 'considerably damaged by an accidental fire'; (it was subsequently repaired and transferred to the Newarp Lightvessel ). In its place, that same year, an improved Daboll trumpet (twice
2080-486: The Trinity House service. Should the electricity supply fail, a diesel generator would be engaged (and in the event that it too were to fail, an additional emergency battery lamp would be engaged). The mechanism which turned the lenses continued to be driven by clockwork at this time, until 1983 when it was replaced by a pair of electric motors. The fog signal was upgraded in 1953: a Stone Chance diaphone signal
2160-464: The White Stones); it was powered using light diverted (through a set of mirrors and lenses) from the landward side of the main arc lamp. Electricity for the light was provided by two of Holmes' own magneto electric generators for which he took out a series of patents during those years. In normal operation only one generator was used, but in conditions of poor visibility both were connected to
2240-414: The base of the tower. It sounded three blasts every minute (altered in 2022 to one blast every 30 seconds). Since 2003 Dungeness Lighthouse has been a Grade II* listed building . Dungeness (headland) Dungeness ( UK : / ˌ d ʌ n dʒ ə ˈ n ɛ s / , UK : / ˌ d ʌ n dʒ ˈ n ɛ s / ) is a headland on the coast of Kent , England, formed largely of a shingle beach in
2320-576: The beach, and Scottish folk band Trembling Bells named their album Dungeness too. In television, the Dungeness landscape, the lighthouse and the power station have been used on digital channel E4 at the beginning and end of advertising breaks . It was used as a backdrop for the ITV drama The Poison Tree . It featured in an episode of the BBC detective serial The Inspector Lynley Mysteries and in March 2007
2400-586: The beach. Closer to the main road, there is a large building – comprising five conjoined homes – previously tenanted by coastguards. There are more houses around the site of the power stations. There are two public houses: the Britannia and the Pilot, the latter being served by the Pilot Inn railway station from 1928 to 1977. Fresh seafood can be purchased from several outlets across the shingle. A notable house
2480-550: The building of Hartland Point Lighthouse in Devon. Carbon arc lights for lighthouses were pioneered by Professor Frederick Hale Holmes , with experiments carried out in 1857–60 at Blackwall and at South Foreland Lighthouse (as described in a lecture by Michael Faraday at the Royal Institution ). An initial installation at Dungeness Lighthouse in 1862 had proved problematic, however, with frequent failures of
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2560-508: The coast from New Romney to the north, and another from Lydd to the north-west. Both roads converge near the Pilot public house, from where a single road runs a mile (1.6 km) south to the tip of Dungeness. Dungeness is also served by the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch Railway , a 15 in ( 381 mm ) gauge light railway that covers the 13.5-mile (21.7 km) distance from Hythe . The line, which had opened to New Romney in 1927,
2640-405: The compressor for the new signal. In 1914 the pioneering electric light at Souter was replaced with the latest type of incandescent oil lamps (i.e. paraffin vapour burners). At the same time Chance Brothers provided a new, much larger lens system: a bi-form first-order catadioptric revolving optic (a bi-form lens is double-height, containing two lamps, one above the other). At the same time
2720-402: The constant accretion of shingle on the east side of the spit (an ongoing problem on this cuspate foreland ), which gradually leaves each lighthouse at an ever-increasing distance from the sea on that side. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries Dungeness was used as an experimental station by Trinity House; in the 1860s it was the first of their lighthouses to be equipped with a fog horn and
2800-538: The cover of Pink Floyd 's 1981 album A Collection of Great Dance Songs . British band The Soup Dragons shot the videos for their top 5 1990 hit '"I'm Free", and follow-up top 20 1991 hit "Mother Universe" on Dungeness; and there have also been several photo shoots by the band in the area. The shingle beach and fishermen's shacks feature extensively in the Lighthouse Family promotional video for their 1998 song " High ". The acoustic mirror at Dungeness
2880-407: The current lighthouse (which was built where they had formerly stood). As the sea receded further, and after building the nuclear power station which obscured the light of the 1904 lighthouse, a fifth lighthouse, Dungeness Lighthouse was built: it was the first major new lighthouse to have been built in Britain in fifty years and began operation in 1961. It was the first lighthouse to be equipped with
2960-582: The current owner EDF Energy announced in June 2021 that the newer station would not resume operations, which had halted in September 2018, and would move into the defuelling phase with immediate effect. There is a public visitors centre, and tours of "B" station are available. Tours were stopped in 2001, and the visitor centre subsequently closed in 2003, in the wake of the September 11 attacks . EDF opened
3040-562: The difficulties with electric light at Dungeness led to far more reliable systems being installed in 1871 at Souter Point (the first purpose-built electrically-lit lighthouse) and in 1872 at South Foreland. Costs were also progressively reduced: the operating cost per unit of light of the electric system installed at the Lizard Lighthouses in 1874 was one ninth that of Dungeness. Later the electric light at Dungeness began to function more reliably; but one problem had emerged which
3120-495: The edge of the point, but there were problems with the foundations so it ended up being erected just 40 yards away from its predecessor. Opened by the Prince of Wales , it was first lit on 31 March 1904. The new tower was equipped with a revolving catadioptric optic which produced a flash every ten seconds. In addition it displayed red and green sector lights, from windows lower in the tower, indicating hazards and safe water both to
3200-448: The electrical installation at Dungeness conceded that 'the results have not been commensurate with the cost'. Nevertheless, the Elder Brethren maintained that electricity 'may still become a most valuable element in lighthouse illumination in some few special cases; but to enable it to become so, or to give a fair estimate of its powers, it must be exhibited under entirely changed conditions from those which now exist'. Lessons learned from
3280-479: The end of the century, with the sea continuing to recede, the decision was taken to build a new High lighthouse. Once this new light had been lit, Wyatt's tower was demolished in 1904; but the lighthouse keepers' accommodation, built in a circle around the base of the tower, still exists. In 1862 the American entrepreneur and inventor Celadon Daboll demonstrated his eponymous trumpet (an early reed fog horn) to
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3360-407: The engine room, light tower and keeper's living quarters are all on view. There is also an outdoor play area, Trusty Club and indoor activities to accommodate young visitors. Two of the former lighthouse keepers' cottages are used as National Trust holiday cottages. The lamps, lenses and foghorn remain in working order and are still activated from time to time 'on special occasions'. The lighthouse
3440-461: The engines regularly broke down (leading to the oil lamps being brought into use on multiple occasions); and due to the small size of the optic, sparking from the arc lamp damaged the lenses and eventually rendered them unusable. They were eventually replaced with a larger, third-order lens (which had been built by Chance for the 1867 Paris Exhibition , and subsequently used for experiments at Blackwall ). In 1865, an official Trinity House review of
3520-454: The first to be given a permanent (if short-lived) electric lamp. At first only a beacon was used to warn sailors, but this was replaced by a proper lighthouse in 1615. As the sea retreated, this had to be replaced in 1635 by a new lighthouse nearer to the water's edge known as Lamplough's Tower. As more shingle was thrown up, a new and more up-to-date lighthouse was built near the sea in 1792 by Samuel Wyatt for Thomas William Coke (who held
3600-411: The foghorn house was remodelled at the seaward corners to accommodate them). The siren gave a 4-second blast every minute. Hornsby oil engines were installed to drive the compressors for the new siren. In 1952 the lighthouse was again converted to run on electric power (this time using incandescent lamps , powered by mains electricity ). The 4,500W bulbs used for the main light were the largest in
3680-461: The foghorn was piped underground from the engine room, on the other side of the lighthouse, where the air compressor was driven by a common drive shaft from the engines powering the magnetos. A more powerful siren fog signal replaced the reeds in February 1879; it sounded one blast every minute. It required an additional and more powerful engine, which was installed in the engine room to drive
3760-428: The form of a cuspate foreland . It shelters a large area of low-lying land, Romney Marsh . Dungeness spans Dungeness Nuclear Power Station , the hamlet of Dungeness, and an ecological site at the same location. It lies within the civil parish of Lydd . Dungeness's name means "the headland at Denge", referring to nearby Denge Marsh . The marsh is first mentioned in 774 as Dengemersc . Its name may mean "marsh of
3840-486: The lamp to provide a brighter light. The generators were driven by one of a pair of J. Whitworth & co. 5 nhp ' Allen ' condensing steam engines. (Prior to being installed at Souter, the engines and generators were exhibited by Trinity House at the Paris Exposition of 1867 .) The engines were worked alternately: one week on, one week off. Located in the engine-house, they also drove an air-pump to feed
3920-429: The lamps and machinery; so Trinity House carried out an extensive testing and selection process over five years (including comparisons with oil lights and examination of equipment in Britain and France) before finalising its plans for a complete purpose-built electric installation at Souter. The carbon arc lamp at Souter was placed within a lens array consisting of a third-order fixed catadioptric optic surrounded by
4000-432: The length of its predecessor, at 9 ft (2.7 m)) was installed in a new building at Dungeness; this was the first time Trinity House had installed a fog horn at any of its lighthouses. The new trumpet was designed to rotate automatically through a 210° horizontal arc, so as to sound in four different directions within the space of a minute. Compressed air was provided by a pair of Ericsson hot air engines . In 1875
4080-468: The lighthouse was instead fitted with a multi-wick oil lamp together with a new fixed first order Fresnel lens . (The lens was designed so that light from the landward side (which would otherwise be wasted) was reflected through condensing prisms to intensify the red-coloured sectors.) These changes coincided with the commissioning of a new 'Low Lighthouse' (see below), designed to supplement the 'High' Lighthouse (the sea having receded from its position). By
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#17328010602714160-470: The local firm of James Todd, after complaints that local builders had not had the opportunity to reply to tender as it had not been advertised locally. The foundation stone was ceremonially laid by Admiral Collinson 's sister on 9 June 1869. Building works were completed in 1870, and the lighthouse entered service in January the following year. After completing this project Douglass and Norris moved on to
4240-404: The main light, sector lights are displayed, from windows just below the lantern floor. The tower has been floodlit since 1962, to aid visual identification and to reduce the mortality rate of migrating birds, which had been prone to hitting the tower at night. In 1954-56, trials had been carried out at Dungeness of a triple-frequency electric fog signal, sounded through tannoy emitters built into
4320-520: The most advanced lighthouse technology of its day. The light was generated by a carbon arc lamp : first lit on 11 January 1871, it was described at the time as 'without doubt one of the most powerful lights in the world'. After being decommissioned by Trinity House (the national lighthouse authority) in 1988, Souter Lighthouse was acquired by the National Trust , who now manage it as a visitor attraction with holiday lets . The lighthouse
4400-594: The north-east and the south-west. Lit by incandescent mineral oil, it was claimed to be the second most powerful light on the English Channel (after Cap Gris-Nez ); the main light had a range of 17.5 nmi (32.4 km; 20.1 mi), and the subsidiary light a range of up to 13 nmi (24 km; 15 mi). In 1920 it was the first Trinity House lighthouse to be equipped with a Paraffin Vapour Burner ; PVBs would subsequently be installed in many of
4480-483: The nuclear power station which obscured the light of the 1904 lighthouse, a fifth lighthouse, Dungeness Lighthouse was built. There are two nuclear power stations at Dungeness, identified as "A" and "B", the first built in 1965 and the second in 1983. They are within a wildlife sanctuary designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest , and birds flourish in the warmer water created by the station's outflow. The older power station closed on 31 December 2006, while
4560-458: The number of wrecks on the dangerous reefs of Whitburn Steel which lay directly under the water in the surrounding area. In one year alone – 1860 – there were 20 shipwrecks. This contributed to making this coastline the most dangerous in the country, with an average of around 44 shipwrecks per every mile of coastline. The lighthouse and associated buildings were designed for Trinity House by their Chief Engineer, James Douglass ; its construction
4640-417: The optic are all still in situ in the tower. It is a Grade II listed building . In 1904, along with the rebuilding of the main lighthouse, a new Low Lighthouse was built together with a new fog signal house, 345 yards (315 m) to the east of its former location (and 485 yards (443 m) away from the new High Lighthouse). The new Low Light was a cylindrical metal tower, 40 ft (12 m) high with
4720-483: The pasture district", from Old English denn *gē mersc , or else "marsh with manured land", from Old English dyncge mersc . Dungeness is one of the largest expanses of shingle in Europe. It is of international conservation importance for its geomorphology , plant and invertebrate communities and bird life. This is recognised and protected mostly through its conservation designations as a national nature reserve (NNR),
4800-432: The pressure tank of a foghorn. In December 1891 the lighthouse tower was painted with a broad red band, to make it more conspicuous during the day. Holmes also designed a reed fog signal for the new lighthouse, sounded from a separate foghorn house (east of the tower) through a pair of vertical trumpets (angled north-east and south-east, facing out to sea). It sounded one blast every 45 seconds. Compressed air for
4880-417: The same design as the third Eddystone Lighthouse . From the mid-19th century, it was painted black with a white band to make it more visible in daylight; similar colours have featured on the subsequent lighthouses here. This lighthouse was demolished in 1904, but the lighthouse keepers' accommodation, built in a circle around the base of the tower, still exists. In 1901, the building of the fourth lighthouse,
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#17328010602714960-480: The same time, attached to the fog signal house, a new 'Low Lighthouse' was established, designed to supplement the High light (which was now some distance from the shore): it was a short metal tower with an octagonal lantern, and stood, along with the fog signal, 225 yards (206 m) from the main lighthouse. Oil-fuelled, with a focal height of 28 ft (8.5 m) and a range of 10 nmi (19 km; 12 mi), it
5040-417: The sum of £20,954. Not long afterwards, in 1843, they built the lighthouse keepers' dwellings encircling the base of the tower. The tower was painted red to make it more visible in daylight; from 1865 it had alternating red and white horizontal bands. In September 1866, red sectors were added to the main light, to indicate anchorages in the bays to either side of Dungeness Point. In the early 1860s, Dungeness
5120-612: The tower. Having removed the two Holmes magneto-electric machines from the engine room, the Corporation of Trinity House presented one to the Institution of Electrical Engineers in 1915; it is now on display at the Science Museum, London . The fog signal was improved in 1919 when a more powerful siren was installed, sounded through a pair of Rayleigh trumpets. (These replaced the twin Holmes trumpets formerly employed;
5200-423: Was built with a new Low Lighthouse mounted on the roof; incorporated into the tower were a pair of new diaphone fog horns, placed at right-angles to each other. The Low light continued to retain its old characteristic of one flash every five seconds; it had a focal height of 45 ft (14 m) and a range of 11 nmi (20 km; 13 mi). The diaphone sounded three blasts every two minutes. In July 1958,
5280-413: Was chosen by Michael Faraday (scientific adviser to Trinity House) to be the first lighthouse to receive a permanent electric light installation. (One had previously been installed at South Foreland Lighthouse , but only on a temporary and experimental basis.) Two carbon arc lamps were installed (one as a standby), each placed within a small ( sixth-order ) lens, provided by Chance & Co. , backed by
5360-546: Was closed to passengers on 4 July 1937 and it was truncated on 6 March 1967. Lydd Airport , sometimes known as London Ashford Airport, lies just to the north-west of Dungeness. Despite opposition, largely due to its proximity to the unique landscape of Dungeness, the airport received permission in 2014 to extend its runway to allow it to handle fully loaded aircraft up to the size of a Boeing 737 or Airbus A319 . The beach and marshes have been used for military training and include marked "danger areas". In World War I Lydd Camp
5440-405: Was decommissioned by Trinity House in 1988, but continued to serve as a radio navigation beacon up until 1999 when it was finally closed. As Souter was never automated, it remains much in its original operational state except for updates during its lifespan to its lantern and electrical apparatus. Today the decommissioned Souter lighthouse is owned by the National Trust and open to the public;
5520-485: Was equipped with a two-wick Douglass burner and a 12-sided fourth-order revolving optic, which displayed a quick white flash every five seconds; (this was in contrast to the fixed light shown from the high lighthouse). It was lit from 1 October 1875, coinciding with the conversion of the High Light from electricity back to oil. In 1877 the fog signal was altered to sound two blasts every two minutes; then, in 1881, it
5600-534: Was extended to Dungeness station a year later. It still provides a service for tourists. The peninsula has a second, standard gauge railway, but this is now truncated adjacent to the Dungeness Road and only used to carry waste from the power stations. It formerly linked Dungeness (and, via a separate branch, New Romney) to a junction with the Marshlink Line at Appledore . The Dungeness section
5680-458: Was filmed on the headland. In 2012, Nicki Minaj 's single Freedom was filmed on the beach and with the acoustic mirrors. The music video for Lithuanian DJ Ten Walls ' hit single Walking With Elephants was shot on the headland and in the surrounding sea and featured many of the areas prominent landmarks. In 2016, The Wholls also filmed the music video for their single "X21". In 2020, the music video for Nothing But Thieves 's single Impossible
5760-576: Was here. Denge , a former Royal Air Force site at the northern edge of the Dungeness headland, is the site of a set of acoustic mirrors , 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 became available. The site
5840-499: Was installed and a pair of exponential horns replaced the Rayleigh Trumpets on top of the foghorn building. At the same time the engine room was provided with two new Reavell compressor sets, one driven by an electric motor, the other by a diesel engine. The diaphone produced a five-second blast every 30 seconds in poor weather, and remained in use up until 1988, when the lighthouse was decommissioned. Souter Lighthouse
5920-405: Was modified so as to sound a two-tone signal (a high note followed by a low note) every two minutes. By 1895 the engine house contained a 6 hp Priestman Oil Engine , in addition to the two hot air engines; it drove a double-acting Johnson air compressor. In 1901 building of the fourth lighthouse, known at the time as the High Light Tower, started. It had originally been intended to build it nearer
6000-417: Was not easily solved: the relatively low level of the tower in relation to the sea meant that ships' crews were dazzled by the intense light, especially when sailing close to shore. The progressive accretion of shingle to the spit only exacerbated the problem, which is what ultimately led to the electric installation being decommissioned. The carbon arc lamp remained in use at Dungeness until 1 October 1875, when
6080-515: Was one of the wooden beach huts. The Derek Jarman avant-garde 1990 film The Garden was set and filmed in Dungeness. Souter Lighthouse Souter Lighthouse is a lighthouse located to the North of Whitburn , South Tyneside , England. (It was generally known as Souter Point Lighthouse when in service). Souter Point was the first lighthouse in the world to be actually designed and built specifically to use alternating electric current ,
6160-414: Was partly filmed on the beach. Athlete have a song on the album Vehicles and Animals called "Dungeness" which is about the area. Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly mentions Dungeness and the lighthouse in his song "Lighthouse Keeper". The Kent-based hardcore punk band November Coming Fire released a 2006 album entitled Dungeness , featuring a track called "Powerstation" which included a recording of waves on
6240-432: Was replaced by a wooden lighthouse in 1615 which was 11 m (35 ft) tall. As the sea retreated, this had to be replaced in 1635 by a new lighthouse nearer to the water's edge known as Lamplough's Tower which was around 34 m (110 ft) high. As more shingle was thrown up, a new and more up-to-date lighthouse was built near the sea in 1792 by Samuel Wyatt. This lighthouse was 35 m (116 ft) high and of
6320-405: Was supervised by on-site engineer Henry Norris . Alongside the lighthouse tower a number of other buildings were laid out around a quadrangle, including the engine room and boiler house, and five dwellings; all were built of rubble masonry, rendered with Portland cement . The contract for building the lighthouse and keepers' cottages was reported in March 1869 as being £8,000 and was awarded to
6400-549: Was the setting for a major part of an EastEnders special. The BBC filmed episodes of Doctor Who in Dungeness during the 1970s. The 1981 fantasy film Time Bandits shot its "Time of Legends" sequence on the beach, and Dungeness was used to film a scene in Danny Boyle 's Trance . Much of the Michael Winterbottom 's 1998 film I Want You was set in and around Dungeness: the lead character's home
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