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In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Dungeness like this:
DUNGE-NESS, a low shingly headland on the SE coast of Kent; 10¾ miles E by S of Rye. It is surrounded by flats and sand-shoals; it gains so rapidly, by accumulation of shingle upon it from the sea, as to have increased upwards of a mile seaward within the memory of persons now alive; and it contrasts strikingly, by its lowness, with the bold cliffs of the headland next to it on the Channel, the headland of Beachy. ...
A lighthouse on it was founded, in the time of James I., by a goldsmith of the name of Allen; and this gave place, in 1792, to a new lighthouse, designed by Wyatt, in imitation of that of Eddystone, built wholly at the expense of the Ven. Earl of Leicester, rising to the height of 92 feet, and visible at the distance of 14 miles.
Dungeness is now part of FOLKESTONE AND HYTHE District. Click here for graphs and data of how FOLKESTONE AND HYTHE has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Dungeness itself, go to Statistics.
How to reference this page:
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Dungeness, in Folkestone and Hythe and Kent | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/24510
Date accessed: 16th December 2025
Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Dungeness".
