Dungeness

Address: RSPB Dungeness, Dungeness Rd, Romney Marsh TN29 9PN

Grid ref: TR062197

This headland on the south coast of Kent is formed largely of a shingle beach in the form of a cuspate foreland. The Dungeness reserve itself is set back from the sea, boasting mile after mile of open shingle, fresh water pits, wet grassland and stunning wildflower meadows.

Plan your visit

Open daily from 9am - 9pm (or sunset if earlier).

Closed on 25th and 26th December.

The visitor centre is open 10am - 5pm from March to October, and 10am - 4pm from November to February.

Free entrance to RSPB members: Yes

Adults: £4 (£5 from 1 April)

Children: £2 (under 16) (£2.50 from 1 April)
Free entrance for under 5s

Student: £3 (£3.50 from 1 April)

Free entrance for carers: Yes

Other discounts: Wildlife Explorer members free.

Facilities

Visitor centre
Car park
Toilets
Accessible toilets
Baby changing
Pushchair friendly
Refreshments
Picnic area
Binocular hire
Guided walks
Viewing point
Nature trails
Shop
Educational facilities

Accessibility

How to get here

By train

The nearest station is Rye, 10 miles (16 km) from the reserve. You can then take the bus 100 to Lydd, and bus 11/11A/11B (not Sundays) from Lydd to the reserve.

Ashford station is 16 miles (25 km) from the reserve. You can use bus service 11/11A/11B (not Sundays) to reserve.

Folkestone station is 20 miles (32 km) from the reserve. You can use bus service 101 to Lydd and bus 11/11A/11B (not Sundays) from Lydd to reserve.

By bus

Bus services 11/11A/11B from Ashford via Lydd (not Sundays) stop on request at the reserve entrance from where there is a one-mile walk to the Visitor Centre. There is a limited service on bus 102 from Lydd or Folkestone. The nearest stops on Sundays are at either Lydd or Lydd-on-Sea (The Pilot Inn).

By bike

Route 2

By road

One mile out of Lydd on the Dungeness Road turn right for the main site. The visitor centre and car park are one mile along the entrance track.

Sat nav POI file: If you have a satellite navigation system that can accept POI files, please see our POI page for a download link and instructions.

Get directions from Google Maps

RSPB reserves on Google Earth

Group visits are more than welcome as long as they let the reserve know in advance. Please let us know the date you wish to visit, the number of people you intend to bring, how you are travelling (ie by coach) and what time you are due to arrive at the reserve.

Our education programme currently caters for Key Stage 1 and 2 school children. Learn about a pond habitat and what lives inside it and identify minibeasts using keys. Learn about foodchains and lifecycles of various pond wildlife. Learn how to spot birds using binoculars and identify key features of different species of bird.

Education sessions can last half a day or a full day and can cater for one or two classes at a time. Please see our education page for more information, prices and how to book.

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Downloads

Helping you find your way around. PDF, 1.1Mb

Dungeness trail guide

Contact Dungeness

RSPB Dungeness, Dungeness Rd, Romney Marsh TN29 9PN
dungeness@rspb.org.uk
01797 320588

What will you see?

Our star species

Bittern

Bitterns come to Dungeness in Britain from Europe when cold weather forces them to move to sites. They also breed here in the spring so listen out for their distinctive 'boom'.

Little ringed plover

The first little ringed plovers arrive at Dungeness in March.

Slavonian grebe

A small number of them can be seen diving for food on the pits in winter.

Smew

Look for the smews diving on the pits between late November and March.

Wheatear

The arrival of wheatears from March is a sure sign that spring has arrived at Dungeness.

Nature spectacles

Dungeness is the perfect migration hotspot. Watch the sky for hundreds of swallows, swifts and martins as they gather in huge numbers in the spring and autumn as they arrive and leave country. In the spring, listen for the booming of our bitterns and the unmistakable call of the cuckoo. In the autumn, look for the bearded tits in the reedbeds as they feed of the seed heads.

Dungeness also boasts wonderful sunsets. With the flat open ground and large sky it is the perfect place to be in the evening, watch the sun go down in this tranquil place and enjoy nature at a different time of day.

The first swifts and sand martins of the season should be seen in mid-March, closely followed by swallows, wheatears, black redstarts and yellow wagtails. Cuckoos should be present from mid-April whilst there will also be a large increase in warblers. Sedge and reed warblers and whitethroats all nest on the reserve while willow warblers, chiffchaffs, and blackcaps pass through on migration.

In June, our resident cormorants will be busy feeding their chicks whilst cygnets, goslings and ducklings will be much in evidence. Watch the seabirds raise their young on Burrowes Pit, right in front of the visitor centre! Hobbies may be seen hunting insects above Hooker's pits - it is always a joy to watch these fantastic falcons performing their aerial acrobatics.

Throughout June and July the reserve will be ablaze with the colourful flowers of viper's bugloss and yellow-horned poppy. Look out for an array of butterfly, moth and bee species which all rely on the nectar of Dungeness incredible wildflowers.

Wildfowl numbers will increase as September progresses. Hundreds of sand martins, along with smaller numbers of swallows and house martins, can be seen feeding over Burrowes' pit throughout September. Many different species of waders will be present on the reserve in early Autumn as they stop to feed here in their hundreds before migrating elsewhere for the winter. Migrating passerines such as whinchats, redstarts, wheatears and ring ouzels, will all be present in varying numbers. In late Autumn, look out for bearded tits feeding on the reed heads around the Denge Marsh area of the reserve.

Waterbirds are the main attraction during the winter months. Large numbers of wigeons, gadwalls, teals, mallards, pintails, shovelers, pochards and tufted ducks will be present whilst smews, goldeneyes and pintails will also be seen. Bewick's and whooper swans may roost on the Hanson ARC pit. The reserve also sees an influx of birds such as goldcrests, firecrests, goldfinches, robins and fieldfares as they stay the winter here.

About Dungeness

Habitat

At almost 1000 hectares, RSPB Dungeness boasts a range of habitats. Predominantly shingle habitat with its unique lichens, plants and insects it has the largest expanse of shingle anywhere in the world. Dungeness also has open freshwater habitat which provides a home to thousands of wintering wildfowl and nesting seabirds. It also has important fen habitat, wet grassland and wildflower meadows.

Dungeness is the third most biodiverse site in the country for it's insect species and gives a home to a large number of rare bee species. Reedbeds provide home to our resident marsh harriers, bitterns and bearded tits and our summer visiting warblers.

Conservation

Dungeness's shingle ridges support an internationally important community of plants and animals. These include the endemic leafhopper Aphrodes duffieldi, and the scarce Nottingham catchfly, which is the food plant of several rare moth species.

Behind the shingle ridges are a series of natural freshwater pits that have been colonised by fen vegetation. These support several uncommon plants, including the regionally scarce great fen sedge, as well as great crested newts and medicinal leeches.

The reserve also has more than 90 flooded gravel pits. These offer an important refuge for wintering wildfowl, including black-necked grebe, goosander and smew, and support breeding colonies of gulls, terns and cormorants.

Dungeness has both wet and dry grassland. We are managing these habitats in order to provide suitable breeding conditions for birds such as lapwings, redshanks and garganeys, as well as two uncommon species of bumblebee, Bombus humilis and Bombus ruderarius.

Partners

RSPB Dungeness is a fantastic home for nature, helped by the tremendous support of many individuals, groups and organisations. In addition to RSPB members and supporters, local community members and a tireless team of volunteers, we would particularly like to thank the following organisations for their financial support:

Affinity Water
Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund, a Defra grant distributed by Natural England
Brett
Countryside Agency
Environment Agency
EU Life Nature
Hanson Environment Fund through the Landfill Community Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
Ibstock Cory Environmental Trust through the Landfill Community Fund
Kent County Council
Mid-Kent Leader +
Natural England through Defra
The Oliver Coppin Memorial Trust
Roger de Haan Charitable Trust
SEEDA
Tory Family Foundation
WREN/FCC Environment through the Landfill Community Fund
Viridor-Credits through the Landfill Community Fund

Site information

Dungeness is one of the best places for wildlife in the UK and designated as a Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Natura 2000 site.

There is a two-mile circular trail around the reserve. We ask that you kindly stick to the designated paths as the shingle habitat is very fragile.

Latest blog posts

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What people are saying about Dungeness

My partner and I made our first visit to the Dungeness RSPB reserve on a lovely autumn day. We were well impressed with everything on the reserve. The staff in the visitor centre were more than helpful and coped well with our questions. The reserve itself is beautifully laid out with a variety of hides with excellent views to choose from. Our day passed by too quickly, so we will have to return again as soon as possible to see what we missed. We saw a good variety of birds and thoroughly enjoyed our day. We would like to thank everyone for their help.

Mr M.B.Halls & Ms H.F.Dorman

My daughters (aged 8 and 3) and I visited Dungeness for a pond dipping event. It was brilliant- well organised and great fun. There was an informal competition between the children (and parents) to see who could find the largest /most gruesome creature!! I haven't been to Dungeness for 30 years and the place itself hasn't changed much but the facilities for visitors (especially children) were great.

Audrey Timbers

We have just returned from, hopefully, the first of many visits to Dungeness. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit, but one day is not enough. The reserve is well laid out, with excellent hides and trails. A wide variety of birds on view, including gorgeous male linnets singing from gorse bushes- makes you glad to be alive. Will be returning soon. Hot drinks available in the Visitor Centre, but alas, no bacon sandwiches!

Dave and Karen Brown

Activities and events

Activities for children and families

Families are always welcome at RSPB Dungeness and a huge range of family-friendly activities go on throughout the year.

Use a Wildlife Explorer rucksack (free of charge) to explore the reserve and the Discovery Area on your own or join one of our Wild Families events. These provide an array of activities to keep families busy throughout the day from pond dipping to minibeast hunting, bird watching to arts and crafts, den building and bushcraft. You can learn about different species such as our amazing moths, brilliant bees and beautiful butterflies or enjoy an Easter egg hunt or Christmas crafts and activities during the relevant holidays.

Family events run throughout the school holidays; children must be accompanied by an adult.

Leisure activities

Historical Landmarks: Lade Pits is a unique site for history as well as wildlife, as it contains three Scheduled Ancient Monuments, which are of international significance.

The Denge Sound Mirrors (also known as the Acoustic Mirrors or Listening Ears) are three concrete structures which range in size from 20 to 200 feet. They were built between 1928 and 1935 as part of Britain's national defence strategy. The low-lying Romney Marsh was well suited for the placement of the mirrors which were designed as early warning systems to pick up the sounds of approaching enemy aircraft coming over the English Channel. But the innovative technology was soon superseded by the invention of radar before the start of the Second World War.

However, time spent constructing the Sound Mirrors was not wasted, as the technology used to create these led to developments of other aircraft detection systems.

Please note that access to the Sound Mirrors is restricted except on organised events and annual summer open day.