Dungeness

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Address
RSPB Dungeness, Dungeness Rd, Romney Marsh TN29 9PN
Grid ref
TR062197
What3Words
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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

Opening times

  • Nature reserve: open daily, 9am-4pm. Closed outside of these hours.
  • Car park: open daily, 9am-5pm. Closed outside of these hours.
  • Visitor Centre: open daily, 10am-4pm.
  • Shop: open daily, 10am-4pm.
  • Refreshments: takeaways available daily, 10am-4pm.
  • Toilets: open daily, 9am-5pm.

Festive opening times

  • Christmas Eve: nature reserve, car park and toilets open, 9am-3pm. Visitor centre, shop and refreshments open, 10am-3pm.
  • Christmas Day: nature reserve, car park, visitor centre, shop, refreshments and toilets closed.
  • Boxing Day: nature reserve, car park, visitor centre, shop, refreshments and toilets closed.
  • New Year’s Eve: nature reserve, car park and toilets open, 9am-3pm. Visitor centre, shop and refreshments open, 10am-3pm.
  • New Year’s Day: nature reserve, car park and toilets open, 9am-4pm. Visitor centre, shop and refreshments open, 10am-4pm.
  • All other days in the festive period are open our usual winter opening hours as above.

Entrance charges

Free entrance to RSPB members
Yes
Adults
£5
Children
£2.50 (under 18)
Free entrance for first child
Free entrance for under 5s
Student
£3.50
Free entrance for carers
Yes

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
  • Play area

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

This mainly flat traffic-free route, part of the National Cycle Route 2, starts from the railway station at Rye. The route crosses the River Rother and continues on a dedicated cycle path heading towards camber, past small lakes (a good place to watch herons) and a golf course.

On the outskirts of Camber, the route takes you along a minor road through the town and onto the sea wall. The route continues along the sea wall, then sets off inland along a cycle path set back from the road all the way up to Lydd were you will then find signs directing you to RSPB Dungeness. Please be careful as this route might take you on busy main roads in places.

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.

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Information for dog owners


Sorry, dogs are not permitted on the Discovery/Main trail or the Hanson ARC trail (except assistance dogs), due to the sensitive wildlife and habitats here.

We know that the countryside is a dog walking paradise. It’s important to remember the special surroundings here are wonderful havens for rare wildlife. Even if dogs are very well behaved, wildlife can easily become startled by a dog they perceive as a predator.

Scaring-off wildlife does more than simply causing it to move away; it uses up their energy, decreasing their chance of survival regardless of season. Thank you for protecting the special wildlife by not exercising your dog on these trails.

 

Please keep your dog on a lead and under close, effective control at all times whilst walking the public footpaths that cross parts of the site, due to the sensitive wildlife, habitats and livestock here. Thank you.

  • Dogs are permitted in the visitor centre and shop.
  • Dogs die in hot cars, please do not leave your dog in the car when visiting us.
  • There are no dog waste bins on the reserve, we ask that you please take their waste home with you to dispose of.

Group booking information

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

Schools booking information

For full details of our exciting programme of curriculum-linked outdoor education sessions, visit our school trips information.

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. 

Check out our fantastic range of resources for teachers, or take on the Schools’ Wild Challenge.

Downloads

Helping you find your way around. PDF, 2.5Mb

Dungeness trail guide

Contact Dungeness

Save nature with a staycation in the UK

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Saving the nature that you love for future generations to enjoy. Make the most of your visit by staying in one of thousands of handpicked cottages across the UK. Simply book your stay here to support our partnership. Throughout 2021 holidaycottages.co.uk are supporting our conservation work – saving species and restoring habitats right across the UK at a time when the future of our planet has never been more important and protecting nature for future generations.

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What will you see?

Our star species

Recent sightings

View looking over gravel pit, Dungeness RSPB reserve, Kent

Find out about recent wildlife sightings at Dungeness.

read more

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. 

Seasonal highlights

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

A vast reserve, with a good variety of habitats to explore. It is the home of the largest expanse of shingle anywhere in the world, which is where you will find rare plants, insects and lichens.

Its open fresh water teems with life, including thousands of wintering wildfowl and nesting seabirds.

Beyond there, head out into wildflower meadows, wet grasslands and reedbeds where you can spot marsh harriers, bitterns and bearded tits.

Conservation

Dungeness is a hot spot for rare species. It is the third most biodiverse site in the country for its insects, including a large number of rare bees.

Its vast shingle ridges are alive with internationally important plants and animals, including the scarce Nottingham catchfly, which is the food plant of several rare moths. The shingle is also home to a leafhopper found nowhere else – the Aphrodes duffieldi.

Beyond the shingle ridges, freshwater pits have been colonised by fen vegetation, including the rare great fen sedge. See if you can spot the great crested newts and leeches which also live here.

The reserve’s flooded gravel pits are where much of the wintering wildfowl spend their time, including black-necked grebe, goosander and smew. It is also where you’ll find breeding colonies of gulls, terns and cormorants.

We look after the reserve's wet and dry grasslands in a way which create good breeding conditions for lapwings, redshanks and garganeys, as well as two uncommon bumblee species – 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

A two-mile circular track takes you on a tour around the reserve, which is protected as a Natura 2000 site and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). For more about SSSIs, head here.

Please do stick to the paths as the shingle habitat is very fragile.

Latest blog posts

read our blog

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.

For more information on events and to book tickets, please visit events.rspb.org.uk/dungeness

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. To find more information on these events and to book tickets, please visit events.rspb.org.uk/dungeness. 

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