The flooded gravel pits on Denge Beach, both brackish and fresh water, provide an important refuge for many migratory and coastal bird species.

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.

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.

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.

Closer to the main road, there is a large building – comprising five conjoined homes – previously tenanted by coastguards.

A notable house is Prospect Cottage, formerly owned by the late artist and film director Derek Jarman.

The garden, reflecting the bleak, windswept landscape of the peninsula, is made of pebbles, driftwood, scrap metal and a few hardy plants.

[12][13] 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.

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.

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 shingle beach and fishermen's shacks feature extensively in the Lighthouse Family promotional video for their 1998 song "High".

[4] The acoustic mirror at Dungeness is featured on the cover of the album Ether Song by the British indie band Turin Brakes.

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 was filmed on the headland.

[18] 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.

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 the beach, and Scottish folk band Trembling Bells named their album Dungeness too.

[21] 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.

[23] It featured in an episode of the BBC detective serial The Inspector Lynley Mysteries and in March 2007 was the setting for a major part of an EastEnders special.

[25] Much of the Michael Winterbottom's 1998 film I Want You was set in and around Dungeness: the lead character's home was one of the wooden beach huts.