DUNGENESS  , a promontory of the

south coast of England, in the south of Kent, near the town of Lydd . It is a low-lying broad bank of shingle, forming the seaward apex of the great level of the Romney Marshes . Its seaward accretion is estimated at 6 ft. annually . Its formation is characteristic, consisting of a series of ridges forming a succession of curves from a common centre . It is unique, however, among the great promontories of the south coast of England, the accretion of gravel banks falling into deep water contrasting with the cliff-bound headlands of the North Foreland, Beachy Head and the Lizard, and with the low eroded Selsey Bill, off which the sea is shallow . A light-house (500 55' N., 0 58' E.) stands on the ness, which has been the scene of many shipwrecks, and has been lighted since the time of James I . There are also here Lloyds' signalling station, coast-guard stations, and the terminus of a branch of the South-Eastern & Chatham railway . The name Dungeness has also been applied elsewhere; thus the point on the north side of the eastern entrance to Magellan Strait is so called, and there is a town of Dungeness near a promontory on the coast of Washington, U.S.A . (Strait of Juan de Fuca) .