One of the most iconic and bleakly beautiful landscapes in the UK, perhaps the world, could be yours for £1.5m. The private family trust which has owned the 468 acre Dungeness estate since 1964 is selling off the land through estate agents Strutt and Parker.
The estate includes 22 cottages on 99 year leases (although it does not include Prospect Cottage, in which film-maker Derek Jarman used to live) and brings in more than £130,000 a year in income, mainly from licences allowing the harvesting of shale to shore up the power station and local coastlines, as well as ground rents and fishing agreements. Up to a million visitors come to Dungeness each year (many on the Romney, Hythe and Dymchurch railway, or to see Jarman’s home) and the site has been featured in many films, videos and artworks.
The land is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is adjacent to a bird sanctuary and around the corner from one of the PLUTO (Pipe Lines Under The Ocean) pumping stations, a second world war innovation to transport fuel from the UK to France, to support the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944. Also nearby at Denge are the “listening ears” or “mirrors”, built in the 1920s and 1930s, acting as an early form of radar, to raise an alert for incoming enemy aircraft.
The sale does not include the railway station (or indeed the railway line), a public house, two lighthouses and the nuclear power station that are located there. The current trustees explained that they were getting on in years and hoped a new owner could breathe new life into the area.
Photo: Strutt & Parker/BNPS
Image Credits: Strutt and Parker .