The Formation of Dungeness Foreland

Dungeness Foreland comprises an area of reclaimed marshes and shingle wastes symmetrically placed between the headlands of Fairlight on the west and Shorncliffe on the east. The Ness (Fig. 4.1) extends in a southeasterly direction to the 10-fathom contour, and from this point the shores run to the west and north respectively for about fifteen miles, curving round to join the lines of the old cliffs. The shingle is mostly concentrated in three masses, the main one to the south and east of Lydd and two lesser ones to the east of Winchelsea and the south of Hythe respectively. The general trend of the ridges comprising these shingle forelands, as taken from Sheet 4 of the One-Inch Geological Survey Maps, is represented in the figure. A hummocky strip of mixed sand and gravel, distinctly above the level of the marshes on either side, runs from Lydd to New Romney and then northeastwards as the Warren, to join the present shoreline south of Dymchurch.