The present Dungeness Lighthouse is the latest in a series of lighthouses that have stood on this headland on England's south coast.  It came into service in November 1961.  The Trinity House website says of it that, "The tower, which rises from a white concrete base in the form of a spiral ramp, is capable of automatic operation and was the first one of its kind to incorporate the Xenon electric arc lamp as a source of illumination. It is constructed of precast concrete rings 1.5 metres high, 15 cm thick and 3.6 metres in diameter, fitted one above the other, and has black and white bands which are impregnated into the concrete."  ....  "The construction comprises 21 concrete drums, each 5ft high, surrounded by a white concrete spiral ramp enclosing the machine room and lifted into position by a specially designed crane. High tensile steel wires were then run through the walls from top to bottom and post-tensioned using the Freyssinet system to provide the strength required to resist 80 mph gales. There is extra strength towards the base of the tower by having extra prestressing cables rather than the traditional taper, giving it a more sophisticated and elegant form."  ....  "The station was re-engineered/modernised in 2000. The sealed beam light was replaced with a Pharos PRB20 optic transferred from Lundy South Lighthouse, reducing the light range from 27 to 21 nautical miles."