Dungeness Mansion Ruins on Cumberland Island

Cumberland is an island off the coast of Georgia. Just north of the Florida border line, the island is accessed via ferry from Saint Marys. Once mostly owned by the Carnegie family, it is now a National Park. When I was planning our big barbecue tour, I read about the ruins of the Dungeness Mansion and was intrigued. This, along with the wildlife on Cumberland Island meant I just had to add it to our itinerary. It turned out to be the most incredible day trip – Cumberland Island is just magical.

How to get to Cumberland Island

Cumberland Island can only be reached by ferry from St Marys. The trip takes 45 minutes and is a lovely journey through the salt marshes. There used to be two ferry docks on Cumberland, Dungeness and Sea Camp. Unfortuantely, Hurricane Irma damaged the Dungeness dock, and destroyed the departure dock in St Marys. Cumberland Island Ferries offer both passage and tours of the island, so you can choose whichever suits your needs. We chose to guide ourselves for our day trip to Cumberland Island. Maps and advice are available from the National Park rangers when you check-in. This is when you also pay your National Park fees. Be sure not to miss the last ferry back in the evening!

The walk to the Dungeness Mansion ruins is about 2km from the Sea Camp dock. We chose to walk the River Trail along to Dungeness Dock, and it was a beautiful forest walk with Spanish Moss and a winding path. There were excited groups photographing the wild horses on the meadow near the dock. Then we got word that there were manatees hanging out in the shallows at the dock, so rushed down to photograph them before walking onwards to the mansion.

Dungeness Mansion Ruins

History of Dungeness

The island and the Dungeness name has a long history connected to several famous families. James Oglethorpe, one of the founders of the state of Georgia, built a hunting lodge here in 1736. The next famous name to own part of Cumberland Island, and build their own version of Dungeness, was Revolutionary war hero Nathanial Greene. Greene abandoned the house during the Civil war and it burnt down in 1866.

Dungeness Ruins

Dungeness Mansion was built by Thomas Carnegie (brother of steel magnate Andrew Carnegie) and his wife Lucy in the late 1800s as a winter retreat. Sadly Thomas didn’t get to see its completion. Lucy and their children lived there for a time, but after the Great Depression, Dungeness mansion remained vacant until it burnt down in 1959. There are three other estates on the island that Lucy Carnegie had built for her family – Greyfield, Plum Orchard and Stafford Plantation. Greyfield is a private hotel still owned by the Carnegies. Plum Orchard was donated to the National Park service and you can take tours of this property. And Stafford Plantation is where the island’s caretaker and family live.

The inside of the Dungeness mansion ruins are not accessible for safety reasons, but you can get very close to the perimeter. You can tell by the footprint and remaining architecture that it must have been a very grand holiday home. The symmetrical entranceways, tall window frames, and ornate fencing speak volumes about the Carnegies, and the history of this wonderful property.

Dungeness Mansion Outbuildings

Recreational Complex

Next to the mansion is the ruins of the recreational complex. Once housing a pool, armoury, tennis courts and a doctor; this really shows the scale of the wealth that was once here. Beyond this is the coach house, which we noticed now housed the facilities for the park rangers and service people.

Tabby House

On the other side of the Dungeness mansion is ‘Tabby House’, built during Nathaniel Greene’s era; and used as servant quarters during the Carnegie tenure.

Laundry

The old laundry house has been turned into the public conveniences, with toilets and a water fountain. Yet, they have kept the old laundry accoutrements intact, so it is a lovely mix of old and new. There are no provisions available on Cumberland Island, other than drinking water; so it is imperative that you bring your own water bottle, and food.

Cemetery

Beyond the outbuildings, but before you hit Sea Camp beach, is the cemetery for the island. General Henry Lee, who died here in 1818, was buried here. However his body was later moved back to Virginia. There are the graves of the custodians and families who lived here to support the rich families over the years; as well as a memorial to Thomas Carnegie.

Make sure you visit the First African Baptist Church on Cumberland Island, where John F Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette were married in 1996. As well as the Ice House Museum.

Cumberland Island Wildlife

Manatees

As I mentioned above, we were lucky to see some manatees at the Dungeness dock. We visited Cumberland Island in late April, and were resigned to not seeing any manatees, as it was too late in the season. Lucky for us, two of these two gorgeous “sea cows” were enjoying the warm shallows by the dock. I swear you could’ve heard my squeals of joy a mile away when I saw these amazing creatures. We had visited the Manatee Lagoon in West Palm Beach, but hadn’t seen any, so this was a real treat.

Wild Horses

Descendants of work horses, these now feral horses roam the island. It was foaling season when we were there, and we were lucky to see many foals. The one in the photo below was only a matter of hours old. While the horses cared little about our presence, we were warned by the rangers not to get too close. Having worked with horses before, I had to tell a few tourists to move away from a mother and young foal as I could sense the mother’s agitation.

Enjoy the wildlife, folks, but don’t get too close please!

Armadillos

This might seem weird to North-Americans, but I was SO excited to see an armadillo. I had seen so many dead on the side of the road during our many US road trips. But we finally got to see a live one on Cumberland Island. We were walking up the long oak-lined driveway towards Dungeness, when I heard a rustling in the bushes. As you can see by the blurry photo, these little guys run fast – around 30mph at full speed!

Animals of Dungeness Mansion

We were treated to many animal encounters at the mansion ruins itself. The rangers had advised that there were Ospreys nesting on the chimney of the mansion, and I managed to spot one with my zoom lens. Just look at the size of the nest! While we had lunch at one of the picnic tables in the front garden of the mansion, a deer wandered past. No doubt it had been fed in the past by irresponsible visitors – please, don’t feed the wildlife!

The Cumberland Island National Seashore is a treasure – make sure you don’t miss a stroll along the beach to look for sharks teeth!

Accommodation

One thing I wish we had been able to do is to camp on Cumberland Island. Unfortunately, we were road-tripping and did not have all the equipment required. There are a number of campsites on Cumberland Island – read more about these on the National Park Service website. You can also stay at the upmarket Greyfield Inn, for that more exclusive experience.

Your other option is just to day trip to Cumberland Island from St Marys like we did. It’s a great option if you don’t have a lot of time in the area, or if camping doesn’t suit your needs. We stayed at the Riverview Hotel, a lovely homely boutique hotel right on the waterfront. The hotel offers packed picnic lunches, with sandwiches, snacks and water, to take over to Cumberland Island with you. It’s a great service that we took advantage of, and the sandwiches were delicious.

Dungeness Ruins – A Day Trip to Cumberland Island

I can’t really even describe how incredible our day trip out to Cumberland Island was. There is an air of mystery on the island – perhaps that is the Spanish moss and the ruins around the place. I wanted nothing more than to stay for longer, and was so jealous of those camping on the island overnight. The forests and wildlife are gently taking over and it creates a very special atmosphere. If you are lucky, there are those raison d’être-shaking moments when you travel. The places that open your eyes and heart. Cumberland Island was one of those places for me.

“Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life—and travel—leaves marks on you.” 

Anthony Bourdain

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All photos & content © Hannah Henderson and may not be used without permission (sharing this blog post is fine, though!). Images shot with a Canon DSLR T3i Rebel + Canon EF-S 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM; and an iPhoneX.