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Kent's Out Of Bounds Deadman's Island Is Covered In Human Remains

Kent's Out Of Bounds Deadman's Island Is Covered In Human Remains

The island is scattered with the bones and skulls of dead prisoners

Tom Wood

Tom Wood

Would you like to hear the story of Deadman's Island, where the mudbanks and coastal areas are littered with the bones of hundreds of dead people?

No, it's not something from a new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, this is a real place that isn't as far away as you might think - actually, it's just in Kent.

The reason you've probably never heard of it is because no one is allowed to go there without the express permission of the owners, Natural England.

That's because it's essentially a cemetery, and a reserve for the local birds.

Creative Commons/Lewis Clarke

The tale begins more than 200 years ago with a fairly dark piece of British history, Kent Live reports.

Back in those days, the government had a bright idea: instead of crowding up prisons on mainland Britain, why not ship convicts across the world to the penal colonies in Australia?

Without getting into the impact that had on a lot of people, not least the indigenous population of Australia, it also had a few other unpleasant side effects.

Cramming hundreds of usually poor, and usually unhealthy people into prison 'hulks' - as the floating prisons were called - creates a breeding ground for disease.

BBC

When these prisoners died, they were buried in unmarked graves out of the way so the infectious diseases, often cholera, wouldn't spread and cause an epidemic.

Now, coastal erosion and lower tide levels have washed away the six-feet of mud these unfortunate people were buried under, exposing bones and coffins.

It's a grisly place, and it's probably for the best that no one really goes there.

BBC

However, in 2017, a BBC crew were allowed permission to visit the island, which sits near to the Isle of Sheppey and the Isle of Grain in the Medway Estuary.

The crew from Inside Out South East spotted some harrowing sights on their 2017 excursion to the protected wetland area.

Director Sam Supple previously told The Sun: "It is like being on the set of a horror film.

"It looks so surreal, it's like an art department has designed it. There are open coffins and bones everywhere."

BBC

Presenter Natalie Graham said: "What I saw there will stay with me forever.

"This is a really strange sight. I would imagine there can't be anywhere on earth like this."

As well as the open coffins of 'Coffin Bay' that greet the rare visitors, there are unmarked graves, and even local folklore tales of red-eyed hounds wandering this island of the dead.

Featured Image Credit: BBC

Topics: UK News, Weird