Explore Kent’s eerie Deadman’s Island, a former burial ground for yellow fever victims, now accessible only by kayak.
The island has old wooden posts sticking out of the mud. In the 1800s, sick people were kept on Burntwick Island. Then, people hid the dead bodies on Deadman’s Island. Now, the sea level changed and uncovered the graves.
It’s not open to the public now, but you can take kayak tours if you want a closer look. Rob Davis works for South East Kayaking, and he worries about birds nesting there. A reporter took a tour with Rob once. They used a two-person kayak to go around the island.
The tour lasted two hours. They also paddled to Burntwick Island, where people died before burial. The reporter didn’t see any bones sticking out, probably because they were underwater at the time.
Archaeologists checked the bones in 2017 and proved the bones were human remains. Kayakers can only paddle there during high tide. That might be why the reporter didn’t see bones.
Dr. Paul Wilkinson is from Swat Archaeology. He went to the isle with the BBC to confirm the bones were human. He saw something weird at low tide.
Wilkinson told The Sun about his experience. Eels wriggled inside the skeletons, he said, and the tide moved them, making them look alive. The Medway has many small isles.
These isles have scary stories, and most are only reached by kayak now. Shipwrecks and battles happened there. Deadman’s Island is the scariest place, though. Fishermen claim ghosts ask for help. These ghosts want someone to save them.
