Reason why the “world’s most infected island” visited by humans is full of human skulls and “500-year-old coffins”

Here is the story of how one of the “most infected islands in the world” came to be.

When you hear the name Deadman's Island, you might think this is the site of an abandoned pirates of the Caribbean movie – but it is actually a very real place and has a pretty dark history.

Deadman's Island is located in the estuary of the River Medway in Kent, England, is uninhabited and currently owned by Natural England as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

While the swampy island is now a popular nesting and breeding ground for birds, the site also has a much darker history.

The island is located off Kent, Great Britain (YouTube/Dara Tah)

In 2016, more than 200 human remains were found on the island. So what the hell happened here?

The story of Deadman's Island

During a period from the 17th century to the late 19th century, convicted men and boys were held in prison ships across England. Prison ships were in high demand during the 18th and 19th centuries, providing a quick solution to overcrowded prisons and the influx of prisoners of war. However, as you can imagine, the conditions on board these floating prisons were absolutely appalling.

“The convicts came from London, Newcastle and from all over the country and were held on wrecks in Sheerness until merchant ships arrived large enough to take them to places like Tasmania,” researcher Daf Charman told the Kent Messenger in 2020 about the prisoners' trial.

Diseases such as cholera and typhus were widespread among the prisoners and anyone who died was thrown into a wooden coffin and buried in an anonymous grave on the island.

It is also believed that plague victims from 1665 to 1666 found their final resting place on Deadman's Island.

The story of the men and boys buried on the island remained largely forgotten until 2016, when 200 human remains were discovered after coastal erosion and rising sea levels exposed their bodies.

The island is littered with bones (YouTube/Dara Tah)

Since then, Deadman's Island has become a place of morbid fascination on the internet. YouTuber Dara Tah uploaded a video to his channel (@DaraTah) showing excerpts from his visit to the place.

In the video, he shows footage of bones washed up on the island's shores between rocks and sand. “I've been to Dead Man's Island before. It's a small swamp island in the south of England that served as a mass dumping ground for probably thousands of skeletons infected with the plague, but this time we're spending the night there,” he explained.

“There are literally bones everywhere, oh my God, there's a rib bone, a leg bone, an arm bone.”

He continued: “Seeing this stuff is very scary. You can't even see it as a human anymore, but it's a human who lived a long time ago and just ended up on this island, and nobody does anything about it. It's pretty sad.”

Tah is not alone in her reaction. BBC Inside Out presenter Natalie Graham said the experience would stay with her “forever.”

YouTuber Dara Tah was incredibly touched by his visit (YouTube/Dara Tah)

“What I saw there will stay with me forever. It is a really strange sight. I would imagine that there can be nothing like it anywhere on Earth,” she told The Sun.

However, dark tourists looking to book a ticket to Kent may want to wait, as the island is completely off-limits to visitors due to its importance as a nesting site for local birds.

Whether they are birds or not, it is probably a good idea to let the island's dead rest in peace.