The Goodwin Sands Ghost Ships
We talk a lot about ghost ships and their knack for roving the seas…but what about their final (earthly) resting places? There are haunted cemeteries and catacombs…but what about haunted ship graveyards? If there ever were such a thing, it would likely be Goodwin Sands.
But what are the Goodwin Sands? They a 10-mile stretch of sandbank off the Deal coast in Kent, England. Over 2,000 ships are believed to have wrecked on Goodwin Sands over the centuries. To this day, it still has an active lighthouse to warn ships. It's such an infamous place for wrecks, even Shakespeare referenced it in the Merchant of Venice: “Why, yet it lives there uncheck'd that Antonio hath a ship of rich lading wrecked on the narrow seas; the Goodwins, I think they call the place; a very dangerous flat and fatal, where the carcasses of many a tall ship lie buried, as they say, if my gossip Report be an honest woman of her word.
AND King John "The Count Melun is slain; the English Lords\ By his persuasion are again fall'n off,\ And your supply, which you have wish'd so long,\ Are cast away and sunk on Goodwin Sands.”
No surprise over the centuries, stories have cropped up around those that live near the area. It's said you can see the ghostly ships in their final wreckage, and sometimes even strange lights and the faint outline of their crews.
But what caused all these wreckages? Do the Sands lay on some sort of ley lines? Is the land itself cursed? The answer may be a bit more terrestrial. For centuries, the Goodwin Sands was one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. That, mixed with a lack of navigational aids and bad weather took their toll. Despite its popularity, a lighthouse was not erected until 1499, and by 1634 there were still just two despite the heavy traffic. By 1840, warning beacons were just being set up. It's interesting why this popular shipping lane would be so without safety measures but the reason for the delays are lost to time (or, rather, I just couldn't dig up a central reason).
But human negligence isn’t the only reason the Goodwin Sands earned nicknames like the ship swallower. The sands were strange and often acted like quicksand, meaning if you had run aground on one it was likely you'd get stuck and the ship would begin to stress and break in two. That mixed with often bad weather also increased the chance for wrecks.
Or if you’re lookin for a reason that’s a little more astonishing…we can turn towards the island of Lomea. It's likely you've never heard of Lomea. That's because we aren't quite sure if it ever existed, and, if it did exist, it vanished long ago. Sometimes referred to as the "drowned island." Rumor has it that it fell because it's caretaker, Earl Goodwin of the West Saxons, failed at maintaining it's seawalls and it was lost in the 11th century. Whether or not it existed, some say they can hear the bells of the lost island church gurgling and tolling from beneath the waves.
Now, we’ve discussed the number of ships that have wrecked there (about 2,000 although some believe the number could be as high as 3,500)...but what of the human lives lost there? Of course just because a ship wrecks doesn’t mean every person on board is doomed to die. That being said, it is estimated that there have been up to 50,000 deaths due to wrecks, bad weather, and other disasters. Meaning this isn’t just a graveyard of ships, but of bodies too.
If you’re a frequent visitor to the Astonishing Legends blog, Goodwin Sands may sound familiar to you. It’s the crash site of one of our more popular ghost ship blogs, The Lady Lovibond.
Thanks to Rodney for this blogstonishing suggestion!
The header image depicts Wreck of the SS Mahratta on the Goodwin Sands from an old postcard. This UK artistic or literary work, of which the author is unknown and cannot be ascertained by reasonable enquiry, is in the public domain.
