Beneath the waters off Margate's coast lie forgotten histories that have shaped our world. The Thames Estuary Sunken Slave Ships Project is a groundbreaking community-led initiative uncovering the stories of slave ships that still rest on the seabed along the waterways to London; vessels that once trafficked enslaved people across oceans, their submerged holds now serving as both crime scenes and sacred sites of ancestral memory.

A Journey Born from Personal Discovery

The project began with Dr Peter Nicholls, a historian and artist who grew up in Margate learning only European histories at school. Frustrated by this narrow education, he dropped history at 13 and began his own research journey. His path led him to the Seychelles, the place of his roots, where local historians taught him to navigate archives—many still held by Britain, the former coloniser.

While pursuing his PhD on the Seychelles as a recovery station for slave ships, Peter made an unexpected discovery: archival records of a slave ship sunk near his hometown. This revelation sparked a focused search that has since uncovered evidence of 12 sunken slave ships and over 40 wrecks carrying sugar, cotton, ginger, and other materials from former colonies—all resting in the estuary waters.

Community-Centered Resistance

In 2021, Peter shared his findings with People Dem Collective. This collaboration transformed individual research into a collective mission of remembrance, care, and resistance.

“The project asks profound questions: What does it mean for communities to live in proximity to these ancestral traces? How can we repair connections through our own handling of history?”

The initiative deliberately centres community voices and lived experiences, recognising that descendants who live, swim, and organise along this coast have the right to uncover and hold this history on their own terms.

Breaking the Silence of Erasure

While many other Margate wrecks are commemorated through statues, plaques, and museum exhibits, the slave ships have remained completely unknown—a continuation of systematic erasure that has silenced names, cultures, lives, and histories. This erasure persists in education and heritage practices that deny communities agency in handling their own stories.

The project directly challenges harmful representations like J.M.W. Turner's "Slave Ship" painting, which depicted enslaved people as faceless bodies being consumed by sharks. Instead, it seeks to honor the humanity and resistance of those who were trafficked.

Sacred Waters and Ancestral Memory

For the project team, these wrecks are more than historical artefacts—they are sacred places where lives ended without proper rites, preventing souls from becoming ancestors or maintaining connections to living descendants. The initiative approaches these sites with reverence, recognising the ocean as both spiritual realm and archive.

Many diaspora traditions hold that memory lives in saltwater. By hounoring those who passed aboard these ships as adopted ancestors, the project begins to repair what was broken, connecting across time through ancestral ways of knowing and new rituals of care.

Creative Community Responses

True to traditions of carrying history through creativity and community, the project has sparked diverse artistic responses: music collaborations with the SoulArk Ensemble, street murals, sound art, exhibitions featuring historic materials and original sculptures, and community rituals at the water's edge. These creative expressions have been shared through talks and events with Turner Contemporary, Ramsgate Maritime Museum, and other cultural institutions.

Entering the Water

The physical search for these vessels is just beginning. Thanks to James Hynes—the first person of Black heritage to join Margate Sailing Club in its 100-year history— the team has started exploring by boat using digital navigation technology that maps unidentified debris on the seabed. They've connected with marine archaeologists, diving groups, and museums holding material wreckage from this era, including African elephant tusks that have washed ashore.

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Some team members have begun self-funded scuba training to prepare for underwater searches, driven by determination and community power despite the lack of funding.

Moving Forward

Though the project continues seeking funding and support, it operates on passion and people power alone. Future plans include offering scuba training to community members, supporting Peter's ongoing research, and creating more artworks and creative projects that handle these histories with care and respect.

The Thames Estuary Sunken Slave Ships Project represents more than historical recovery—it's an act of reclamation, repair, and resistance. By centring community voices and approaching these sacred waters with reverence, it offers a model for how marginalised communities can take ownership of their histories and honour their ancestors on their own terms.

The project is currently unfunded and relies entirely on community support and volunteer efforts. Those interested in getting involved can connect through community talks and workshops planned for the future.

You can contact Peter via his website, here.

Reclaiming Our Histories: The Thames Estuary Sunken Slave Ships Project