Despite being only 600 meters long, Bunce Island was settled and fortified by English slave traders in 1670, and before that it was used by Portuguese slave traders since the 1500s. For over 140 years, until the British abolished the slave trade in 1809, Bunce was one of the main centres where enslaved Africans were held and processed before being sent to the Americas – it is estimated that over 30,000 people were transported to labour camps in the southern US from Bunce Island, many of them perishing during the arduous Middle Passage across the Atlantic.

After the abolition of slavery, Bunce Island and its castle were abandoned and slowly fell intodisrepair, with vines, trees and plants growing on top of buildings. The island is now protected by Sierra Leone’s Monuments and Relics Commission, and work is underway topreserve the castle and other historical structures present on the island.