SHEPPEY, ISLE OF

island at the mouth of the River Thames in Swale borough, administrative and historic county of Kent, England. It covers 35 square miles (91 square km), and its extremely fertile low-lying land supports grain and vegetable crops and sheep. Although it is physically separated from the mainland only by narrow channels, its single connection for ground transport is the Kingsferry road and rail bridge. There are harbour facilities at both Sheerness and Queenborough-in-Sheppey, the former having a 17th-century naval dockyard. The smaller communities of Leysdown and Minster grew in importance in the late 20th century as holiday resorts.