On first appearances, St Mary’s Island lives up to its name — a great place to live with its high-class housing, bustling marina and facilities on the doorstep.

Nicola Jordan delves deeper into the history of the attractive waterside development to unearth a rich and fascinating past.

Rising from reclaimed marshland, its history runs back to the Romans and spans centuries dominated by the nation’s rich naval traditions, its struggles in conflict and the tragedies of those caught up in it.

With its inseparable links to Chatham’s world-famous dockyard where Nelson’s HMS Victory was built, the 150-acre estate is now home to about 5,000 people who refer to themselves as “islanders”.

After Chatham Dockyard closed 40 years ago with the loss of 8,000 jobs the government threw money at the peninsula situated on the River Medway to bring new life to the devastated area.

But for over a decade, to the untrained eye, nothing seemed to materialise.

Where had the money gone on this ambitious project hailed to mirror the prestigious St Katharine Docks in London?

Then in 1996 outline planning permission was granted for up to 1,700 homes together with a primary school, community centre doctor’s surgery and late-night pharmacy.

Sports fields, play areas riverside walks and cycle paths link the parcels of housing and are managed and maintained by Chatham Maritime Trust, a non-profit organisation and the appointed long-term caretaker of the island.

The first people to move in were Alan, Deborah and Michael Searles who picked up their keys in 1996. There is a plaque dedicated to them on the island side of the bridge with a time capsule buried underneath.

Almost 30 years in the making, a celebration has just been held to mark the completion of the final phase of the major housing project.

Perhaps a testament to the developers’ success in making St Mary’s Island into a vibrant and active community is that a third of the people moving into the final phase, known as Azure, are relocating from their homes already on the island.

Work on the housing scheme - a joint venture between Countryside Homes - which is now part of the Vistry Group - and Homes England began in 1998 and finished in March this year.

So why did it take so long to reach this flagship milestone?

Construction could only begin once the most stringent tests had been carried out to determine that the land was free from centuries of contamination.

During the Napoleonic wars, the island’s history plummeted to its darkest and most macabre time.

With a lack of accommodation for French prisoners-of-war, the authorities came up with the cheap alternative of locking them up on floating de-masked hulks of redundant warships moored on the Medway.

The inmates were cooped up in cramped conditions with precious little natural light, poor provisions and facilities.

Unsurprisingly, disease was rife and deaths quickly multiplied with bodies buried in mass graves on the island.

Many years later they were exhumed and laid to rest at St George’s Church, now the St George’s Centre within the grounds of the Universities at Medway.

The advent of nuclear power in the latter half of the last century was to impact more changes on the site.

The Royal Navy used Chatham as one of the bases for re-fitting nuclear-powered submarines.

Designated areas were used for dumping waste from the work which resulted in a massive clean-up when the decision was made to use the land for high-class housing.

Almost 1.5 million tonnes of contaminated soil had to be removed and transported by rail elsewhere for safe disposal.

When the time eventually came to promote the development, PR people billed it as “the cleanest building site in the UK”.

So what’s island life like today and has it been a success?

Resident David Wareing moved into a flat on the island 25 years ago when there were barely 100 other properties built and little else.

The 56-year-old businessman said he’d never been to Kent before but fell in love with the area because he “could see its potential”.

Indeed he loved it so much that he has lived at four properties on the estate, moving into his current four-bedroom house with views of the marina less than a year ago.

Of island living, David said: “It’s idyllic, like being on holiday.”

He and his partner Carolyn like to walk and they enjoy going by foot to the Co-op at Dockside and to the two pubs next door.

A keen windsurfer, David has looked to relocate to the coast but has found properties too expensive.

He said: “I’d be paying more for less than I have got here.

“There would have to be a good reason to move from the island.

“I feel safe here. Over the years it has developed as a community and attracts family-oriented people and older people.

“They are nice people and everyone says ‘good morning’.

“The planners got it right by putting the community centre, school and church in the middle and by creating pathways and open spaces in between. There is also more open access to the river.”

The team behind overseeing the vision to its fruition recently attended a lunch at the Copper Rivet Distillery on the nearby Chatham Maritime Marina.

Among them was Stephen Teagle, chief executive of the Vestry Group, a housebuilding company.

He said: “Creating a new community on this scale is an immense task and it was a privilege to come together with organisations and individuals who have been involved over the years and reflect on what we have achieved here.

“The scheme has delivered quality homes for thousands of local people over the years with more than 250 of the properties being provided as affordable housing. It has made a real difference to the lives of those unable to get onto the property ladder.”

Alison Crofton, chief property officer at Homes England, said the “disused, contaminated land” was now a “thriving new neighbourhood”.

She added: “Since 1998, we have worked in close partnership with Medway Council to prepare the land, deliver vital infrastructure and select developers to build the new high-quality homes that now make this a vibrant community.”

Cllr Simon Curry, Medway Council’s portfolio holder for regeneration, said: “It’s a historically significant area which has come during the 40th anniversary of the closure of Chatham Dockyard.

“St Mary’s Island provides a fantastic community with the school, medical centre and play parks for not only Chatham residents to benefit from but wider Medway too.”

Since 2008, The Island Castaways, a youth club, a residents’ association and active retirement association have been established.

While there are no shops on the island, the Dockside Outlet Centre is a short walk away with a range of bars, restaurants and a gym nearby.