Bunce Island

Bunce Island is a small island in the Sierra Leone River estuary that holds the ruins of a British slave-trading fortress active through much of the 18th century. It was one of the most significant departure points of the transatlantic slave trade in the region.

Many people trafficked from Bunce Island were taken to the rice-growing coasts of South Carolina and Georgia, and the site has a documented connection to the Gullah and Geechee communities of the United States.

The ruins are preserved as a heritage site and are usually visited on a guided boat tour from Freetown. Interpretation focuses on the history of the trade and its enduring diaspora links.