Isle of Sheppey Isle of Sheppey The Isle of Sheppey is an island off the northern coast of Kent, England, neighbouring the Thames Estuary, centred from central London. It has an area of . The island forms part of the local government district of Swale. "Sheppey" is derived from Old English "Sceapig", meaning "Sheep Island". Today's island was historically known as the "Isles of Sheppey" which were Sheppey itself, the Isle of Harty to the south east and the Isle of Elmley to the south west. Over time the channels between the islands have silted up to make one continuous island. Sheppey, like
Estuary English various rates "socially" into middle-class speech and "geographically" into other accents of southeastern England. The scholar Alan Cruttenden uses the term London Regional General British in preference to the popular term 'Estuary English'. The names listed above may be abbreviated: Some authors use different names for EE closer to Cockney (Popular London) and EE closer to Received Pronunciation (London Regional Standard or South-Eastern Regional Standard). Note that some other authors use the name Popular London to refer to Cockney itself. The boundary between Estuary English and Cockney is far from clearcut. Several writers have argued that Estuary English is not