The unnerving road boasts an unusual feature and an unnerving atmosphere so it’s no surprise it’s been used for filming horror films including The Woman in Black starring Daniel Radcliffe
A ‘vanishing’ road with an unnerving atmosphere that’s drawn in horror film directors doesn’t exactly sound like the most pleasant of road trips.
However, I ended up driving along the mysterious causeway to Osea Island in Essex, about an hour from London. It’s quiet and relatively traffic free – and for 20 hours a day, it vanishes because it’s submerged under water.
The half-a-mile long Roman causeway is the only way to reach the private Osea Island by car, and it’s only accessible about four hours a day at low tide.
It’s not really signposted, either – and there’s a fair amount of planning you need to do to even reach it. The road goes directly to Osea Island, which is privately owned, and a popular holiday destination for celebrities. The private ownership means you need a booking for the island before you’re even allowed to drive across.
First, you have to drive to Osea Island leisure park, before following the road down to a barrier. Here, you will call the Island to let them know that you will be crossing and that you will be staying on the island. The barrier will then be opened for you, once you have provided the code – which makes you feel a little bit like a spy!
Low tide means you need to time your arrival well; there’s a two-hour window in the morning and a two-hour window in the evening when you can actually make the drive.
If you’re expecting a perfectly paved road like many of our modern A roads, think again. This causeway was built by the Romans and is approximately 1,600 to 1,900 years old. The surface is rocky, bumpy and very much natural. The sides of the road are signposted by large rocks, covered in seaweed.
If you open a window, you’ll smell sea air, and see plenty of birds pecking at the riverbed now exposed by the low tide. Despite the road only being half a mile long, you really have to drive slowly to avoid bumps!
On a foggy day, the road looks incredibly mysterious and almost a bit scary. It’s really no surprise that the causeway has been used for shooting some horror films, most notably the 2012 version of Woman in Black featuring Daniel Radcliffe, where it doubled up as the fictional Nine Lives Causeway. The eerie appeal also saw it used for filming drama The Third Day, starring Jude Law.
Once you’ve crossed the road and you’re on the island, you can park up and enjoy your accommodation, or the one pub that opens only on Friday nights – and doesn’t have last orders. If you walk back to where the road meets the island once the tide has come in, it’s almost like it never existed; the only indication were a few large stones visible that highlighted where the road was.
To cross again by car, you’ll have to wait until the next low tide – but there is an occasional boat service if you really need to get back to the mainland.
As a drive, I can sum it up in three words: creepy, magical and gorgeous.
