The stunning former home of an inventor dubbed the "Infernal Diver" is on the market.

John Deane, who is credited with being the co-inventor of the diving helmet and diving apparatus, lived in a charming cottage in Island Wall, Whitstable, in the 19th century.

The three-bedroom home steeped in history is currently on the market with a guide price of £690,000.

A sloped driveway leads to the door, where you'll find a blue plaque commemorating John Deane - who lived there between 1848 and 1854.

Entering on the ground floor through the lobby you are greeted by the living room, leading through to separate dining room, sunroom, kitchen, utility room and downstairs toilet.

On the first floor there is a bedroom and shower room, and on the second floor a further two bedrooms.

A buyer would also bag a substantial plot of land - with beautiful wrap around gardens - based close to the beach.

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John Deane is co-credited with inventing the diving helmet - with his brother Charles - and performing operations at the wreck of the Tudor warship The Mary Rose.

Both brothers had experience at sea, John as a sailor and Charles as a caulker.

It was the invention of a smoke helmet by Charles in 1823 - that had air supply to enable the rescue of people from burning buildings - that sparked the idea for a diving helmet.

The apparatus included a copper helmet that had a long leather hose attached to the back of the helmet which was used to supply air and another short pipe allowed breathed air to escape.

They both converted it to a diving helmet in about 1827 after they made numerous test dives with the smoke bell.

By 1829, they sailed from Whitstable for trials of the invention, establishing the diving industry in the town.

The same year they raised a cargo of copper tiles from the Carn Brea Castle wrecked near the Isle of Wight - working with Whitstable salvage crews.

With a substantial reward from the copper, the Deanes developed the helmet.

In 1836, the Mary Rose shipwreck was discovered when a fishing net got caught on it.

John and his partner William Edwards, recovered items - including a cannonball from the shipwreck.

But the location of the wreck was forgotten after John stopped working on the site until its rediscovery in 1982.

John became Britain's diving and explosives expert in the Crimean War, where he earned the nickname The Infernal Diver.

He also gave a series of lectures in 1847 on diving at the Assembly Rooms in Whitstable.

He died in 1884 and is buried in Ramsgate.

For more information on the property, click here.

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