| Hilbre Islands | |
|---|---|
 Aerial view of Hilbre Island | |
 | |
| Type | Common |
| Location | West Kirby,Merseyside |
| Coordinates | 53°22′48″N3°13′30″W / 53.38°N 3.225°W /53.38; -3.22553°22′48″N3°13′30″W / 53.38°N 3.225°W /53.38; -3.225 |
| Operated by | Metropolitan Borough of Wirral |
| Open | All year, dependent on tide |
| Status | Open |
TheHilbre Islands (/ˈhɪlbriː/HIL-bree) are threetidal islands in Merseyside, England. They lie off the coast of theWirral Peninsula at the mouth of theDee Estuary, oppositeTalacre in Flintshire, Wales. The name is thought to derive from a chapel built on the Island and dedicated to St. Hildeburgh.
The islands are aLocal Nature Reserve and are within the Dee EstuarySite of Special Scientific Interest.[1][2] As of 2012, the islands have no permanent residents. They can be reached by foot fromWest Kirby duringlow tide.
The nameHilbre derives from the dedication of amedieval chapel built on Hilbre Island to St. Hildeburgh, anAnglo-Saxon holy woman, after which it became known asHildeburgheye or Hildeburgh's island.[3] Hildeburgh is said to have lived on Hilbre Island in the 7th century as ananchorite. Some consider that she never existed, while others equate her with St.Ermenilda, the mother ofSt. Werburgh to whomChester Cathedral is dedicated,[4] or St.Edburga ofMercia, daughter of the pagan kingPenda.[5] The 19th-centurySt Hildeburgh's Church, Hoylake, built nearby on the mainland, is named for her.
The islands are thought to have been occupied on and off since theStone Age: several finds ofStone andBronze Age items andRomanpottery items were discovered in 1926.
Hilbre Island may already have been ahermitage before theNorman invasion[6] or at least a place ofpilgrimage[7] based around the lore of St Hildeburgh. In about 1080 a cell andchurch forBenedictinemonks was established on Hilbre Island as a dependency of Chester Cathedral. Although not named directly, it is believed that all three islands were mentioned in theDomesday Book in which mention is made ofChircheb (West Kirby) having two churches: one in the town and one on an island in the sea.
The islands were part of the lands of theNorman lordRobert of Rhuddlan. He gave the islands to the abbey atSaint-Evroul-sur-Ouche inNormandy, who in turn passed responsibility to theAbbey of St. Werburgh inChester.[3] The islands became a common place forpilgrimage in the 13th and 14th centuries. At thedissolution of the monasteries two monks were allowed to remain on the islands, as they maintained a beacon for shipping in the river mouth. The last monk left the islands in about 1550,[5] as they were no longer considered asanctuary, having become a centre for commerce and a busy trading port – so much so that acustom house was established to collecttaxes on the goods traded.John Leland briefly describes Hilbre Island in hisItineraries (c. 1538–43) and says that "there was a Celle of Monkes of Chestre and a Pilgrimage of Our Lady of Hilbyri", though his contemporary description mentions only "conies" (rabbits) inhabiting the island.[8]William Camden wrote of Hilbre inBritannia (1586), the first chorographical survey of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, as follows: "In the utmost brinke of this Promontorie lieth a small, hungrie, barren and sandie Isle called Il-bre, which had sometime a little cell of monkes in it."[9]
In 1692 a small factory was set up to refinerock salt. There was also a beer house orinn, which was open when the writerRichard Ayton visited in 1813.[10] With the silting of the River Dee trade switched toports on theRiver Mersey and the trade vanished from the islands leading to the closure of the beer house; part of the structure of this building remains incorporated in the custodian's residence.
The islands were bought in 1856 by the Trustees of theLiverpoolDocks, which later became known as theMersey Docks and Harbour Board.Hilbre Island Lighthouse was constructed here in 1927. The islands were sold to Hoylake Council in 1945 for £2,500, passing toWirral Borough Council on its formation in 1974.
Hilbre Island, the largest of the group, is approximately 11.5 acres (47,000 m2; 4.7 ha) in area, and lies about 1 mile (1.6 km) from Red Rocks, the nearest part of the mainland of theWirral Peninsula. The other two islands areMiddle Eye (or in older sourcesMiddle Island and onOrdnance Survey mapsLittle Hilbre), which is about 3 acres (12,000 m2; 1.2 ha) in size andLittle Eye, which is considerably smaller. All three islands are formed of redBunter sandstone. The main island and Little Hilbre are about 250 yards (230 m) apart, and Little Hilbre is about 1,250 yards (1,140 m) from Little Eye.[11]
Hilbre Island is one of 43 (unbridged)tidal islands that can be reached on foot from the mainland of Great Britain.[12] The island can be reached on foot fromWest Kirby at low tide; this is a popular activity with tourists, especially during the summer months. Little Eye and Middle Eye are both unpopulated, but Hilbre Island has a few houses, some of which are privately owned.
The most southerly building on the islands is the Hilbre Bird Observatory, from which birds are continuously monitored in connection with a national network of observatories and ringing stations.[12] In January 2011 it was announced that there would be no permanent ranger. Wirral Council said that they had had difficulty finding a ranger prepared to live without mains electricity or running water on the islands.[13] There are two composting toilets and a rain shelter on the main island.[citation needed]
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