A History of Hilbre Island

Hilbre Island's name is derived from the dedication of a medieval chapel built to an Anglo-Saxon holy woman St. Hildeburgh, after which it became known as Hildeburgheye or Hildeburgh's island. She is said to have lived on Hilbre Island in the 7th century as an achorite, a religious recluse, however some consider that she never existed, while others equate her with Saint Erminhilde, the mother of Saint Werburgh to whom Chester Cathedral is dedicated.The 19th-century St. Hildeburgh's Church in nearby Hoylake is named after her. Hilbre Island is the largest of the group of the three islands formed of red Bunter sandstone, approximately 11.5 acres in area, it lies about 1 mile (1.6 km) from Red Rocks, the nearest part of the mainland of the Wirral Peninisula. The other two islands are Middle Eye (or Middle Island / Little Hilbre) and Little Eye, which is considerably smaller than the other two.

The islands are thought to have been occupied on and off since the Stone Age with several finds of Stone and Bronze Age items and Roman pottery being discovered in 1926. Hilbre Island may already have been a hermitage before the Norman invasion or a place of pilgrimage to St. Hildeburgh. In about 1080 a cell and church for Benedictine monks was established as a dependency of Chester Cathedral. Although not named directly, it is believed that all three islands were mentioned in the Domesday Book with Chircheb (West Kirby) having two churches: one in the town and one on an island in the sea.

The Abbot of St.Evroult in Normandy was given West Kirby and Hilbre, as a result of a fund-raising appeal. He visited William I’s court in England, asking for money for his abbey, and got an odd assortment of little villages all over England. These included part of the lands of the Norman lord Robert of Rhuddlan. In turn responsibility was passed to the Abbey of St. Werburgh in Chester and they became a common place for pilgrimage in the 13th and 14th centuries. With the dissolution of the monasteries, two monks were allowed to remain on the islands, as they maintained a beacon for shipping in the river mouth. By 1550 it had become a centre for commerce and a busy trading port with a custom house established to collect taxes on the traded goods and it was around this time the last monk left the islands. In 1692 a small factory was set up to refine rock salt and there was also a beer house or inn visited by the writer Richard Ayton in 1813. With the silting of the River Dee, trade then switched to the River Mersey and 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 the Liverpool Docks, later known as the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. The Hilbre Island Lighthouse was constructed in 1927, a white 3m high steel tower surmounted by a red lantern which since 1995 is solar powered. The islands were sold to Hoylake Council in 1945 for £2,500 before passing to Wirral Borough Council on its formation in 1974. Hilbre used to have a Wirral Council Countryside Warden who lived on the island but 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 island. The ranger service now visits each day by Land Rover.

Grey Seals hauled out on the West Hoyle Bank © Steve Cumberlidge

There are a few privately owned houses, although not permanently occupied, on the island and also some interesting buildings like the decaying lifeboat station and the old telegraph station. The ruined redbrick former Lifeboat Station was built in 1849 being a quicker option than the previous method of dragging the boat over the sands from Hoylake. It is said that the crew ran or rode on horseback from Hoylake before rowing out to rescue stricken sailors. The last launch from here was in 1939.  Much of the slipway is still in place but the power of the sea has shifted numerous stones a few hundred yards. The Telegraph Station has now been made into an interperatative centre. A further interesting development was an exclusive gentlemen's club, the 'Hilbre Club', who leased a house on the island in the late 19th century. 

Situated at the mouth of the Dee Estuary, which is one of the ten most important estuaries in Europe for overwintering wildfowl and waders, Hilbre Islands are also important as a stopping-off point for the twice-yearly migration of birds along the west coast of Britain. On the island is the Hilbre Island Bird Observatory opened in 1957, which now often sees several very uncommon species of visiting birds. The Islands are now considered one of the most beautiful locations for walking in Wirral, or spotting rare and endangered wildlife. The islands are an archipelago, and classed as one of just 43 unbridged tidal islands in the UK that can be reached on foot from the mainland. Indeed, walking to the now-uninhabited Hilbre Islands at low tide has been a popular leisure activity for decades. The passing of each season represents opportunities to see different flora and fauna on the islands. It is important to note that there are no shops, public toilets or any fresh water here, and very little shelter. The West Hoyle sandbank, to the west of Hilbre, provides a haul-out for quite large numbers of Grey Seals, and these can be seen swimming around the islands most days of the year. Whales and dolphins have also been sighted off the island. If weather and tides allow, taking a walk out to Hilbre Island is an absolute must when you're in Wirral, and an experience you will never forget.

see also:- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2021/07/a-history-of-leasowe.html