Chapel Island

Chapel Island is a limestone outcrop that lies in the Leven estuary of Morecambe Bay in England, less than one mile (1.6 Km) from the shoreline at Bardsea in the area known as Ulverston Sands. It is located at 54°10' North, 3°2' West (OS grid ref. SD 321759). It is one of the Islands of Furness in the area of Lancashire north of the sands. For local government purposes Chapel Island is in the administrative county of Cumbria. The island is approximately 450 yards (400 m) long and just over 100 yards (100 m) at its widest. Its area is about 7.5 acres (3 Ha). It is uninhabited, although there is anecdotal evidence from a now-deceased resident of Ulverston that a family lived on the island in the early part of the 19th century.

The island lies on the oversands route between Ulverston and Lancaster. In the 14th century Cistercian monks from nearby Conishead Priory built a small chapel on the island to serve the needs of travellers and fishermen working in the Leven fisheries. Nothing remains of the original chapel but in the 1820s Colonel R.G.Braddyll built the modern-day Conishead Priory. To enhance the view from the priory he had a mock pseudo-classical ruin built on the island. This chapel ruin is now sometimes mistaken for the remains of the original. Prior to the building of the ruin the island was known as Harlside (or Harlesyde).

On 6 October 1858 the sloop Delight of Ulverston grounded on the rocks of Chapel Island. She was carrying a cargo of iron ore and empties. Her master was lost in the accident.

Chapel Island is referred to by William Wordsworth in The Prelude, Book Tenth. The last-but-one paragraph of that book reads:

As I advanced, all that I saw or felt 
Was gentleness and peace. Upon a small 
And rocky island near, a fragment stood, 
(Itself like a sea rock) the low remains 
(With shells encrusted, dark with briny weeds) 
Of a dilapidated structure, once 
A Romish chapel, where the vested priest 
Said matins at the hour that suited those 
Who crossed the sands with ebb of morning tide. 
Not far from that still ruin all the plain 
Lay spotted with a variegated crowd 
Of vehicles and travellers, horse and foot, 
Wading beneath the conduct of their guide 
In loose procession through the shallow stream 
Of inland waters; the great sea meanwhile 
Heaved at safe distance, far retired. I paused, 
Longing for skill to paint a scene so bright 
And cheerful, but the foremost of the band 
As he approached, no salutation given 
In the familiar language of the day, 
Cried, "Robespierre is dead!" nor was a doubt, 
After strict question, left within my mind 
That he and his supporters all were fallen.

Excellent beaches can be found at Chapel Island. Apart from a small area at the north of the island the land is completely overgrown with an impenetrable mat of brambles. The island can be accessed on foot at low tide. However, Morecambe Bay is notorious for quick sands, and the Ulverston Channel usually flows between the shore and the island. Those wishing to visit Chapel Island should not attempt the crossing at any time other than low tide and should seek local advice.