Islands of Fleet
| Islands of Fleet | ||
|---|---|---|
| Waters | Irish Sea | |
| Geographical location | 54 ° 48 ′ N , 4 ° 13 ′ W | |
|
||
| Number of islands | 4th | |
| Main island | Ardwall Island | |
| Total land area | 0.3 km² | |
| Residents | uninhabited | |
The Islands of Fleet are a group of small uninhabited islands off the hamlet of Knockbrex in Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland . You are in Fleet Bay, part of Wigtown Bay and the Solway Firth in the north of the Irish Sea .
There are three main islands.
- Ardwall Island (Ard Bhaile - Hochstadt), the largest of the three islands, is about 22 hectares and up to 34 m high. On top of it are a cairn , the remains of a chapel and the "Old Man of Fleet".
- Barlocco Island is about 10 hectares in size and up to 10 m high, with the surf piers (stacks) "Three Brethren".
- Murray Isles is the northwesternmost of the islands, about an acre and up to 5 m high and owned by the National Trust for Scotland, with the small stone "Horse Mark".
Ardwall excavation
The excavations in the years 1964–65 on Ardwall revealed evidence of a series of uses, beginning with a burial ground from the 5th or 6th century, to which a shrine of Irish character was added around 600. A wooden oratory was added in the middle of the 7th century , ignoring the slab shrine and aligning more recent burials to the new structure. The oratory was replaced around 700 by a stone chapel, on the axis of which the new burials were aligned. The chapel seems to be Irish rather than northern Umbrisch. When it was no longer used for worship and had partially collapsed, burials were carried out inside and outside the ruin until the 11th century.
It is possible that the site was already surrounded by a wall during the wooden construction phase and possibly contained small cells that probably belonged to a hermit monastery that served the Gatehouse of Fleet and Borgue . Next, a hall house that existed between 1250 and 1350 was built on the site, followed by a tower that was built between 1780 and 1800. The location is on the northeastern edge of the island and consists of an oval area of about 160 × 100 m, which is surrounded by the sea. The early Christian access seems to have been a little bit south of the gap, where the path from the beach is now under the sheep dike. The stone chapel is oriented almost exactly east-west and measures around 20 × 11.5 m with 0.8 m thick walls.
During the excavation numerous cross plates and cross stones from the 8th to 11th centuries as well as small pieces of glass, bone, metal and stone were found. All finds were given to the Dumfries Museum.
Ardwall Isle and Barlocco Isle are two of 43 tidal islands accessible from mainland Britain and two of 17 accessible on foot from mainland Scotland.
See also
literature
- Peter Caton: No Boat Required - Exploring Tidal Islands . Matador 2011.
- Charles Thomas: Ardwall Isle: The excavation of an Early Christian site of Irish type , Trans Dumfriesshire Galloway Natur Hist Antiq Soc, 3rd, Vol. 43, 1966, pp. 84-116.
- Charles Thomas: Ardwall Island, Gatehouse-of-Fleet , Discovery Excav Scot, 1964, pp. 34-5.
- A. Charles Thomas: An early Christian cemetery and chapel on Ardwall Isle, Kirkcudbright , Medieval Archaeol, Vol. 11, 1967, pp. 127-88.
Web links
- Entry on Ardwall Island Chapel in Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland database