The islands are thought to have been occupied on and off since the
Stone Age: several finds of
Stone and
Bronze Age items and
Roman pottery items were discovered in 1926. Hilbre Island may already have been a
hermitage before the
Norman invasion or at least a place of
pilgrimage based around the lore of St Hildeburgh. In about 1080 a cell and
church for
Benedictine monks 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 the
Domesday Book in which mention is made of
Chircheb (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 the
Norman lord
Robert of Rhuddlan. He gave the islands to the abbey at
Saint-Evroul-sur-Ouche in
Normandy, who in turn passed responsibility to the
Abbey of St. Werburgh in
Chester.
William Camden wrote of Hilbre in
Britannia (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." In 1692 a small factory was set up to refine
rock salt. There was also a beer house or
inn, which was open when the writer
Richard Ayton visited in 1813. With the silting of the River Dee trade switched to
ports on the
River 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 the
Liverpool Docks, which later became known as the
Mersey 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 to
Wirral Borough Council on its formation in 1974. ==Location and character==